29. While deciding this issue, a similar view was taken in
Jarnail Singh v. State of Punjab, 2009(9) SCC 719 where the
Court reiterated the special evidentiary status accorded to the
testimony of an injured accused and relying on its earlier
judgments held as under:
In
Shivalingappa Kallayanappa v. State of Karnataka,
this Court has held that the deposition of the injured
witness should be relied upon unless there are strong
grounds for rejection of his evidence on the basis of
Crl.A. 374/2003 Page 11 of 23
major contradictions and discrepancies, for the
reason that his presence on the scene stands
established in case it is proved that he suffered the
injury during the said incident.
In State of U.P. v. Kishan Chand, a similar view
has been reiterated observing that the testimony of a
stamped witness has its own relevance and efficacy.
The fact that the witness sustained injuries at the
time and place of occurrence, lends support to his
testimony that he was present during the occurrence.
23. Omission to send blood stained clothes of injured or weapon of
offence, can at best be, said to be a lapse on the part of Investigating
Officer of the case. Hon‟ble Supreme Court held in Ram Bihari Yadav
Vs. State of Bihar, AIR 1998 SC 1850 and in C. Muniappan and Ors.
Vs. State of Tamilnadu, 2010 IX AD (SC) 317 that defects in
investigation by itself cannot be a ground for acquittal.