JUDGMENT B.D. Agarwal, J. 1. This is a unique case inasmuch as a father has been convicted for the offence of rape upon his married daughter. The appellant has been convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code vide judgment dated 2.2.2006, passed by Sri K. Dahotia, learned 2nd Additional Sessions Judge in Sessions Case No. 48 (S-S) of 2005 and the appellant has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 7 years and also to pay fine of Rs. 1,000/- with default stipulation of further RI for two months. Being aggrieved with the conviction, the convict has preferred this appeal from jail. 2. Heard Mr. S. Barua, Legal Aid Counsel as well as Mr. K. Munir, learned Addl. Public Prosecutor for the State. Also perused the impugned judgment and evidence on record. 3. As noted earlier, the victim is an adult woman and she was already married to a boy long before the alleged offence of rape. The prosecution story is that after the death of her mother, the victim woman was fostered by her uncle and aunt and they had also given her marriage with a boy namely, Tinku. During five years of matrimonial relation with Tinku, the victim woman gave birth to a child. When the victim was deserted by her husband, she again came to her uncle's house and took shelter there. It is the further case of the prosecution that due to a quarrel with the aunt, victim woman returned to her father's house where she was sexually molested by her father. 4. When the victim woman was carrying seven months pregnancy, her father ousted her and then she again came to her uncle's house, where her pregnancy was detected. After much persuasion and repeated interrogation, the victim woman disclosed that she had conceived the child through her father. Thereafter, a village meeting was held and when the victim's father did not admit his guilt, his daughter filed the FIR. 5. After filing of the charge-sheet, the accused was tried for the offence of rape. Altogether 8 (eight) witnesses were examined including the doctor, Judicial Magistrate and the Investigating Officer. The accused also examined his daughter-in-law as DW-1 to prove that his daughter became pregnant by some unknown person in the house of her uncle and aunt. 5. After filing of the charge-sheet, the accused was tried for the offence of rape. Altogether 8 (eight) witnesses were examined including the doctor, Judicial Magistrate and the Investigating Officer. The accused also examined his daughter-in-law as DW-1 to prove that his daughter became pregnant by some unknown person in the house of her uncle and aunt. Without any appreciation of the evidence of DW-1, the learned Sessions Judge has convicted the accused on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix. 6. It is true that for an offence of rape, an accused can be convicted on the sole testimony of the victim girl/victim woman, provided her testimony is unimpeachable wholly trustworthy and free from discrepancies. 7. In the case at hand, from the conduct and behaviour of the victim woman her evidence does not inspire confidence of the Court. Apparently, she was fostered by uncle and aunt (PWs-2 and 3) and after her desertion from the matrimonial home, she had taken shelter in the house of her uncle. It is not clear from the record as to how long the victim woman lived with her uncle after her separation from the husband. Be that as it may, according to the victim woman, she came to her father's house some time in the month of Aghun (corresponding to November-December) and soon thereafter, she was subjected to sexual assault by her father. It may be noted here that FIR was filed in the month of August, 2004 and by that time, PW-1 was already pregnant by seven months. In this way, the father had allegedly ravished his own daughter from day one of her return from her uncle's house, which is hard to believe. 8. In the Indian society, it is very rare that a father would sexually assault his own daughter, though there may be certain exceptions. In the present case, victim woman was a married daughter and as such, her father would not have dared to establish physical relation within few days of her returning home. The victim's testimony is totally silent to disclose that before committing the act of sex, the accused had made certain overtures or had given certain indications of his bad intention and the victim had objected to that. 9. PW-2 is the uncle. The victim's testimony is totally silent to disclose that before committing the act of sex, the accused had made certain overtures or had given certain indications of his bad intention and the victim had objected to that. 9. PW-2 is the uncle. He wrote the FIR on behalf of his niece and he was also reported by the niece that her father had established physical relation. 10. PW-3 is the aunt of the victim woman. She has admitted that the victim was not only reluctant to disclose the name of the person through whom she had become pregnant, but she had even tried to hide the fact of becoming pregnant itself. 11. In my considered opinion, if the victim woman was sexually abused by her father, she was expected to report it to her uncle and aunt, since they were her de-facto guardian as they had fostered her from the childhood. At least there was no reason to hide the pregnancy and to name the culprit to her aunt after being driven out by her father. Hence, non-disclosure of the fact of pregnancy smacks of infidelity of PW-1 and she is not a reliable witness. 12. In the case of Raju v. State of Madhya Pradesh; reported in (2008) 15 SCC 133 : ( AIR 2009 SC 858 ), the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that testimony of the victim of a rape cannot be presumed to be a gospel truth and the relevant observations of the Hon'ble Supreme Court can be profitably reproduced below : 11. It cannot be lost sight of that rape causes the greatest distress and humiliation to the victim but at the same time a false allegation of rape can cause equal distress, humiliation and damage to the accused as well. The accused must also be protected against the possibility of false implication, particularly where a large number of accused are involved. It must, further, be borne in mind that the broad principle is that an injured witness was present at the time when the incident happened and that ordinarily such a witness would not tell a lie as to the actual assailants, but there is no presumption or any basis for assuming that the statement of such a witness is always correct or without any embellishment or exaggeration. 13. 13. In the case of Abbas Ahmed Choudhury v. State of Assam : (2010) 12 SCC 115 : (2010 Cri LJ 2060), the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that though the statement of prosecutrix must be given prime consideration, at the same time, broad principle that the prosecution has to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt applies equally to a case of rape and there could be no presumption that a prosecutrix would always tell the entire story truthfully. In the instant case, not only the testimony of the victim woman is highly disputed and unreliable, her testimony has been thoroughly demolished by the deposition of DW-1. 14. In the case of Munshi v. State of Bihar; (2002) 1 SCC 351 : (2001 Cri LJ 4708) as well as in the case of State of Haryana v. Ram Singh : reported in AIR 2002 SC 620 , the Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed that evidence tendered by the defence witnesses cannot always be termed to be a tainted one and the defence witnesses are entitled to equal treatment and equal respect as that of the prosecution witnesses. There are umpteen number of authorities on this principle. 15. In the case before me, the accused had examined his daughter-in-law as DW-1. Ordinarily when a daughter-in-law is reported or comes to know about immoral character of her father-in-law, she is likely to take the side of the victim. However, in the present case, DW-1 has deposed that her sister-in-law (victim) became pregnant when she was staying in the house of her uncle and not through her father-in-law (accused). DW-1 has further deposed that she learnt from the victim's aunt that her uncle was in the habit of sleeping with the victim girl. In this way, DW-1 has given a clean-chit to her father-in-law. However, the learned Sessions Judge has not specified or assigned any reason to disbelieve DW-1. 16. It has been noticed by the Court that mostly investigations are done perfunctorily and charge-sheets are submitted by recording the statements of few witnesses. At least in serious matters, the I.O. should make an attempt to do the investigation in scientific manner. However, the learned Sessions Judge has not specified or assigned any reason to disbelieve DW-1. 16. It has been noticed by the Court that mostly investigations are done perfunctorily and charge-sheets are submitted by recording the statements of few witnesses. At least in serious matters, the I.O. should make an attempt to do the investigation in scientific manner. In the present case, the I.O. ought to have made a prayer for DNA test inasmuch as victim girl was implicating her father for the offence of rape and also she had delivered an illegitimate child after two months of lodging of FIR. However, instead of investigating the case scientifically, the charge-sheet was submitted on the basis of few statements of witnesses, implicating the father of a married daughter as an accused of rape and unfortunately, the Court also convicted the accused mechanically. 17. In my considered opinion, the learned Trial Judge could have played a pro-active and better role to ascertain the truth as to whether the accused was the actual person, who had subjected the victim to illicit intercourse, or that the victim woman might have established physical relation with a third person. It was necessary in the back-drop of the fact that a stigma was cast on the character of the accused, who was none-else but the own father of the victim woman. However, by writing a perfunctory judgment, the accused/appellant was convicted for serious offence of rape. What should be the approach of the court in a criminal trial can be envisaged from the following two judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. 18. Shakila Abdul Gafar Khan v. Vasant Raghunath Dhoble; (2003) 7 SCC 749 : The courts exist for doing justice to the persons who are affected. The trial/first appellate courts cannot get swayed by abstract technicalities and close their eyes to factors which need to be positively probed and noticed. The court is not merely to act as a tape recorder recording evidence, overlooking the object of trial i.e. to get at the truth, and oblivious to the active role to be played for which there is not only ample scope but sufficient powers conferred under the Code. It has a greater duty and responsibility i.e. to render justice in a case where the role of the prosecuting-agency itself is put in issue. 19. It has a greater duty and responsibility i.e. to render justice in a case where the role of the prosecuting-agency itself is put in issue. 19. Zahira Habibullah Sheikh (5) v. State of Gujarat; (2006) 3 SCC 374 : This Court has often emphasised that in a criminal case the fate of the proceedings cannot always be left entirely in the hands of the parties, crime being public wrong in breach and violation of public rights and duties, which affects the whole community as a community and is harmful to society in general. The concept of fair trial entails familiar triangulation of interests of the accused, the victim and the society and it is the community that acts through the State and prosecuting agencies. Interest of society is not to be treated completely with disdain and as persona non grata. The courts have always been considered to have an overriding duty to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice--often referred to as the duty to vindicate and uphold the "majesty of the law". Due administration of justice has always been viewed as a continuous process not confined to determination of the particular, case; protecting its ability to function as a court of law in the future as in the case before it. If a criminal court is to be an effective instrument in dispensing justice, the Presiding Judge must cease to be a spectator and a mere recording machine by becoming a participant in the trial evincing intelligence, active interest and elicit all relevant materials necessary for reaching the correct conclusion to find out the truth, and administer justice with fairness and impartiality both to the parties and to the community it serves. The courts administering criminal justice cannot turn a blind eye to vexatious or oppressive conduct that has occurred in relation to proceedings, even if a fair trial is still possible, except at the risk of undermining the fair name and standing of the Judges as impartial and independent adjudicators. 20. In view of incredible testimony of the victim woman, which has been thoroughly over-ruled by her own sister-in-law and other inherent deficiencies in the prosecution evidence I hold that the impugned judgment is unsustainable in law and on facts. Consequently, it is set aside. 21. In the result, the appeal stands allowed. The conviction of the appellant under Section 376 of the IPC is hereby quashed. Consequently, it is set aside. 21. In the result, the appeal stands allowed. The conviction of the appellant under Section 376 of the IPC is hereby quashed. He is directed to be set at liberty forthwith. 22. The Registry is directed to issue release order immediately. Return the LCR with a copy of this judgment. Appeal allowed.