Find out the correct statement with respect to the related/interested witness –

(i) ‘Related’ is equivalent to the ‘interested’.

(ii) A witness may be called interested only when he/she derives some benefit from the result of litigation, in the decree in a civil case or in seeing an accused person punished.

(iii) A witness who is a natural one and is the only possible eye witness in the circumstances of a case can be said to be interested.

(iv) It is well settled that a related witness cannot be said to be an ‘interested’ witness merely by virtue of being a relative of the victim.

(v) A witness is normally to be considered independent unless he or she springs from sources which are likely to be tainted and that usually means unless the witness has cause such enmity against accused, to wish to implicate them falsely. Ordinarily, a close relative would be last to screen the real culprit and falsely implicate and innocent person.

(vi) Where the court is called upon to deal with the evidence of the interested witness, the approach of the court while appreciating the evidence of such witness must be pedantic.

(vii) The court must be cautious in appreciating and accepting the evidence given by the interested witnesses but the court must not be suspicious of such evidence. 

(viii) The primary endeavour of the court must be to look for consistency. The evidence of witness cannot be ignored or thrown out solely because it comes from the mouth of a

person who is closely related to the victim.