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Journalism of Courage
While the Supreme Court gave adequate credence to the words of a dying man as a crucial piece of evidence, it has still asked the courts to be wary when dealing with a dying declaration.
8220;While great solemnity and sanctity is attached to the words of dying man because a person on the verge of death is not likely to tell a lie or to concoct a case so as to implicate an innocent person. But the court has to be careful to ensure that the statement was not the result of either tutoring, prompting or a product of the imagination,8221; the Bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and D K Jain said.
Although the Bench asserted that conviction could be based solely on the basis of a dying declaration, it again reminded the courts that it should be true and voluntary. 8220;Once the Court is satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary, it is sufficient for the purpose of conviction,8221; it noted while setting aside an appeal filed by the State of Rajasthan against a judgment by the HC8217;s Division Bench there.
The High Court had directed acquittal of three accused persons who had appealed after the sessions judge at Banswara convicted all of them under Section 302, along with Section 34 of IPC, for killing a fellow villager on June 8, 1988.
Agreeing with the High Court8217;s contention, the Apex Court reiterated its earlier ruling of Paras Yadav and others vs State of Bihar in 1999, wherein it was held that the statement of a deceased recorded by a police officer in a routine manner as a complaint, and not as a dying declaration, can be taken as one after the death of the injured if he was found to be in a fit state of health to make a statement.
8220;If the dying declaration is recorded by an Investigating Officer, the same can be relied upon if the evidence of the prosecution witness is clearly established beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased was conscious and he was removed to the hospital and he was in a fit state of health to make the statement,8221; the Bench recalled. It noted that in the instant case, 8220;the position appears to be different8221;.
