Prayagraj : Observing that a dying declaration remains reliable even if prosecution witnesses turn hostile, the Allahabad high court upheld the murder convictions of a husband and his parents in a case involving a woman’s death from burn injuries.
The court was hearing three criminal appeals challenging the Nov 2018 judgment passed by the sessions court in Budaun. All five accused were convicted under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 149 (common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the court acquitted two other accused, Vipin and Madan, after finding that their identities had not been established. none of the prosecution witnesses knew them from before, no test identification parade was conducted, and the witnesses failed to identify them in court Although both were named in the dying declaration.
After examining the evidence on record, the court, in its judgment dated Oct 16, noted that the dying declaration could not be disbelieved in toto despite all the prosecution witnesses of fact turning hostile. As a result, the high court allowed the criminal appeal filed by Vipin and Madan and set aside their convictions. The court pointed to the possibility that the witnesses had been won over. The court directed that they be released forthwith if they were not wanted in any other case.
However, during the trial, the deceased’s mother, sister, maternal aunt and brother did not support the prosecution case and were declared hostile. The witnesses denied the alleged occurrence or stated that the deceased had suffered burn injuries in an accident. Despite this, the accused were found guilty by the trial court and sentenced to life imprisonment. Challenging their conviction, all five accused subsequently moved the high court. The court, however, distinguished the cases of the husband and his parents from those of the other two accused named in the dying declaration. It found that the prosecution had failed to establish the identities of Vipin and Madan.