Evidence should be weighed but not counted – Essay

Section 134 of the Evidence Act enacts that no particular number of witnesses is required for proof of any fact.

The evidence of witnesses indeed has to be weighed and tested whatever their numerical strength be.

The conscience of the Court should be satisfied as to the guilt of the person before he can be convicted. It is the probative force and the value of the evidence and not the sheer numerical strength of the witnesses which determines the guilt of any accused.

If the case against the accused rests on the evidence only of a single witness to the crime and his testimony is entitled to full credit, that evidence would be, sufficient to sustain a conviction. The question of corroborative evidence would not then arise at all.

Thus, the evidence of a single witness would in law warrant conviction if it is true and above reproach or suspicion and does not suffer from any infirmity or taint.

The same principles which apply to proof apply equally to disproof, and even as guilt of an accused may be proved by a single witness; his innocence also may be accepted on the testimony of a single reliable witness even though a number of other witnesses not so reliable may have testified to his guilt.