Venkatesha vs State of Karnataka,
Criminal Appeal No. 135 of 2005, Decided on January 8th, 2013
It was contended on behalf of the
appellant that an approver’s evidence is unsafe for recording a finding of
guilt against the accused unless the same is corroborated by other evidence in
material particulars.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court held:
“Section 133 of the Evidence Act, makes an
accomplice a competent witness against the accused person and declares that a
conviction shall not be illegal merely because it proceeds upon the
uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Even so, the established rule of practice
evolved on the basis of human experience since times immemorial, is that it is
unsafe to record a conviction on the testimony of an approver unless the same
is corroborated in material particulars by some untainted and credible
evidence. So consistent has been the commitment of the courts to that rule of
practice, that the same is now treated as a rule of law. Courts, therefore, not
only approach the evidence of an approver with caution, but insist on
corroboration of his version before resting a verdict of guilt against the
accused, on the basis of such a deposition. The juristic basis for that
requirement is the fact that the approver is by his own admission a criminal,
which by itself makes him unworthy of an implicit reliance by the Court, unless
it is satisfied about the truthfulness of his story by evidence that is
independent and supportive of the version given by him. That the approver’s
testimony needs corroboration cannot, therefore, be doubted as a proposition of
law”. [Para 15]
The Court on the facts and
circumstances of the case held:
“The High
Court has, upon a careful and detailed reappraisal of the evidence, concurred
with the view taken by the trial Court and, in our view, rightly held that
there was sufficient corroboration to the version of the Approver, both in the
form of oral depositions of the witness as also forensic evidence, that clearly
support the prosecution case..” [Para 21]
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