Whether accused is entitled to be acquitted if prosecution has failed to examine the Ballistic Expert?

 Apart from that, it is to be noted that

even according to PW-11, the gun which was recovered from

the car had two empty cartridges (Ex. P10 and P11).

Furthermore, the evidence of Dr. Rakesh Kumar Goel (PW-5),

who had conducted the post-mortem of the deceased, would

show that there was no external exit wound, and wad and

pellets were preserved and sealed. It is to be noted that apart

from not collecting any evidence as to whether the said gun

belonged to the appellant Manjit Kaur, even the Ballistic

Expert has not been examined to show that the wad and

pellets were fired from the empty cartridges (Ex. P10 and P11).

23. It will be relevant to refer to the following observations of

this Court in the case of Sukhwant Singh v. State of

Punjab (1995) 3 SCC 367.

“21. ………It hardly needs to be emphasised that

in cases where injuries are caused by firearms,

the opinion of the ballistic expert is of a

considerable importance where both the firearm

and the crime cartridge are recovered during the

investigation to connect an accused with the

crime. Failure to produce the expert opinion

before the trial court in such cases affects the

creditworthiness of the prosecution case to a great

extent.”

REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1635 OF 2010

PRITINDER SINGH @ LOVELY Vs THE STATE OF PUNJAB 

Author: B.R. GAVAI, J.

Dated: JULY 05, 2023.

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