Lucknow, March 1 The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has ruled that the credibility of an FIR cannot be doubted simply because it was prepared with the assistance of a lawyer.
With this observation, the court upheld a person's conviction, even though it reduced his sentence from life imprisonment to 14 years in a case involving an acid attack in which two women were killed.
A bench comprising Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and A K Chaudhary passed the verdict on February 27 in response to a plea filed by Jagdamba Harijan of Pratapgarh.
The sessions court in Pratapgarh had sentenced the appellant to life imprisonment for culpable homicide by acid attack on two women.
The appellant's main argument was that the FIR was filed two days later and was prepared with the assistance of a private lawyer, making the report false.
However, the high court rejected this argument and clarified that the preparation of an FIR with the assistance of a lawyer does not automatically affect its credibility.
The court stated that while legal assistance is permissible in every criminal proceeding, seeking assistance at the time of filing an FIR is also normal and should not cast doubt on the veracity of any facts.
"The evidence on record demonstrates that witness statements, and medical and forensic reports supported the prosecution case," the bench said.
However, the court reduced the sentence from life imprisonment to 14 years in prison. It also noted that the appellant had already spent 13 years, 9 months and 24 days in prison.
