NDLI: Hiraman Vs. State of Maharashtra

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	burn injuries dying declarations
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Act(s) Referred	Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872)
Case(s) Referred	Referred Case 0 Referred Case 1 Referred Case 2 Referred Case 3 Referred Case 4 Referred Case 5 Referred Case 6 Referred Case 7 Referred Case 8 Referred Case 9
Case Type	Appeal
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Appeal Dismissed
Headnote	Evidence Act, 1872 - s. 32 - Relevance of dying declarations - Approach to be adopted by the Courts with respect thereto - Held: By enacting s.32(1) in the Evidence Act, the legislature has accorded a special sanctity to the statement made by a dying person as to the cause of his own death - This is by virtue of the solemn occasion when such statement is made - Besides, when such statement is made at the earliest opportunity without any influence being brought on the dying person, there is absolutely no reason to take any other view for the cause of his or her death - Absence of any corroboration cannot take away its relevance - Exaggerated doubts, on account of absence of corroboration, will only lead to unmerited acquittals, causing grave harm to the cause of justice and ultimately to the social fabric - On facts, the dying declarations of the appellant's wife gave the real cause of her burn injuries - The victim having suffered 91% burn injuries, there was hardly any time to secure the presence of competent magistrate or to record her statement in a detailed question- answer form - Absence of these factors itself did not take away the evidentiary value of the recorded statement - There were two dying declarations recorded at the earliest opportunity - They contained the motive for the crime, and the reasons as to why the deceased suffered the burn injuries viz., the greed of the appellant to which the deceased had refused to succumb - As far as her statements viz., that the appellant had poured kerosene and set her on fire is concerned, there is no reason to discard it considering the fact that it was made at the earliest opportunity and on a solemn occasion - The defence put up a story which was totally inconsistent with the facts on record, and is a clear afterthought and therefore unacceptable - The prosecution proved its case beyond any reasonable doubt.The appellant's wife died an unnatural death, having suffered 91 % burn injuries. The trial court held the appellant responsible for the same, principally on the basis of her dying declarations, and convicted him for cruelty and murder under Sections 498-A and 302 of IPC. The conviction u/s 302 of IPC was confirmed by the High Court in Criminal Appeal, though the one under Section 498-A of IPC was set-aside for the lack of sufficient evidence. The Courts below accepted the two dying declarations of deceased 'C' as giving the correct cause for the burn injuries viz. that they were caused by the appellant. They rejected the defence of the appellant that he was nowhere near the deceased at the time of the incident and that he was not responsible for the same. The judgment of the High Court was challenged before this Court for being rendered solely on the basis of dying declarations. The instant appeal thus raises question about the relevance of dying declarations, and the approach to be adopted by the Courts with respect thereto.
Judge	Hon'ble Mr. Justice H.L. Gokhale
Neutral Citation	2013 INSC 67
Petitioner	Hiraman
Respondent	State Of Maharashtra
SCR	[2013] 3 S.C.R. 119
Judgement Date	2013-01-31
Case Number	1288

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