Muhammad Panah vs. State, 2011 YLR 1811 (Pakistan)

The case involved the murder of two persons committed due to enmity over a parcel of land and alleged illicit relations. The accused assailed the testimony of the prosecution for alleged numerous inconsistencies, pertaining to the distance between the dead bodies and the availability of seedling paddy crops. According to the court, even the testimony of a single witness if found to be reliable, confidence-inspiring and unimpeachable, would be a sufficient basis for conviction. It is not necessary that in each and every case there should be more than one witness for the purpose of a conviction considering the fact also that it is not the quantity of evidence but the quality of evidence on which conviction is to be based. In this case, the court noted that there is no material contradiction in the testimonies of the complainants who are the natural eye-witnesses to the incident, and are consistent with the medical evidence as well as ocular evidence.