S. Saghir Ahmad, J. - (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) The well-known maxim that "Evidence has to be weighed and not counted" has been given statutory placement in Section 134 of the Evidence Act which provides as under:- "134. No particular number of witnesses shall in any case be required for the proof of any fact."
(3.) This section marks a departure from the English Law where a number of statutes stilt prohibit convictions for certain categories of offences on the testimony of a single witness. This difference was noticed by the Privy Council in Mohamed Sunal Esa Mamasn Rer Alalah vs. The King, AIR 1946 PC 3) wherein it was laid down as under : "It was also submitted on behalf of the appellant that assuming the unsworned evidence was admissible the Court could not act upon it unless it was corroborated. In England, where provision has been made for the reception of unsworned evidence from a child, it has always been provided that the evidence must be corroborated in some material particular(ly ) implicating the accused. But in the Indian Act there is no such provision and the evidence is made admissible whether corroborated or not. Once there is admissible evidence a Court can act upon it : corroboration unless required by statute goes only to the weight and value of the evidence. It is a sound rule in practice not to act on the uncorroborated evidence of a child, whether sworn or unsworned but, this is a rule of prudence and not of law." ;