SUNDER SINGH versus STATE OF UTTARANCHAL

Citation: [2010] 11 S.C.R. 927 · Decided: 16-09-2010 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: V.S. SIRPURKAR · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

[2010] 11 S.C.R. 927 
SUNDER SINGH 
V. 
STATE OF UTTARANCHAL 
(Criminal Appeal No. 1164 of 2005) 
SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 
[V.S. SIRPURKAR AND A.K. PATNAIK, JJ.] 
A 
B 
Penal Code, 1860: s. 302 -
Gruesome murders -
Accused allegedly put house on fire, when victim family was 
having dinner inside, and locked the house from outside -
C 
When one victim tried to escape, accused gave sword attack 
on his neck - All the victims except one succumbed to burn 
injuries ~ Dying declaration - Surviving victim suffered 70% 
bum injuries - Accused remaining absconded - Found after 
12 years- Trial court convicted accused u/s.302 and awarded o 
death sentence - High Court affirmed the same - On appeal, 
held: No reason to interfere with the order of conviction and 
sentence - The dying declaration was found to be voluntary 
and truthful - Surviving victim was a natural witness and she 
herself was injured - The accused was her husband's cousin 
E 
thus no scope for mistaken identity moreso when the house 
was on fire and there was ample light available for identifying 
the accused - Her evidence was accepted by courts below 
and was found to be reliable - There were some contradictions 
and omissions in her evidence but they were not substantial F 
enough so as to affect the credibility of her evidence -
Sentence/Sentencing - Evidence - Dying declaration. 
Sentence/Sentencing: Death sentence - House set on 
fire while victim family was having dinner inside - Door bolted 
from outside - Sword blow given on neck of one victim who G 
tried to escape - Entire family except one succumbed to burn 
injures - Accused held guilty of murder - Courts below held 
that it was rarest of rare case and awarded death sentence -
Held: No reason to interfere with the order of sentence - The 
927 
H 
928 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2010] 11 S.C.R. 
A 
offence was committed with pre-meditated mind and in a cruel 
and cold blooded manner -
There was no immediate 
provocation and all this was only due to previous enmity over 
property - Out of five persons who lost their life, two were 
barely 16 and 19 years of age - All of them were without any 
B 
arms and were helpless - The accused showed scant respect 
for the law by absconding for about 12 years- Circumstances 
of the case not sufficient to mitigate the horrible crime - Pe,nal 
Code, 1860 - s. 302. 
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: s.313 - Trial courts 
C 
ought to be extremely careful about the questions to be put 
to the accused persons in examination uls.313 - Record 
must show that meticulous care is taken to put all the 
incriminating circumstances to the accused - Trial courts 
sometimes are extremely casual about this aspect - They are 
D expected to be extremely careful in this behalf -
Administration of criminal justice - Criminal trial. 
Evidence: 
Contradictory statement - Held: If the witness is not 
E 
specifically given an opportunity to explc;iin contradiction, it 
cannot be taken note of 
Dying declaration - When a witness making dying 
declaration survives, the said declaration does not become 
F 
substantive evidence and it can only be corroborative 
evidence of oral testimony. 
Investigation-Duty of investigating agency -
Held: 
Investigation should not be conducted in casual and careless 
G or slipshod manner - Incompetent investigation should not 
result in the accused getting an unfair advantage - Need to 
give regular police service to distant villages - Policing 
system. 
The prosecution case Jras that on the fateful day, the 
H 
SUNDER SINGH v. STATE OF UTTARANCHAL 
929 
victim family was taking dinner on the ground floor of A 
their house. The accused came there with jerry cans filled 
with petrol and a burning torch and after pouring petrol 
inside the room and after setting fire with the torch, closed 
the door from outside. When one of the victim managed 
to come out, the accused gave him a sword blow on the 
B 
neck. As a result, the victim fell down and died outside 
the house. The other five family members also sustained 
severe burn injuries. PW-2 informed the patwari, PW-13, 
about the incident. When PW-13 reached the spot along 
with the other witnesses, PW-3 and PW-4, two victims c 
narrated the incident to them. The dying declaration of 
two victims were recorded by the magistrate. One of the 
victim who gave dying declaration died while the other 
who suffered 70% burn survived. The injured victims 
were rushed to the hospital. Some victims died on the way 
0 
and 

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.