Relying On Minor Daughter’s Testimony, SC Upholds Lifer To Man For Wife’s Murder

The apex court relied on the testimony of the seven-year-old daughter, at the time of the incident, of the convict.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday said a child witness was a "competent witness" and their evidence couldn't be rejected outrightly while overturning the acquittal of a man convicted for the murder of his wife. The apex court relied on the testimony of the seven-year-old daughter, at the time of the incident, of the convict.

A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said cases are frequently coming before the courts where the husbands, due to strained marital relations and doubt as regards the character, have gone to the extent of killing the wife.

The bench said these crimes are generally committed in complete secrecy inside the house and it becomes very difficult for the prosecution to lead evidence. "No member of the family like in the case on board, even if he is a witness of the crime, would come forward to depose against another family member," it noted. The bench said the Evidence Act does not prescribe any minimum age for a witness, and as such a child witness is a competent witness and his or her evidence cannot be rejected outrightly.

The apex court’s judgment came on an appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh government challenging a judgment delivered by the high court in June 2010. The high court had acquitted a man accused of murdering his wife in 2003. The bench observed that a child witness who exhibits the demeanour of any other competent witness and whose evidence inspires confidence can be relied upon without any need for corroboration and can form the sole basis for conviction. "If the evidence of the child explains the relevant events of the crime without improvements or embellishments, the same does not require any corroboration whatsoever," it said.

The bench said there was nothing on record to indicate that the victim's daughter was a tutored witness. "As per Section 118 of the Evidence Act, before the evidence of the child witness is recorded, a preliminary examination must be conducted by the trial court to ascertain if the child witness is capable of understanding the sanctity of giving evidence and the import of the questions that are being put to him," said the bench, in its 94-page judgment.

The bench said if the courts, after a careful scrutiny, find that there is neither any tutoring nor any attempt to use the child witness for ulterior purposes by the prosecution, then the courts must rely on the confidence-inspiring testimony of such a witness in determining the guilt or innocence of the accused. The apex court said the evidence of a child witness for all purposes is deemed to be on the same footing as any other witness as long the child is found to be competent to testify.

"The only precaution which the court should take while assessing the evidence of a child witness is that such witness must be a reliable one due to the susceptibility of children by their falling prey to tutoring. However, this in no manner means that the evidence of a child must be rejected outrightly at the slightest of discrepancy, rather what is required is that the same is evaluated with great circumspection," said the bench.

The bench said the testimony of a child witness who is found to be competent to depose i.e., capable of understanding the questions put to it and able to give coherent and rational answers would be admissible in evidence.