145;Identification in court valid proof146;

Departing from settled principles of law, the Supreme Court has ruled that identification of accused for the first time in the trial court by a victim, not preceded by a test identification parade, may be treated as evidence.

Upholding conviction of three persons in a gangrape case, a bench comprising Justices N. Santosh Hegde, Ashok Bhan and B.P. Singh said in appropriate cases, the trial courts can accept identification of the accused by the victim for the first time in court as evidence.

8216;8216;What weight must be attached to the evidence of identification in court, which is not preceded by a test identification parade, is a matter for the courts of fact to examine,8217;8217; Justice Singh said. In March 1992, three persons had raped a tribal teacher on her way to school in broad daylight. The victim had identified the accused for the first time in court. Relying on this and medical evidence, the trial court had convicted the three and the Madhya Pradesh HC had upheld the conviction.