Dying declaration alone can’t be basis for conviction, says HC

Bhopal/Jabalpur: Madhya Pradesh high court has said that a person cannot be convicted on the basis of a dying declaration that is not fully reliable. A division bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice Dev Narayan Mishra quashed the judgment of a sessions court that sentenced a man to life imprisonment on the basis of the dying declaration of his cousin's wife. "It is clear that the dying declaration recorded by the executive magistrate and oral dying declaration, as disclosed by her family members, cannot be a basis for conviction of the appellant," the bench ruled.According to the prosecution, the deceased, Harsha Singh, had given a dying declaration that accused Bunty Singh had jumped into her room after a quarrel and set her on fire. Her husband (Bunty's cousin) was also in the room, but allegedly didn't stop him.Harsha's statement was that she doused the fire herself and changed her clothes, and that her husband took her to hospital only under pressure from neighbours.Police registered a case against Bunty on the basis of her dying statement. Harsha had accused her in-laws of dowry harassment, but they were acquitted. Bunty appealed in HC against his conviction. HC said that the dying declaration was not "fully trustworthy" and there was no other evidence against the accused.