A Division Bench of Apex Court comprising of Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice R Subhash Reddy, in the case of Satpal v. State of Haryana delivered on March 3, 2021, has held that a dying declaration cannot be disbelieved merely because parents and relatives of the deceased were present in the hospital while recording it.
While dismissing the appeal filed by a murder accused, the two Judge said that,
“It is quite natural that when such an incident happens, the parents and other relatives try to reach the hospital immediately . Merely because they were in the hospital, the same is no ground to disbelieve the dying declaration, recorded by the Magistrate.”
Factual Background
This appeal was filed by the accused aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 05th September, 2016, passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh, whereby, his conviction and order of sentence, for offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), was confirmed.
On information received regarding admission of the deceased, Pooja Rani, on account of burn injuries, a case was registered initially under Section 307 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and on death of Pooja Rani, Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was added. On receipt of information, a Police Officer went to the Hospital along with other police officials and noticed that the deceased suffered 90 per cent injuries and at that stage, she was declared fit to make statement. On the request of the police, Judicial Magistrate, First Class, recorded the statement of deceased, Pooja Rani.
In the declaration, recorded by the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, the deceased has stated that the appellant/accused has poured kerosene oil and set her ablaze. After investigation, Charge-Sheet was filed against the appellant/accused and three others namely Kamlesh, Mitter Sain and Anjali, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law respectively of the deceased. However, vide order, the other accused persons were discharged and charge was framed against the appellant herein, for offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
When the statement of the appellant under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) was recorded, the appellant denied the allegations levelled against him and pleaded that he was falsely implicated inasmuch as the deceased, Pooja Rani, was under a misconception that he had illicit relations with Anjali (sister-in-law). On behalf of the appellant / accused, no witnesses were examined.
The Trial Court, by appreciating oral and documentary evidence on record, by judgment and order convicted the appellant for offence, punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay fine of Rs.10,000/- with a default clause to undergo further rigorous imprisonment of two years.
Aggrieved by the conviction recorded and sentence imposed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Yamuna Nagar, Jagadhri, the appellant herein, preferred Criminal Appeal before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, at Chandigarh. The High Court, vide impugned judgment and order dismissed the appeal by confirming the conviction recorded and sentence imposed on the appellant.
Reasoning & Decision of the Court
“If we look at dying declaration, recorded by the Magistrate, it looks natural and no reason to disbelieve the same. In addition to the dying declaration, the statements of PW-5 and PW-6, who are mother and maternal uncle respectively of the deceased, corroborate the case of prosecution. It is clear from their statements that the deceased was tortured at the hands of the appellant and his family members. The Magistrate, in her deposition, has clearly stated that the relatives of deceased, Pooja Rani, were not there at the time of recording dying declaration of the deceased.”
The Court further observed that
"it is also relevant to notice here, though the appellant has stated in his statement, recorded under Section 313 of Cr.P.C., that many persons from the neighbourhood came to the house of the appellant at the time of incident, no one was examined on his behalf.”
“If the dying declaration, recorded by PW-16, is considered along with the depositions of PW-5, PW-6 and other witnesses, who were examined on behalf of the prosecution, it clearly establishes the guilt of the appellant, beyond reasonable doubt, as such, we find no merit in any of the contentions, advanced by the learned counsel for the appellant. Further, merely because the parents and other relatives of the deceased were present in the Hospital, when the statement of the deceased was recorded, it cannot be said that the said statement was a tutored one. It is quite natural that when such an incident happens, the parents and other relatives try to reach the hospital immediately. Merely because they were in the hospital, the same is no ground to disbelieve the dying declaration, recorded by the Magistrate, who was examined as PW-16.”
Held
“For the above stated reasons and the reasons recorded by the High Court, we are of the view that there is no error committed in the impugned judgment and order, so as to interfere with the same in this Appeal. This Criminal Appeal is devoid of merits and the same is accordingly dismissed.”
Case Details
Name: Satpal v. State of Haryana
Case No.: Criminal Appeal No. 261 of 2021 (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 5802 of 2018)
Bench: Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice R Subhash Reddy
Date of Decision: March 3, 2021
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