Eyewitness testimony with prompt FIR and corroboration can sustain murder conviction despite minor discrepancies and witness objections.

Prompt first information report, medical evidence fixing the time of death, and surrounding circumstances were treated as strong corroboration for consistent eyewitness testimony in a murder prosecution. Minor discrepancies on collateral matters, or the witnesses' relationship with the deceased and past antecedents, were held insufficient to discard their evidence when the core prosecution version remained intact. The acquittal was therefore reversed only for the accused against whom participation was independently supported by the recovery of the rifle and ballistic linkage to the empty cartridge, while the absence of motive and adequate corroboration for the remaining accused justified maintaining their acquittal.

---

---

Issues: Whether the acquittal of the accused could be reversed on the basis of the eyewitnesses' testimony, prompt first information report, and surrounding circumstances, and whether the conviction of the two principal accused for the murder of Hazara Singh was sustainable.

Analysis: The prompt lodging of the first information report, the medical evidence fixing the time of death, and the surrounding circumstances furnished strong corroboration to the testimony of the eyewitnesses. Minor discrepancies on collateral details, the witnesses' relationship with the deceased, and their antecedents were held insufficient to reject their evidence wholesale when the substratum of the prosecution case remained consistent. The evidence was, however, not sufficiently assured against the remaining accused, particularly in the absence of motive or adequate corroboration. The recovery of the rifle at the instance of one accused and the ballistic opinion linking the empty cartridge to that rifle provided additional support for his participation in the murder of Hazara Singh.

Conclusion: The acquittal of the two accused who were found to have participated in the murder of Hazara Singh was set aside and their conviction for murder was restored, while the acquittal of the remaining accused was maintained.

Final Conclusion: The appeal succeeded only to the extent of fastening criminal liability on the two accused whose participation in the murder of Hazara Singh was satisfactorily proved, and the rest of the respondents were left undisturbed in acquittal.

Ratio Decidendi: Promptly lodged first information report, medical and circumstantial corroboration, and a consistent eyewitness account can sustain conviction despite relationship or antecedent-based objections, but reversal of acquittal remains limited to the accused against whom such assurance is independently available.

---