Acquittal reversal set aside where a child witness was unreliable and corroboration was inadequate in a criminal appeal.

A conviction on appeal against acquittal cannot stand where the sole identifying witness is a very young child whose evidence contains material infirmities and is not safely corroborated. The Court noted that no test identification parade was held, the child's dock identification was unsafe, and his age made him vulnerable to tutoring. It also found that the co-accused's confession, recorded in police custody and while handcuffed, lacked the safeguards of voluntariness and had been retracted, while the recoveries and alleged motive were only weak corroborative material. As the trial court's appreciation of evidence was reasonable, the High Court was not justified in reversing the acquittal and the conviction and sentence were set aside.

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Issues: Whether the conviction recorded by the High Court on the basis of the sole testimony of a child witness, supported by a retracted confession and recoveries, could lawfully displace the acquittal recorded by the trial court.

Analysis: The child witness was about six years old, his testimony showed material infirmities, and the prosecution did not produce the maternal uncle who first met him after the . No test identification parade was held despite the child being the principal identifying witness, and the dock identification was therefore unsafe. The Court also found that a child of such tender age was vulnerable to tutoring and that the circumstances made his conduct improbable. The confession of the co-accused was recorded while he was in police custody and handcuffed, without the safeguards required for a voluntary confession, and it had been retracted. The alleged recoveries were weak corroborative material and the motive did not by itself establish guilt. In an appeal against acquittal, interference was unwarranted where the trial court's appreciation of evidence was reasonable.

Conclusion: The High Court was not justified in reversing the acquittal, and the conviction and sentence were unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The acquittal was restored and the appellants were directed to be released if not required in any other case.

Ratio Decidendi: In an appeal against acquittal, a conviction cannot rest on the sole unreliable testimony of a very young child witness without adequate corroboration, especially where no test identification parade is held and the accompanying confession is not shown to be voluntary.

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