Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, when do omissions in a witness's police statement amount to contradictions usable against the prosecution under the Explanation to Section 162?

Where the omissions are material and relevant — such as the specific weapon or role attributed to a named accused, left out of the police statement but introduced for the first time in the deposition — they constitute contradictions in view of the Explanation to Section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and such contradictions across the eyewitnesses are fatal to the prosecution's case.

Indian Penal Code, 1860 — ss.147, 148, 302/149, 307/149 — Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s.162 Explanation — Identification of accused in Court — Omissions as contradictions — Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s.162 Explanation — Identification in Court and omissions as contradictions — Held: An eyewitness who claims to have known the accused before the incident must still identify the accused present in Court as the very persons whom he saw committing the offence. Material omissions brought out in cross-examination, touching the specific weapon and role attributed to each accused, constitute contradictions in view of the Explanation to Section 162, weakening the eyewitness evidence. (¶21, 23) Indian Penal Code, 1860 — ss.302/149, 307/149 — Proof beyond reasonable doubt — Acquittal — Held further: Where none of the eyewitnesses, though each knew the accused before the incident, identifies them in Court, and their versions differ in material particulars, the guilt of the accused is not proved beyond reasonable doubt. The judgment of conviction under Sections 302 and 307, both read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, is accordingly quashed and set aside, and the appellants stand acquitted of the offences alleged against them. (¶25, 26)

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