The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday acquitted a man convicted of culpable homicide in connection with the burning death of his wife, observing that the dying declaration was recorded in the presence of relatives/family members and therefore could not be safely relied upon.

A Bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Achal Sachdev allowed the criminal appeal filed by Jagan against the judgment of the Additional District & Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court No. 3, Moradabad, which had convicted him under Section 304 IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Briefly put, the appellant was accused of pouring kerosene oil on his wife (named Triveni) and setting her on fire on December 23, 2015. She was taken to the Government Hospital, Moradabad, where a dying declaration was recorded after the doctors certified that she was fit to give a statement.

In the dying declaration, Deceased-Triveni stated that her husband (appellant) had burnt her by sprinkling kerosene oil and setting her on fire.

However, the High Court found circumstances that cast doubt on the reliability of the dying declaration.

The Court noted that PW-1, the deceased's brother, had categorically stated during his cross-examination that the Magistrate had recorded the statement of the deceased in the presence of all family members, including her son, his wife and his bua.

Taking note of this same, the Bench observed thus:

"In view of the fact that the dying declaration was got recorded in the presence of all the family members, no importance could be attached to it".

The High Court also noted that the appellant-husband himself had suffered burn injuries while attempting to save his wife.

"…there were sufficient evidence to the fact that the husband had tried to save his wife and in the process he had also got burnt", the Court noted.

A doctor who was examined by the defence also stated that the injuries suffered by the appellant could have been caused when a person attempted to douse a burning person. Another defence witness, also a Doctor, testified that the deceased had been brought to the hospital by the appellant's mother.

The Court also considered the circumstances preceding the incident, as it noted that the appellant and the deceased had been married for 18 years and had no children.

It noted that the evidence indicated that disputes between the couple arose over the question of which side's child should be adopted. While the deceased's family wanted a child from her parental side to be adopted, the appellant's side wanted his brother's child to be adopted.

The Court observed:

"The incident had occurred on account of there being a tussle in the family as to which child of which family had to be adopted".

The Bench further observed that, considering the marriage had lasted for 18 years, “it could not in any manner be presumed that there was any kind of demand etc. of dowry from the side of the first informant.”

The High Court therefore examined whether Triveni had burnt herself or whether it was the “misdeed of the accused.”

Considering the dying declaration having been recorded in the presence of family members, the appellant's burn injuries while attempting to save his wife and the surrounding circumstances, the Court opined thus:

"…it could not with any certainty be said that the deceased was put on fire after pouring kerosene oil by the accused. Having held thus, we are of the view that definitely the husband could not be outrightly blamed for the incident".

In view of this, the appeal was allowed and the trial court's judgment of 2018 was set aside. The appellant-husband was "honourably acquitted" of the charges.

Case Title - Chhajju Ram vs. Babu Singh 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 606

Citation : 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 606

Click Here To Read/Download Order