RAJU @ BALACHANDRAN vs STATE OF TAMIL NADU

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the appellants under Section 302 IPC for the murder of Veerappan and his mother Marudayi, affirming the credibility of eyewitness testimony from PW-5 Srinivasan despite his familial relation to the victims. The Court found no reason to disbelieve the evidence presented, which included the brutal nature of the attack and the subsequent confessions leading to the recovery of the murder weapons. The judgment reinforces the principle that eyewitness testimony can be reliable even when the witness is related to the victim, provided it is corroborated by other evidence.