Important Judgement |
Dying Declaration….
Supreme court in a recent judgement elaborated the principle of dying declaration and laid emphasis upon the importance of the Dying Declaration as an evidence in the case.The Apex court provided a comprehensive analysis of the evidentiary value of the dying declaration. The court made several important observations regarding the same while upholding the conviction of the appellant.
Referring to precedents, the Court summarised the principles relating to dying declaration as follows:
(i) it cannot be laid down as an absolute rule of law that a dying declaration cannot form the sole basis of conviction unless it is corroborated;
(ii) each case must be determined on its own facts, keeping in view the circumstances in which the dying declaration was made;
(iii) it cannot be laid down as a general proposition that a dying declaration is a
weaker kind of evidence than other pieces of evidence;
(iv) a dying declaration stands on the same footing as another piece of evidence. It has to be judged in the light of surrounding circumstances and with reference to the principles governing the weight of evidence;
(v) a dying declaration which has been recorded by a competent Magistrate in the proper manner stands on a much higher footing than a dying declaration which depends upon oral testimony which may suffer from all the infirmities of human memory and human character;
(vi) in order to test the reliability of a dying declaration, the court has to keep in view various circumstances including the condition of the person concerned to make such a statement; that it has been made at the earliest opportunity and was not the result of tutoring by interested parties.
Case Title: RAJENDRA S/O RAMDAS KOLHE VERSUS STATE OF MAHARASHTRA