RAJA GOUNDER vs STATE OF TAMIL NADU

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the appellants for murder, emphasizing that the delay in lodging the FIR was satisfactorily explained by the distress of the witness, PW.1, who was the young widow of the deceased. The Court found no discrepancies between the ocular and medical evidence, affirming that the absence of independent witnesses was reasonable given the family dispute context. The judgment reinforced the principle that the credibility of eyewitness testimony can stand even in the absence of corroborative evidence, leading to the dismissal of the appeal.