PAWAN KUMAR versus STATE OF H.P.

Citation: [2017] 3 S.C.R. 458 · Decided: 28-04-2017 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: DIPAK MISRA · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

A 
B 
[2017] 3 S.C.R. 458 
PAWAN KUMAR 
v. 
STATE OF H.P. 
(Criminal Appeal No, 775of2017) 
APRIL 28, 2017 
[DIPAK MISRA, A.M. KHANWILKAR AND 
MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, JJ.I 
Penal Code, 1860: 
C 
s. 306 - Abetment of suicide - Conviction and sentence under 
- Correctness of - On facts, accused after acquittal in a cc.se u/ss. 
363, 366 aand 376 IPC, used to threaten the informant's daughter 
that he would kidnap her and had be_en constantly teasing her -
Girl committed suicide by setting herself ablaze - Recording of 
victim's dying declaration by Head Constable and thereafte1; victim 
D succumbed to her i1y'uries - Acquittal by the trial court, however, 
the High Court convicted the accused uls. 306 and sentenced 
accordingly - Held: Certificate of jltness is not the requirement of 
law, thus, in absence of the same, there was no reason to disregard 
the dying declaration - Head Constable recorded dying declaration 
E as narrated by the deceased and the deceased wrote that accused 
alone was responsible for her death - Same was recorded in 
presence of the doctor who had appended his signature - Trial 
court was swayed away by the burn injuries, whereas there cannot 
be ar. absolute rule that a person who suffered 80% burn injuries 
cannot give a dying declaration - Further, the dying declaration 
F 
was corroborated by other witnesses - Testimony of the parents in 
entirety, was unimpeachable and deserve credence - Accused had 
by his active acts and by his continuous course of conduct created 
such a situation which compelled the girl to commit suicide - No 
material found that the victim was hypersensitive - Accused played 
G active role in tarnishing the self-esteem and self-respect of the victim 
which drove her to commit suicide - Thus, the High Court was correct 
in reversing the acquittal and sentencing accordingly~- Evidence -
Dying declaration. 
s. 306 - Abetment of suicide - When attracted - Explained. 
H 
458 
PAWAN KUMAR v. STATE OF H.P. 
459 
Evidence - Dying Declaration - Certificate of fitness of A 
declarant by doctor - Requirement of - Held: Certificate of fitness 
by the doctor is not the requirement of law. 
Eve Teasing - Practice of eve teasing of women deprecated 
by the Court - Eve teasing causes harassment to women - It ajfects 
right of women under Art. 14, 15 and 2 l' - Constitution of India -
B 
· Arts. 14, 15 and 21. 
Words and phrases: 
Word 'abetment' - Meaning of. in the context of ss. 306, 107 
Penal Code, 1860. 
Word 'instigate' and 'urge forward' - Meaning of 
Dismissing the app,eal, the Court 
c 
HELD: 1.1 On a careful scrutiny of the original record-dying 
declaration Ex.PW-10/A, it is found that the Head Constable had 
written what the deceased had spoken and thereafter the D 
deceased had written that the accused alone was responsible for 
her death. The dying declaration, as has been recorded ,by the 
Head Constable, eloquently states about the constant teasing of 
the victim by the accused. The same has been recorded in 
presence of the doctor, PW-10, who had appended his signature. 
PW-10 has stood firm in his testimony that the victim was in a fit 
E 
condition to speak. Despite the roving cross-examination he has 
not paved the path of tergiversation. The trial court disregarded 
, the testimony of PW-10 on the ground that there is no certificate 
of fitness. There is no reason to disregard the dying declaration. 
A certificate of fitness is not the requirement of law. The trial 
F 
court was swayed away by the burn injuries. There cannot be an 
absolute rule that a person who has suffered 80% burn injuries 
cannot give a dying declaration. Her dying declaration received 
support from the other witnesses. In view of the corroborative 
evidence, the High Court correctly relied upon this aspect an<l 
reversed the finding of the trial court. [Paras 24, 27, 281(474-E-
G 
F; 477-A-B, H; 478-A] 
Gulzari Lal v. State of Haryana (2016) 4 SCC 583; 
Laxman v. State of Maharashtra (2002) 6 SCC 710; 
Atbir v. Government of NCT of Delhi (2010) 9 SCR 
993: (2010) 9 SCC 1 - relied on. 
H 
460 
A 
B 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2017] 3 S.C.R. 
1.2 As far as reliability of evidence of PW-1 and PW-9, the 
parents of the victim are concerned, the reasons for not treating 
their version as reliable is based on the fact that they had not 
reported the incident in writing to the Gram Panchayat. On a 
perusal of the evidence in entirety, it is found that the High Court 
appropriately dislodged the an
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