Principle “Falsus In Uno, Falsus In Omnibus” Not Applicable To Indian Courts : Supreme Court Reiterates

The Supreme Court reiterated that the principle “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus” has got no application to the courts in India.

It is the duty of the Court to remove the chaff from the grain in its pursuit for truth, the bench of Justices MM Sundresh and JB Pardiwala observed while dismissing a criminal appeal.

In this case, the accused was concurrently convicted by the Trial Court and the High Court of Karnataka for the offences under Section 302 read with Sections 120B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

One of the contentions raised in the appeal was that the High Court has committed an error in placing partial reliance upon the evidence of some prosecution witnessses, having been found that their testimony cannot be relied upon for the charge pertaining to the death of the deceased, the same ought to have been applied for the other offences as well.

"The principle governing “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus” has got no application to the courts in India. Therefore, it is the duty of the Court to remove the chaff from the grain in its pursuit for truth. As rightly held by the High Court PW1, PW27 and PW28 are the injured eyewitnesses. They were attacked along with deceased no.1. The reasoning adopted for the acquittal of the accused qua the death of deceased no.2 cannot be imported to that of the first accused and the injuries caused to the aforesaid three witnesses. Thus, we do not find any error in the approach adopted by the High Court.", the court observed while dismissing the appeal.

T G Krishnamurthy vs State of Karnataka | 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 671 | CrA 1265/2012

Criminal Trial - Principle governing “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus” has got no application to the courts in India. Therefore, it is the duty of the Court to remove the chaff from the grain in its pursuit for truth. (Para 7)

Click Here To Read/Download Order