Supreme Court considered the effect of non-explanation of injuries sustained by the accused person in Takhaji Hiraji v. Thakore Kubersing Chamansing and others (2001) 6 SCC 145 and held as under:-
“17. The first question which arises for consideration is what is the effect of non-explanation of injuries sustained by the accused persons. In Rajender Singh v. State of Bihar (2000) 4 SCC 298, Ram Sunder Yadav v. State of Bihar (1998) 7 SCC 365 and Vijayee Singh v. State of U.P. (1990) 3 SCC 190, all three-Judge Bench decisions, the view taken consistently is that it cannot be held as a matter of law or invariably a rule that whenever the accused sustained an injury in the same occurrence, the prosecution is obliged to explain the injury and on the failure of the prosecution to do so the prosecution case should be disbelieved. Before nonexplanation of the injuries on the persons of the accused persons by the prosecution witnesses may affect the prosecution case, the court has to be satisfied of the existence of two conditions:
(i) that 7 the injury on the person of the accused was of a serious nature; and (ii) that such injuries must have been caused at the time of the occurrence in question. Non-explanation of injuries assumes greater significance when the evidence consists of interested or partisan witnesses or where the defence gives a version which competes in probability with that of the prosecution. Where the evidence is clear, cogent and creditworthy and where the court can distinguish the truth from falsehood the mere fact that the injuries on the side of the accused persons are not explained by the prosecution cannot by itself be a sole basis to reject the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and consequently the whole of the prosecution case.”
