LexDAYAL SINGH versus STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
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/' DAYAL SINGH v. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA MAY 3, 2007 [G.P. MA THUR AND A.K. MA THUR, JJ.] Constitution of India-Article I 36-Penal Code, I 860-Sections 498A & · 302-Criminal Procedure Code, 1973-Section 161-Evidence Act, A B I 872-Section 32-Accused charged for cruelty and murder of his wife on C the basis of her dying declaration recorded by a Police Head Constable- Trial Court holding the accused guilty and sentencing him to imprisonment- High Court, in appeal, confirmed the conviction and sentence-Correctness of-Authenticity of Dying declaration-Held, Section 32 of the Evidence Act does not require that a dying declaration must be recorded by a Magistrate before treating it as evidence-On evidence on record, there is no reason D to discard the dying declaration-Hence, the charge against the accused is fully established and thus conviction and sentence upheld. Appellant was charged for offences under sections 498A and 302 IPC for committing cruelty on his wife for not bringing money from her parents and for murder by setting her abla7.e in his house. The appellant was charged E for the offences on the basis of a dying declaration given by her to PW 10- Head Constable. Trial Court, relying on the dying declaration, convicted the appellant under sections 498A and 302 IPC and sentenced him to six months RI. and life imprisonment respectively. High Court, in appea~ confirmed the conviction and sentence awarded by the trial court. F In appeal to this court, the appellant contended that the dying declaration given by the deceased was a fabricated document to implicate him in the murder; that the deceased was a Sikh lady and hence she could have given a dying declaration in Marathi which was recorded by PW 10-Head constable; that the dying declaration is not safe to rely upon since it has not been G recorded by a Magistrate; that the dying declaration has been recorded in a narrative form and not in a question-answer form; and that the Investigating Officer did not record the statements of PW 9-Doctor and PW 10 under section 161 Cr.P.C. during the course of investigation and, therefore, their 1173 H 1174 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007) 5 S.C.R. A testimony should not be relied upon. Dismissing the appeal, the Court HELD: 1.1. In an appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution oflndia, this Court will normally not enter into reappraisal or the review of evidence B unless the trial court or the High Court is shown to have committed an error of law or procedure and the conclusions arrived at are perverse. This Court may interfere where on proved facts, wrong inference of law is shown to have been drawn. !Para 4] [1177-E-F] Ramanbhai Naranbhai Patel v. State of Gujarat, [2000) I SCC 358; C and Chandra Bihari Gautam v. State of Bihar, [2002) 9 SCC 208, referred to. 1.2. The evidence on recording the statements of PW 1 and PW 4, mother and brother of the deceased respectively, conclusively establish the fact that the appellant was ill-treating the deceased as his demand for bring money D from her parental home had not been established. These witnesses have also deposed that the deceased gave a statement when she was admitted in the hospital that it was the appellant who had poured kerosene upon her and had set her on fire. A formal dying declaration of the deceased was recorded by PW J 0-Head Constable in the presence of PW 9-Doctor in the hospital. PW 9 deposed that he had examined the victim and had talked to her and she was E conscious throughout when her statement was being recorded by PW 10. There is absolutely no reason to cast any doubt on the testimony of PW 10 and PW 9. Both are government servants and they did not at all know the appellant and had no reason to fabricate the dying declaration to falsely implicate him in a murder case. [Para 8) [1180-B-E) F 1.3. The evidence shows that the parents of the deceased were residing in a place in Maharashtra and is a Marathi speaking area. After marriage, she continued to live there. It has come in the statement of her brother PW 4 that the deceased had studied upto 10th class in a Marathi medium school. Having lived in Maharashtra and having studied upto 10th class in a Marathi G medium school, there is nothing abnormal in the deceased giving her statement in Marathi language. The deceased gave a dying declaration has not only been deposed to by PW 10-Head constable but also by PW 9-Doctor. There is thus abs
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