Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court recently directed a Trial Court in Delhi to take suo motu action against witnesses who are found to have made untruthful statements in a murder trial.

The trial pertains to the murder of one Vijendra Singh in Shahdara (Delhi) in April 2019. Challenging the Delhi High Court's order granting bail to one of the accused, named Raj Sharma, the son of the victim, Rahul Sharma(petitioner), approached the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of his bail.

The petitioner contended that after other accused persons were released on bail, many prosecution witnesses turned hostile. He added that police complaints have been filed against the accused for alleged intimidation of witnesses.

A bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice NV Anjaria noted the submission of the State that the examination of all private witnesses has been completed. Only the examination of official witnesses, two doctors and the Forensic Science Laboratory(FSL) officers, remains. Taking account of this fact, the Court directed the State to ensure that the examination of these witnesses is completed under police protection without they being influenced or intimidated in any manner.

"It is made clear that if the trial Court finds that any witness has tried to take sides in their deposition without being truthful to the Court, the Court shall take suo motu cognizance of such conduct and initiate action in their individual capacity," the bench further directed, posting the matter to December 11 for further consideration.

The Delhi High Court granted bail to Raj Sharma taking into consideration factors such as his incarceration of six years, the omission of his name in the dying declaration of the victim, the completion of the examination of the prosecution witnesses, etc.

Senior Advocate Vipin Sanghi appeared for the petitioner along with Advocates Ujwal Ghai and Arpit Sharma, instructed by AOR Kanhaiya Singhal, while Senior Advocate Mukta Gupta represented the respondent, assisted by Advocates Nusrat Hossain, Nitya Gupta, Aditi Gupta, and Sarv Mangla, with AOR Niti Richhariya.

Case : Rahul Sharma v. State NCT of Delhi | SLP(Crl) 15630/2025

Click here to read the judgment