Akanksha Singh –
Published on: September 2, 2021, at 22:18 IST
The Kerala High Court dismissed an appeal in a case where a dying woman had given four consecutive declarations, indicating that she was murdered by her brother-in-law.
The Court held that consistent dying declarations, if found to be very credible and reliable , give credence to each other and prove the guilt of the accused.
The reason behind the reliability of these dying declarations is that “The feeling of imminent death produces in the mind of man the same feeling which is under the oath of a conscientious and virtuous man.”
As per the background of the case the appeal was filed by a man accused of murdering his younger brother’s wife.
However before her demise, she gave four dying declarations, to her son, her daughter, a doctor and the Judicial Magistrate respectively, pinpointing the appellant as the accused.
Hence as per the above dying declaration the Session Court held the appellant guilty of Homicide.
The appellant contended that the dying declaration was not legally unsustainable as it was given to the interested person like her son and daughter , the Court observed that “The son and daughter of the victim though closely related cannot be termed to be interested witnesses, especially since their interest would be only in bringing to book the assailant of their mother.”
The Court also observed that “Since the victim maintained the very same version in all the subsequent three dying declarations, there were no grounds to disbelieve the same.”
The decision of the Court was based upon the principle “Nemo morituruspraesumiturmentire” that means “A man will not meet his maker with a lie in his mouth”
Hence the appeal was dismissed by the Division Bench comprising Justice Vinod K Chandran and Justice Ziyad Rahman by stating that the declaration was reliable and consistent and there is no evidence found for the suicide theory.
Also Read: What is Dying Declaration?