Recording Of Dying Declaration Comes Under Grave Doubt: Supreme Court Upholds Acquittal Of Man Accused Of Killing Victim Allegedly Raped By His Son

The Supreme Court has upheld the acquittal of a man who was accused of killing the victim who was allegedly raped by his son in the year 2003.

The Court was deciding a Criminal Appeal preferred by the State, challenging the Judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Gwalior which set aside the Judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the Trial Court.

The two-Judge Bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Sandeep Mehta held, “We are in full agreement with the aforesaid observations and findings of the High Court and are of the firm view that the circumstances surrounding the recording of the dying declaration create a grave doubt making the said evidence unworthy of credence. On a perusal of the testimony of Dr. A.K. Gupta (PW-13), we are convinced that the victim was in such a precarious physical condition that it would have been virtually impossible for her to have narrated the story in the manner claimed by the prosecution.”

The Bench noted that the Doctor admitted that neither the pulse nor the blood pressure of the victim was recordable.

Advocate Padmesh Mishra appeared on behalf of the Appellant/State.

Factual Background

As per the prosecution case, in March 2003, at about 4:00 p.m., the Respondent-accused forced his way into the house of the victim, carrying a container having kerosene oil in it. He allegedly poured the kerosene on the body of the victim and set her on fire with an intention of killing her. On seeing the attack, the witness started screaming and as a result thereof, the accused allegedly fled away from the place of occurrence. On hearing the fervent cries of the informant, the neighbours and other family members assembled in the house. It was further alleged that 12 days prior to the incident, the son of the accused had committed rape upon the victim and the matter was reported to the police.

Bearing this grudge in his mind, the accused had allegedly set the victim to fire. Hence, an FIR was registered against the accused for the offence punishable under Sections 307 and 450 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC/ST Act). The victim who was barely alive, was taken to the hospital and her dying declaration was recorded by the Executive Magistrate. She succumbed to the burn injuries and thereafter, the accused was arrested and Section 302 IPC was added. The Trial Court convicted him and sentenced him to suffer life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 1,000/-. However, the High Court reversed the same and acquitted him. Hence, the State was before the Apex Court.

Reasoning

The Supreme Court after hearing the contentions of the counsel, observed, “The Naib Tehsildar (PW-8) admitted that the victim’s voice was barely audible when he was trying to record the dying declaration (Ex. P-13). Thus, the very factum of recording of the dying declaration (Ex. P-13) comes under a grave doubt making it totally unreliable. … The High Court also found that the complainant Poona Bai (PW-10) being the author of dehati nalishi admitted that there were several persons having the name Ramveer and hence, there was a serious doubt as to whether accused-respondent was the same Ramveer who had set the deceased-victim on fire and whose name was mentioned in the dying declaration.”

The Court said that the High Court felt it unsafe to place reliance upon the dehati nalishi and dying declaration which essentially formed the bulwark of the entire prosecution case and since no other evidence was led by the prosecution to connect the accused with the crime, the High Court went on to allow the Appeal, thereby, acquitting him of the charges levelled.

“We may note that the present appeal is one against acquittal. Law is well-settled by a plethora of judgments of this Court that in an appeal against acquittal unless the finding of acquittal is perverse on the face of the record and the only possible view based on the evidence is consistent with the guilt of the accused only in such an event, should the appellate Court interfere with a judgment of acquittal”, it added.

The Court further reiterated that where two views are possible i.e., one consistent with the acquittal and the other holding the accused guilty, the Appellate Court should refuse to interfere with the Judgment of acquittal.

Conclusion

The Court also remarked, “In view of the facts and circumstances noted above, we are convinced that the present is not a case wherein it can be said that no view other than the guilt of the accused-respondent is possible. The prosecution case is full of material contradictions and inherent improbabilities and there do not exist any valid or substantial reasons to interfere with the acquittal of the respondent as recorded by the High Court.”

The Court, therefore, concluded that the impugned Judgment does not suffer from any error or infirmity warranting interference.

Accordingly, the Apex Court dismissed the Appeal and upheld the acquittal of the accused.

Cause Title- State of Madhya Pradesh v. Ramveer Singh (Neutral Citation: 2025 INSC 952)

Appearance:

DAG V.V.M.B.N.S. Pattabhiram, AOR Sarad Kumar Singhania, and Advocate Padmesh Mishra.

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