Failure to record a witness statement promptly may affect reliability

PW-10 was presented as an eyewitness to the later incident. No statement from her was recorded by police at the first instance. She was admittedly present at the premises. The absence of a Section 161 statement was noted by the Court. This circumstance was considered alongside the other evidentiary gaps. It was not treated as a standalone universal rule. In this case, it weakened reliance on her later account. The Court assessed reliability in the totality of circumstances. Jaswinder Singh @ Shinder Singh v. State of Punjab | 2026 INSC 23