133. Accomplice –
An accomplice shall be a competent witness against an accused person; and a conviction is not illegal merely because it proceeds upon the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.
COMMENTS
Accomplice need not be judged by independent evidence
Every detail of the story of the accomplice need not be confirmed by independent evidence although some additional independent evidence must be looked for to see whether the approver is speaking the truth and there must be some evidence, direct or circumstantial which connects the co-accused with the crime independently of the accomplice; Haroon Haji v. State of Maharashtra, AIR 1968 SC 832.
Importance of corroboration
On reading section 133 with illustration (B) to section 114. It is not illegal to act upon the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice it is a rule of prudence so universally followed as to amount almost to a rule of law that it is unsafe to act upon the evidence of an accomplice unless it is corroborated in material respect so as to implicate the accused and further that the evidence of one accomplice cannot be used to corroborate the evidence of another accomplice; Bhuboni Sabu v. Emperor, AIR 1949 PC 257.
Every approver comes to give evidence in some such manner seeking to purchase his immunity and that is why to start with he is an unreliable person and the rule of caution calling for material corroboration is constantly kept in mind by the court by time-worn judicial practice; Ravinder Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1975 SC 856.
The evidence of approver in regard to complicity of accused appellant in the conspiracy lacks corroboration on certain material particulars necessary for connecting the appellant; Balwant Kaur v. Union Territory of Chandigarh, 1988 Cr LJ 398: AIR 1988 SC 139.
