Aishwarya Rathore-
The Kerala High Court stated that mere enmity, even if proven, cannot be used to discard the evidence if it is deemed to be credible when maintaining the conviction of an accused in a murder case based on evidence provided by his wife.
One of the arguments advanced by the accused in this case was that one of the witnesses, his wife, had enmity toward him and thus it was unsafe to rely on such evidence to condemn him.
The bench observed, “It is a well-settled position of law that, merely because the witness is a close relative to the victim, evidence of such witness cannot be discarded, treating it as an interesting version. Unless otherwise established, it cannot be concluded that a person who is closely related to the victim, would make any statement for falsely implicating any person, so as to permit the real culprit to escape from the clutches of law.”
While upholding the Trial Court judgment, the bench observed that even if there is only a single piece of evidence that is reliable and valuable, it could be the basis of a conviction.
The past of the accused, which is tainted with criminal antecedents, i.e his involvement in another murder case, makes the prosecution case stronger.“, the bench observed while upholding the conviction.
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