LexATBIR versus GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI
Open in Lexace · Ask the AI about this caseJudgment (excerpt)
[2010] 9 S.C.R. 993 ATBIR v. GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI (Criminal Appeal No. 870 of 2006) AUGUST 9, 2010 [P. ·sATHASIVAM AND DR. B. S. CHAUHAN, JJ.] A B Penal Code, 1860: s. 302134 - Triple Murder - Conviction by courts below on the basis of dying declaration and the motive for murder - One accused sentenced to death C while the other sentenced to life imprisonment - On appeal, held: Dying declaration of one of the deceased is reliable and admissible in evidence - The prosecution has also proved motive - Conviction imposed is justified """ As regards the accused who inflicted the injuries, death sentence is just as D his act was barbaric and inhuman - It is a gravest case of extreme culpability and rarest of rare case - Sentence I . Sentencing - Death sentence - Evidence Act, 1872 - s.32 - Dying Declaration - Criminal Law - Motive. F The two appellants-accused alongwith two other E accused were prosecuted for having killed three persons. The prosecution case was that the appellants- acc used demanded money and transfer of certain property in their name from their father (PW-5). PW-5 though agreed to do the same, but the appellants- accused apprehended that so long as the deceased persons (their step-mother 'Sh', step-brother 'M' and step- sister 'S') were alive, their father would not give them the property. Appellants-accused with their mother (absconding accused) and another person, entered the G house of their step-mother 'Sh', (deceased) bolted the door and asked for the money. On refusal by her, accused 'At' stabbed all the three inmates one by one, while the other accused persons were holding them. On 993 H 994 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2010] 9 S.C.R. A information of murder, the police officials went to the place of occurrence and found the dead bodies of the deceased 'Sh' and 'M'. 'S' was removed to the hospital. There she made her statement before the Police Officer on the endorsement given by the doctor (PW3) to the B effect that the patient was fit for statement. Subsequently, 'S' succumbed to the injuries. Appellants-accused were convicted by the trial court while the other accused was acquitted. The third accused (mother of the appellant- accused) remained absconding. Appellant-accused 'At' c was sentenced tO death and appellant-accused 'A' was sentenced to life imprisonment. The High Court dismissed the appeal of the accused i;ersons upholding their conviction. Death Reference was also confirmed by the High Court. Instant appeals were filed by the accused 0 persons. Dismissing the appeals, the Court HELD: 1.1. Dying declaration can be the sole basis of conviction, if it inspires the full confidence of the court. E The court should be satisfied that the deceased was in a fit state of mind at the time of making the statement and that it was not the result of tutoring, prompting or imagination. Where the court is satisfied that the declaration is true and voluntary, it can base its F conviction without any further corroboration. It cannot be laid down as an absolute rule of law that the dying declaration cannot form the sole basis of conviction unless it is corroborated. The rule requiring corroboration is merely a rule of prudence. Where dying declaration is suspicious, it should not be acted upon without G corroborative evidence. A dying declaration which suffers from infirmity such as the deceased was unconscious and could never make any statement, cannot form the basis of conviction. Merely because a dying declaration does not contain all the details as to the occurrence, it is H not to be rejected. When the eye-witness affirms that the ATBIR v. GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI 995 deceased was not in a fit and conscious state to make A the dying declaration, medical opinion cannot prevail. If after careful scrutiny, the court is satisfied that it is true and free from any effort to induce the deceased to make a false statement and if it is coherent and consistent, there shall be no legal impediment to make it basis of B conviction, even if there is no corroboration. [Para 16) 1006-H; 1007-A-H; 1008-A-B] 1.2. In the instant case, the trial court found the dying declaration credit-worthy and has held the same to have C been made by the deceased 'S' in a fit mental state to depose. After making the declaration, she herself signed the same and it also carried an endorsement by the doctor (PW 30) to the effect that she was in a
Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.