• Order of Conviction and Senntence Dying declaration Section 302 IPC Whether the aforesaid dying declarations are credible and worth acceptance. Whether it could be treated as a reliable evidence A dying declaration can be the sole basis for convicting the accused, but it ought to pass the test of reliability, before being accepted. A dying declaration has to be subjected to very close scrutiny, as the person implicating does not have any opportunity of cross examination and to this extent statement cannot be tested. Thus the courts insist that the dying declaration should be of such a nature as to inspire full confidence with regard to its correctness. In cases of 100 per cent burn injuries, a person can make a dying declaration or put a thumb impression. Immediately after the occurrence and in presence of the appellant, the deceased told the doctor about the appellant having burnt her.Nothing could have been more contemporaneous than this averment of the deceased, prior to her death. There is nothing on record for us to hold that the doctor PW.20 had acted maliciously, and together with police framed the appellant. Thus, from the foregoing discussion, it is apparent that the dying declarations of the deceased are credible and trust worthy. They were recorded in the hospital shortly after the incidence. Appeal dismissed
LATOOR vs State CRLA 10/2000 17/03/15 [ Ashutosh JJ ]
[ DELHI HIGH COURT ]