28 33. DNA evidence was also relied upon by the prosecution, by projecting a scenario that Ajit Pal had struggled with his assailant and in the course of that scuffle, he managed to pull out some hair from the head of his assailant and they remained in his hand till the discovery of his body. DNA analysis of that hair proved that they were those of Rajesh Yadav. However, this story is found to be bereft of logic. According to Raja Yadav’s Arrest Memo (Ex. P20), he was 5.8” in height and the prosecution would have it that he caught hold of Ajit Pal, a 15-year-old boy, who was 5.4” in height from behind and Rajesh Yadav, who was 5.7” in height, as per his Arrest Memo (Ex. P36), cut his throat. The possibility of Ajit Pal, held by a much taller Raja Yadav, managing to get his hands on Rajesh Yadav’s head, who was also much taller than him, whereby he could have plucked out any hair is inherently improbable. This scenario does not lend itself to credibility and seems to have been concocted so that Rajesh Yadav’s hair would be conveniently available for DNA analysis to corroborate the prosecution’s case. Further, as there is a doubt as to when Rajesh Yadav was taken by the police and as to whether his hair could have been pulled out by the police while he was in their control, the possibility of such evidence being introduced by the police themselves cannot be ruled out. In Manoj and others vs. State of Madhya Pradesh 15, a 3-Judge Bench of this Court refused to rely on DNA evidence, inter alia, as the genuineness of 15 (2023) 2 SCC 353

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