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55. It is necessary to mention here that Smt. Laxmi Devi PW-1 after commission of murder of her husband and Devar was alone and inspite of her best efforts, nobody came to help her. She had to wait in the village. When her relative Man Pal Singh reached her village around 7:30 a.m. then she lodged the first information report. The distance from the place of the occurrence to Police Station was 20 Kilometers. The first information report of the incident of triple murder was lodged with delay of eight and half hours by covering distance of 20 kilometers. The names of the appellants with the weapons used by them and role played by them were clearly mentioned in the first information report promptly lodged by her. There appears to be no chance of any prior deliberations or consultations with anyone. The relevant details of the incident were also clearly mentioned by Smt. Laxmi Devi PW-1 who proved the report Ext. Ka-1 as having been written according to her dictation by her Nandoi Man Pal Singh.

58. Perusal of the testimony of Smt. Laxmi Devi PW-1 makes it evident that up to 14 pages of her testimony, she remained intact throughout in support of the prosecution version disclosed in the first information report promptly lodged by her. When she after appearing in the trial court for cross examination on many dates, was not cross examined due to the adamant attitude of the appellants or their counsel, then her cross examination was closed because of non-cooperative attitude of the appellants and their counsel. When she was cross examined on behalf of the appellants, at the end of 14 pages of her evidence, she deposed that on 13.11.2008, her husband Satya Bhan Singh was called by some persons from outside the gate of the house and she did not open the doors of the house and told that her husband was not inside the house. She further deposed that at the instance of many villagers and under the pressure of police, she earlier deposed in the trial court that the appellants came in search of her husband with firearms. She further deposed that when her husband was taken away from her house on 13.11.2008 by some persons, it was quite dark and she could not witness the persons who were taking her husband from her house. She was told by some persons that her husband was being taken away by some miscreants. When her husband was taken away from her house on 13.11.2008 by some persons, she went to the place of the incident in search of her husband and found that her husband Satya Bhan Singh, her Devar Uday Pal @ Bhura and Km. Vijay were murdered on the same place of the incident by unknown persons.

63. Apart from above evidence, conduct of the appellants is that the accused-appellant Ramesh Pal Singh had neither lodged any first information report regarding murder of his own daughter Km. Vijay nor made any such statement. After the incident, all the appellants absconded. The appellants failed to indicate/suggest any circumstances leading to their false implication.

64. The above evidences are further corroborated by medical evidence namely post mortem reports of the three deceased persons which support eyewitnesses account. In the facts and circumstances of the case and nature of evidence, testimony of Smt. Laxmi Devi PW-1 cannot be thrown away just on the ground of testimony of single witness. She has supported the prosecution version in her testimony in the trial court and proved the first information report promptly lodged by her. The settled law on this point is that natural and creditworthy testimony of any eyewitness cannot be disbelieved on the ground of the testimony of solitary witness. The testimony of single witness is to be tested from all angles giving due consideration to the facts and circumstances of the case and nature of the evidence.

80. Per contra learned AGA has placed reliance on a decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Jai Prakash Singh Vs. State of Bihar and another 2012 Crl.L.J. 2101 wherein it has been observed by Hon'ble Supreme Court that the FIR in criminal case is a vital and valuable piece of evidence though may not be substantive piece of evidence. The object of insisting upon prompt lodging of the FIR in respect of the commission of an offence is to obtain early information regarding the circumstances in which the crime was committed, the names of actual culprits and the part played by them as well as the names of eyewitnesses present at the scene of occurrence. If there is a delay in lodging the FIR, it looses the advantage of spontaneity, danger creeps in of the introduction of coloured version, exaggerated account or concocted story as a result of large number of consultations/deliberations. Undoubtedly, the promptness in lodging the FIR is an assurance regarding truth of the informant's version. A promptly lodged FIR reflects the first hand account of what has actually happened, and who was responsible for the offence in question.