Observing that suspicion is no substitute for proof, the Supreme Court has said that if there is doubt about the correctness of a dying declaration, courts should look for some corroborative evidence before convicting an accused on the basis of it."Indisputably conviction can be recorded on the basis of dying declaration alone but therefore the same must be wholly reliable," a Division Bench of Justice S B Sinha and Justice P P Naolekar said.
It said "if evidence brought on records suggests that such dying declaration does not reveal the entire truth, it may be considered only as a piece of evidence in which event conviction may not be rested on the basis thereof."
If a dying declaration was of an impeccable character would depend upon several factors - physical and mental condition of the deceased was one of them, the Bench said.
The Bench reversed a Madras High Court order which upheld the conviction of one P Mani for killing his estranged wife by setting her on fire in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu in October 1998 on the ground that the dying declaration of the deceased was not reliable.
"In this case the circumstances which have been brought on records clearly point out that what might have been stated in the dying declaration may not be correct," the Bench said.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|
Advertisement
Email this Article 
Print this Article