Dying Declaration Full Of Suspicious Circumstances Cannot Sustain Conviction: Calcutta High Court Acquits Husband In Wife's Murder Case

The Calcutta High Court has acquitted a man convicted of murdering his wife, holding that a dying declaration surrounded by suspicious circumstances cannot form the sole basis of conviction. A Division Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Rai Chattopadhyay set aside the 2015 trial court judgment which had sentenced the appellant to life imprisonment under Section 302 IPC, observing that the prosecution case had collapsed and the evidence on record failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.The case stemmed from allegations that the appellant had set his wife on fire by pouring kerosene oil on her following dowry-related harassment. However, during trial, the prosecution's case suffered a severe setback as key witnesses, including the victim's father and brother, turned hostile and deposed that the victim sustained burn injuries accidentally while cooking. Several neighbours also failed to support the prosecution version and denied witnessing any incident of assault or rescue. The Court noted that such uniform hostility among both family members and independent witnesses was unnatural and raised serious doubts about the integrity of the investigation.The medical evidence too did not support the prosecution conclusively, as the postmortem doctor could not opine whether the burn injuries were homicidal or suicidal. Hospital records revealed inconsistencies, with one document suggesting that the injuries may have been self-inflicted. In this backdrop, the trial court had relied primarily on a dying declaration allegedly made by the victim at the hospital, wherein she blamed her husband for setting her ablaze.The High Court, however, found the dying declaration to be highly unreliable. It noted that the declaration was not recorded by a Magistrate despite the victim surviving for nearly ten days after the incident, nor was it in a question-and-answer format. The doctor who recorded it failed to note vital medical parameters, did not clarify whether the contents were read over to the victim, and did not inform the police after recording the statement. The nurse who witnessed the declaration was not examined during investigation, and there were doubts regarding whether the victim was in a proper physical and mental condition to make such a statement. The Court also flagged that the doctor admitted he was not fully conversant with the victim's dialect, further casting doubt on the accuracy of the declaration.Criticising the investigation, the Bench observed that the investigating officer failed to have crucial witness statements recorded under Section 164 CrPC and did not take steps to secure a properly recorded dying declaration before a Magistrate, despite having sufficient time. The Court also found it suspicious that the declaration was recorded in haste without any apparent urgency, even though the victim survived for several days thereafter.Reiterating settled principles on evidentiary value of dying declarations, the Court held that while such statements can form the sole basis of conviction, they must be wholly reliable and free from suspicion. In the present case, the surrounding circumstances rendered the declaration unsafe to rely upon without corroboration, which was entirely absent. The Court further noted contradictions in the prosecution's own case, including attempts to suggest both homicide and suicide at different stages.Holding that the prosecution had failed to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt, the Court set aside the conviction and allowed the appeal, directing that the appellant be released subject to compliance with statutory conditions.Case: Kader Mia Vs. The State of West BengalCase No: CRA 723 of 2015Click here to read order

Dying Declaration Full Of Suspicious Circumstances Cannot Sustain Conviction: Calcutta High Court Acquits Husband In Wife's Murder Case

Srinjoy Das

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