‘Mother has no reason to falsely name her own’: Delhi HC upholds conviction of son, husband for setting woman on fire in 2000
Dismissing the appeal, the Delhi High Court described the mother-son bond as ‘pure’ and found no reason why the woman’s dying declaration should be ignored.
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Nov 15, 2025 02:06 PM IST
The Delhi High Court, dismissing the plea, affirmed the trial court’s conviction, holding the victim’s dying declarations to be true and consistent. The image is generated using AI.
The Delhi High Court Friday dismissed a 23-year-old appeal and upheld a trial court’s order convicting a woman’s husband and son for murdering her. The victim, who died of burn injuries sustained at her residence, had blamed her husband and son in her dying declaration.
The bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav observed, “The dying declaration is not only consistent but appears to be true. The deceased had no reason to name her grown-up son or husband to falsely implicate them. She had nothing to gain.”
Two ‘dying declarations’
The victim was on the terrace of her home in 2000 when she suffered burn injuries at 6 am and was taken to the hospital by her son and daughter. Her husband did not accompany them despite being at home. She, however, succumbed to the injuries later that day after giving two dying declarations – one to the treating doctor and the other to the investigation officer – where she blamed her husband and adult son for her situation.
A First Information Report (FIR) was subsequently lodged, and a trial court later found the two accused guilty and convicted them under sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2002.
Challenging the trial court’s conviction, the two moved the high court in 2002. However, during the pendency of the appeal, the woman’s husband died, and the son went absconding and was declared a ‘proclaimed offender’.
‘No scope for selfishness’ in mother-child bond
The counsel appearing for the appellants, Rakesh Tewari, argued that it was a case of suicide, holding that the deceased was not in a position to speak since she had 100 per cent burn injuries, including on her face and lips. He also contended that the family had migrated from Afghanistan and was not well versed in any other language, and therefore the doctor and the investigating officer were not in a position to understand her dying declarations.
The prosecution, however, argued that there was no reason to doubt or discard the dying declaration.
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Authoring the judgment, Justice Vimal Kumar Yadav remarked, “A mother is the only person who carries you for nine months in her belly, three years in her arms and forever in her heart”. Drawing attention to the famous lines of a song, “Poot kapoot sune hai par na maata sunee kumaata”, the court stated that the bond between mother and children is so strong, “pure” and aboveboard that there is no scope for any sort of selfishness.
Considering the facts of the case surrounding the victim’s death, the high court held that the facts cumulatively indicated that the only conclusion was that the incident was neither ‘accidental’ nor ‘suicidal’, leaving only the possibility of homicide. The high court subsequently upheld the trial court’s order.
Richa Sahay is a Legal Correspondent for The Indian Express, where she focuses on simplifying the complexities of the Indian judicial system. A law postgraduate, she leverages her advanced legal education to bridge the gap between technical court rulings and public understanding, ensuring that readers stay informed about the rapidly evolving legal landscape.
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