LexAMARSINGH MUNNASINGH SURYAWANSHI versus STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
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__, AMARSINGH MUNNASINGH SURYA W ANSHI A V. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA SEPTEMBER 27, 2007 [S.B. SINHA AND HARJIT SINGH BEDI, JJ.] B Penal Code, 1860: y s. 302-Accused causing death of his wife by pouring kerosene c and setting her afire-Absconding for about a month-Two dying declarations of deceased implicating her husband-Conviction by trial court-Affirmed by High Court-HELD: Conviction can be based on dying declaration alone, subject to the satisfaction of the court that .. the same is trust worthy-Nothing has been brought on record to show ' that death was a result of accident-Plea of accused that there was D no intention on his part to cause the death cannot be accepted- Evidence-Dying declaration. ,__ The appellant was prosecuted for causing death of his wife by -If setting her afire. The prosecution case was that the appellant was E unemployed; he was said to be addicted to liquor and used to illtreat his wife who was working as a labourer. On the fateful day, while appellant's wife was serving food to him at about 9 P.M., he took out kerosene from the lamp, poured it on her and set her ablaze. He, thereafter, fled away. On hearing the cries the neighbours came F and extinguished the fire. Somebody informed her uncle who visited her the following morning and took her to the hospital. In the hospital, two dying declarations were recorded: first by the Head Constable (PW-6) and the second by the Special Judicial Magistrate (PW-8). The victim died about 15 days after the incident. The G appellant was absconding and he surrendered after about a month. Before the trial court, the son of the deceased (PW-2) was examined -( by the prosecution to prove the commission of offence, but he turned hostile. The trial court, however, on the basis of the two dying 1 H 2 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 11 S.C.R. A declarations, convicted the accused of the offence and sentenced him to imprisonment for life. The High Court dismissed the appeal. B c In the instant appeal, it was contended for the accused-appellant that with regard to the dying declarations, no certificate was obtained as to the mental condition of the victim to make the statement; that the first dying declaration having been recorded in Marathi and the mother tongue of the deceased being Hindi, it created a doubt as to whether the deceased understood the implication of the statement made by her; and t.hat PW-2, the only eye witness, did not support the prosecution case. Dismissing the appeal, the Court .• HELD: 1. Indisputably, apart from the two dying declarations, no substantive evidence has been brought on record to prove the prosecution case. It is now a well settled principle of law that a D conviction can be based on the dying declaration alone, subject of course, to the satisfaction of the Court that the same is trustworthy. [Para 13 and 27) [6-H; 9-D] Ravi Kumar alias Kutti Raviv. State of Tamil Nadu, [2006) 9 SCC E 240; State of Rajas than v. Parthu, (2007) 11 SCALE 460; Raj Kumar Prasad Tamarkar v. State of Bihar and Anr., (2007) 1SCALE19; and Virsa Singh v. State of Punjab, [1958) SCR 1495, relied on. P. Mani v. State of Tamil Nadu, [2006) 3 SCC 161; K. Ramachandra ReddyandAnr., v. The Public Prosecutor, [1976) 3 SCC F 618; and Mehiboobsab Abbas a bi Nada/ v. State ofKarnataka, (2007) 9 SCALE 473, distinguished G H Nallapati Sivaiahv. Sub-Divisional Officer, Guntur, A.P., (2007) 1 11SCALE477, referred to. 2. Both the witnesses who recorded the dying declarations satisfied themselves that the deceased answered the questions after understanding the effect thereof. The first dying declaration was recorded by P.W.6-Head Constable. He, before recording the dying declaration, took the opinion of the Medical Officer. He was told that AMARSINGHMUNNASINGHSURYAWANSHlv. STATE 3 the deceased was conscious and fit to make a statement. Only A thereafter the statement of the deceased was recorded. The other dying declaration was recorded by P. W.8 who was the Special Judicial Magistrate. Before recording the dying declaration, this witness took the necessary precaution of obtaining the opinion of the medical officer as to whether the deceased was in a fit mental condition to B give her statement and having received the answer in the affirmative, he recorded her statement in question and answer form. In the second dying declaration (Exhibit 43), not only the thumb impression of the dec
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