SWARN SINGH . vs STATE OF PUNJAB — Crl.A. No. 787/1999

Case Summary: Swarn Singh v. State of Punjab (Crl.A. No. 787/1999) Outcome: The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the convictions and life sentences of both appellants (Swarn Singh and Mahinder Singh for murder of Harband Singh), and acquitted them. The court found the sole eyewitness testimony unreliable and lacking corroboration. Reasoning: The appellants were originally convicted based primarily on testimony of PW2 (the deceased's brother). However, the FIR lodger (PW12) recanted his statement when examined later, the murder weapon contained no blood evidence, and the witness made material improvements to his account not mentioned in his original police statement. Without corroborating circumstance and given the witness's familial relation to the deceased (creating potential bias), the court found insufficient grounds to sustain conviction. Directions: Appellants were directed to be released immediately unless required in other cases. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.