State Of Orissa vs Prasanna Kumar Mohanty

The Supreme Court addressed the issue of the right to cross-examine witnesses under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code and Section 33 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The Court held that the absence of a witness for cross-examination undermines the reliability of their examination-in-chief, as established in Gopal Saran v. Satyanarayan (1989). The Court concluded that the High Court's reliance on the witness's examination-in-chief was misplaced, given the circumstances of the case, and emphasized the necessity of cross-examination for assessing witness credibility.