Dying Declaration Can Be Sole Basis For Conviction Only When Court Is Satisfied That It Is True And Voluntary, Reiterates Supreme Court

The Supreme Court reiterated that a Court must be satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary, and only then could it be the sole basis for conviction without corroboration.In this case, the Karnataka High Court reversed the acquittal recorded by the Trial Court and convicted the accused in a murder case. The Supreme Court reiterated that a Court must be satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary, and only then could it be the sole basis for conviction without corroboration. In appeal, the court noted the following factors interpolation in the dying declaration contradiction in the statements of prosecution witnesses regarding injuries on the palm, the victim with 80% injuries was apparently not in a situation to talk or give statement, PW-2, son of the deceased himself has stated that his mother committed suicide as she could not bear that her another son had been sent to jail, there being no corroborative evidence to the statement, and there is no other evidence led by the prosecution to connect the appellants with the crime except the statement. 16.Although there is neither a rule of law nor of prudence that the dying declaration cannot be acted upon without corroboration, the Court must nonetheless be satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary, and only then could it be the sole basis for conviction without corroboration.