,,
S.S. SHINDE, J",,
1. This Appeal is directed against the Judgment and order dated 30th September, 2013, passed by the Sessions Judge, Aurangabad in Sessions Case",,
No.2 of 2013, thereby convicting accused/Appellant  Shaikh Babar Shaikh Noor for the offence punishable under Section 498ÂA of the Indian",,
Penal Code (for short ""I.P. Code"") and sentencing him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs.500/Â, and in default of",,
payment of fine, to suffer rigorous imprisonment for Fifteen days. The trial Court also convicted the accused for the offence punishable under Section",,
302 of the I.P. Code and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.500/Â, and in default of payment of fine, to suffer",,
simple imprisonment for one month. The trial Court directed that both the sentences shall run concurrently.Â,,
2. The prosecution case, in nutÂshell, is as under:Â",,
(A) Accused Shaikh Babar was residing with his wife Asma in a rented room of PWÂ4 Shaikh Yunus at Sajapur. Accused married with Asma about,,
two years prior to the incident. A female baby aged about eight months was born out of the said wedÂlock. Accused subjected his wife to cruelty,,
after the birth of female baby by raising doubt about her chastity. Accused used to harass his wife Asma for the demand of motorcycle or an amount,,
of Rs.50,000/Â from her parents and she informed the said demand of the accused to her parents.",,
(B) Incident took place on 21st September, 2012, at about 12.00 noon in the rented room of the accused at Sajapur. Accused quarreled with his wife",,
Asma as he had doubt about her character and also his demand of motorcycle or money was not fulfilled. The accused poured kerosene on the person,,
of Asma and set her on fire. Asma sustained burn injuries. She came out of her room crying for help. PWÂ11 Asefa Yunus is the wife of PWÂ4,,
Shaikh Yusuf, who is the owner of the rented room of the accused. PWÂ11 Asefa came out of her house after hearing the shouts of Asma and she",,
saw that Asma had caught fire and she extinguished the fire. PWÂ9 Hussain Salim Pathan resides at a distance of 1000 feet from the rented room of,,
the accused. He also came to the spot of incident after hearing shouts of Asma. He saw that Asma had sustained burn injuries. He was working as a,,
driver on the autoÂrickshaw of one Abdul Razzak. Accused placed injured Asma in his autoÂrickshaw and PWÂ9 Hussain Salim Pathan and the,,
accused took injured Asma to GHATI Hospital. Injured Asma was admitted in Ward No.22 of GHATI Hospital, Aurangabad. M.L.C. report in",,
respect of burnt patient Asma was prepared in Police Outpost of GHATI hospital and it was referred to M.I.D.C. Waluj Police Station. PWÂ6 Police,,
Head Constable (for short ""P.H.C."") Vitthal Javkhede registered M.L.C. No.553 of 2012 as per the said report in M.I.D.C. Waluj Police Station. He",,
made inquiry in respect of the said matter.,,
(C) P.H.C. Javkhede went to GHATI Hospital at about 3.15 p.m. on the same day. He recorded statement of the burnt patient Asma. He himself,,
satisfied that Asma was in a fit state of mind and conscious to give statement. He obtained opinion from medical officer of GHATI Hospital before,,
recording and as well as after recording the statement of burnt patient Asma that she was in a fit state of mind and conscious to give such statement.,,
Asma stated in her statement that the accused poured kerosene on her person and set her on fire as the accused was suspecting her character and,,
also his demand of money was not satisfied. On the basis of the statement of Asma, P.H.C. Javkhede registered Crime No.222 of 2012 under",,
Sections 498ÂA, 307 and 504 of the I.P. Code against the accused at about 6.50 p.m. on the same day. P.H.C. Javkhede issued letter to Special",,
Judicial Magistrate to record the statement of burnt patient Asma. The investigation was handed over to PWÂ12 A.P.I. Narhari Pandharinath Shinde,,
of M.I.D.C., Waluj Police Station.",,
(D) After receiving the letter, Special Judicial Magistrate Sakharam Mukundlal Gokhle went to GHATI Hospital at about 5.00 p.m. He also satisfied",,
himself that the burnt patient Asma was in a fit state of mind and conscious to give statement. He recorded dying declaration of Asma as per her say.,,
Asma again stated in the said statement that the accused poured kerosene on her person and set her on fire as the accused was suspecting about her,,
character. Special Judicial Magistrate Gokhle obtained opinion in writing from medical officer before as well as after recording dying declaration of,,
the burnt patient Asma.,,
(E) PWÂ12, investigating officer A.P.I. Shinde went to the spot of an incident on the next day i.e. 22nd September, 2012. He prepared panchnama of",,
scene of offence in presence of two panchas. He seized plastic can containing one liter kerosene, burnt pieces of petticoat and matchÂbox from the",,
spot under the said panchnama. He sealed the said articles and sent them to Chemical Analyst. He arrested the accused under arrest panchnama. He,,
recorded statements of the parents of deceased Asma and also some other witnesses. On 24th September, 2012, Asma succumbed to the burn",,
injuries in GHATI Hospital at Aurangabad. On 25th September, 2012, PWÂ12 investigating officer Shinde prepared inquest panchnama of the dead",,
body of Asma. He referred the dead body for postmortem. PWÂ7 Medical Officer Dr. Vikas Madan Rathod along with Dr. V.G. Kamble conducted,,
postmortem on 24th September, 2012. He found 67% burn injuries on the body of Asma. Investigating officer Shinde sent viscera to Chemical",,
Analyst. He issued letter to Special Judicial Magistrate to record the statement of some witnesses under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal,,
Procedure and accordingly the statements were recorded. He made postal correspondence with Special Judicial Magistrate in respect of incorrect,,
date which was mentioned in dying declaration of Asma. He collected postmortem notes and C.A. reports. It was transpired in his investigation that,,
the accused subjected his wife Asma to cruelty by demanding motorcycle and by raising doubt about her chastity and committed murder by pouring,,
kerosene and setting her on fire. Accordingly, after collecting the necessary evidence and papers, investigating officer sent chargeÂsheet against the",,
accused.,,
(F) After receipt of the chargeÂsheet, learned Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Aurangabad noticed that the offence punishable under Section 302 of",,
the I.P. Code is exclusively triable by the Court of Session. Hence, the case was committed to the Court of Session.",,
(G) The charge for the offence punishable under Sections 302, 498ÂA of the I.P. Code was framed against the accused. The contents of the charge",,
were read over and explained to the accused in vernacular. The accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. The defence of the accused is that,,
death of Asma was accidental and she caught fire due to flaring of burning stove.,,
3. After recording the evidence and conducting full fledged trial, the trial Court convicted the accused for the offence punishable under Sections",,
498ÂA, 302 of the I.P. Code and sentenced him to suffer imprisonment as aforestated and to pay fine, and in default of payment of fine, to suffer",,
further imprisonment as aforestated.,,
4. Learned counsel appearing for the Appellant submitted that PWÂ11 Asefa has specifically stated that deceased was alone in her house. He further,,
submits there is absolutely no evidence on record showing that anyone has actually seen the incident of accused setting on fire his wife Asma. It is,,
further submitted that the dying declarations as recorded, were not reliable. The dying declaration recorded by the Special Executive Magistrate and",,
the dying declaration recorded by police head constable are contrary to each other. Both the dying declarations are not recorded in mother tongue of,,
Asma. There is overÂwriting in dying declaration recorded by the Special Executive Magistrate about surname of deceased and the date of incident is,,
also not correct. The deceased was not in a fit state of mind to answer the questions of Special Executive Magistrate. There is no endorsement of,,
doctor about the condition of deceased before and after recording the dying declaration by the Special Executive Magistrate. The record shows that,,
prior to recording dying declaration by the Special Executive Magistrate, the mother of deceased was with her and therefore the possibility of tutoring",,
cannot be ruled out. Both the dying declarations appear to have been recorded after arrival of parents and relatives of deceased. The dying,,
declarations are not truthful and trustworthy.,,
5. Learned counsel further submitted that perusal of endorsements of medical officer does not state that deceased was in a fit state of mind to give,,
Part of the body,Percentage of Burns,Area spread
Head, Neck and
        Â",3.00%,"Upper part of face, face scalp were partly involved
Chest,9.00%,Nil
Abdomen,9.00%,Nil
Back,16.00%,Lower part of back
Right Upper Limb,9.00%,Nil
Left Upper Limb,9.00%,Nil
Right Lower Limb,6.00%,"Lateral part of thigh partly, legs, foot and sole
medical officer to opine whether Shaikh Asma was in a fit condition to give statement. Accordingly, the medical officer examined her and opined in",,
writing on the dying declaration itself that she was in a fit condition. He recorded the dying declaration (ExhibitÂ28) during the period from 3.15 p.m.,,
to 5.15 p.m. He had given a letter (ExhibitÂ17) to the Special Judicial Magistrate for recording statement of Asma.Â,,
. PWÂ6 Vitthal Javkhede further deposed that after recording dying declaration (Exhibit28), he produced it in police station, MIDC, Waluj. On the",,
basis of that dying declaration, the police station officer registered Crime No.IÂ222 of 2012 for the offences punishable under Sections 307, 498ÂA",,
and 504 of the I.P. Code. The investigation was assigned to PSI Shinde. He further deposed that two women were sitting near Asma when he had,,
gone to record her statement. He asked them to go outside the ward. Accordingly, they went out of the ward.",,
13. During the course of crossÂexamination, PWÂ6 Vitthal Javkhede stated that the medical officer checked blood pressure and examined Asma",,
before giving his opinion about her condition.,,
PWÂ6 Vitthal further stated that after he recorded statement of Asma also the medical officer checked her blood pressure and examined her body.,,
He did not note in writing anywhere as to what was done by him to get himself confirmed that Asma was in a fit condition to give statement. He,,
denied the suggestions that he recorded dying declaration as per the say of parents of Asma and that Asma was not at all conscious.,,
14. Thus, upon careful perusal of the entire evidence of PWÂ6 Vitthal Javkhede, it is clear that on 21st Septmber, 2012, he went to GHATI Hospital",,
at about 3.15 p.m and as per his letter, the medical officer examined Asma and gave his opinion in writing that she was in a fit condition to give",,
statement. His oral evidence further discloses that he asked certain questions to Asma to get it confirmed that she was in a fit condition to give,,
statement. Thereafter he asked Asma how the incident took place and she narrated the details of the incident. Thereafter he read over the contents of,,
the statement to Asma which she admitted to be correct. His evidence further discloses that Asma signed and also put her right hand thumb mark on,,
the said statement. His evidence further discloses that after recording dying declaration (ExhibitÂ28) he again requested the medical officer to opine,,
whether Asma was in a fit condition to give statement and medical officer, after examining Asma, opined in writing on the dying declaration ExhibitÂ‐",,
28 itself, that she was in a fit condition.",,
15. PWÂ10 Dr. Vipul Vilasrao Pathak in examinationÂinÂchief deposed that on 21st September 2012 he was attached to GHATI Hospital as a,,
medical officer. Asma was admitted as a patient of burn injuries. Police had come to record statement of burnt patient Asma. In pursuance of letter,,
issued by the police, he examined the patient Asma and on the same letter he had given endorsement that the patient was conscious, oriented and able",,
to give valid statement. He further deposed that thereafter police recorded her statement. After completion of recording of the statement of Asma, he",,
again examined the patient and found that the patient was conscious, oriented and in a fit state of mind to give statement.",,
16. Thus, upon conjoint reading of the evidence of PWÂ6 Vitthal Javkhede, police head constable and PWÂ10 Dr. Vipul Pathak, it is clear that before",,
recording the statement of Asma, the opinion of medical officer was sought regarding her consciousness and thereafter the dying declaration",,
ExhibitÂ28 was recorded. After completion of recording of dying declaration again medical officer has examined Asma and opined in writing that,,
patient was conscious, oriented and in a fit state of mind to give statement. Thereafter signature and thumb impression of Asma was obtained on the",,
dying declaration. Thus, it is clear that after completing all the formalities and after taking every precaution, the dying declaration ExhibitÂ28 has been",,
recorded by police head constable PWÂ6 Vitthal Javkhede.  Â,,
17. We have carefully perused the dying declaration ExhibitÂ28. About the main incident, Asma has stated that on the day of incident as there was",,
weekly off, his husband was at home. At about 12.00 noon her husband picked up quarrel with her by taking suspicion upon her chastity. Her husband",,
abused her in filthy language and started beating her and he poured the kerosene on her person from the plastic can and by stating that Asma has not,,
right to live, her husband by igniting the matchÂstick, set her on fire. Due to which Punjabi dress on her person caught fire and she received burn",,
injuries, to her abdomen, chest and both the hands and in such condition she came out of the house while shouting. Her landlord Asefa Shaikh has",,
extinguished the fire. Thus, prosecution has proved the dying declaration ExhibitÂ28. The same is trustworthy and reliable.",,
18. Another dying declaration ExhibitÂ19 is recorded by PWÂ5 Sakharam Mukundlal Ghokhle. He deposed that he was working as a Special Judicial,,
Magistrate. On 21st September, 2012, after receipt of letter given by the police official with a request to record dying declaration of Asma, he went to",,
GHATI Hospital, Aurangabad at about 5.00 p.m. He further deposed that he gave a letter to the medical officer and requested him to opine whether",,
the above named patient was in a fit condition to give statement. The medical officer examined Asma and opined in writing, on letter ExhibitÂ18 that",,
Asma was in a fit condition to give a statement. PWÂ5 Sakharam Ghokhle further deposed that he asked the relatives of Asma to go outside the,,
ward. He asked the name of that woman and got himself confirmed that she was Shaikh Asma. He asked Asma the names of her parents and Asma,,
stated names of her parents. He further deposed that from the answers given by Asma, he realized that she was in a condition to give statement. He",,
asked Asma about the incident and she gave the details of the incident in which she received burn injuries. He reduced those details into writing as per,,
her narration. He read over the contents of her statement to Shaikh Asma and she admitted the same to be true. Thereafter Asma put her left hand,,
thumb mark on the statement. He further deposed that he signed the dying declaration ExhibitÂ19. He further deposed that he recorded the dying,,
declaration during the period from 5.10 p.m. to 5.40 p.m. on 21st September, 2012. He further deposed that after recording dying declaration, as per",,
his written request, the medical officer again examined Asma and opined that she was in a fit condition to give statement. Thus, PWÂ5 Sakharam",,
Ghokhle proved dying declaration ExhibitÂ19.,,
19. Upon reading the evidence of Special Judicial Magistrate PWÂ5 Sakharam Gokhle along with the evidence of PWÂ10 Dr. Vipul Pathak, it is",,
clear that before and after recording the statement of Asma, the opinion of the medical officer was sought regarding her consciousness and the",,
medical officer opined in writing that patient was conscious, oriented and in a fit state of mind to give statement. Thereafter thumb impression of left",,
hand of Asma was obtained on the dying declaration. The contents of the dying declaration were read over to Asma and she admitted the same to be,,
true. Thus, it is clear that after completing all the formalities and after taking every precaution, the dying declaration ExhibitÂ19 has been recorded by",,
Special Judicial Magistrate PWÂ5 Sakharam Gokhle.,,
20. We have carefully perused the dying declaration ExhibitÂ19. After giving her name and other details, about the main incident Asma has stated",,
that on the day of incident at about 12.00 noon, her husband was at home as it was holiday. She further stated that her husband was suspecting about",,
her chastity. Her husband abused her and in the heat of anger, poured the kerosene on her person from the plastic can and by igniting the matchÂ‐",,
stick, set her on fire and thus she received burn injuries.",,
21. Learned counsel appearing for the Appellant has argued that no reliance can be placed on this dying declaration ExhibitÂ19 because the actual,,
incident occurred on 21st September, 2012, and in this dying declaration the date of incident is mentioned as 12th September, 2012. In this respect,",,
Special Judicial Magistrate PWÂ5 Sakharam Ghokhle has explained about the said mistake in his oral evidence. The evidence of PWÂ5 shows that,,
on 17th December, 2012, he received letter from police station, Waluj informing that a mistake has been occurred in mentioning the correct date of",,
the incident in dying declaration of Asma. His evidence further shows that he gave a letter (ExhibitÂ22) on the same day to the police station and,,
informed that due to inadvertence on his part, the date of the incident came to be mentioned in the dying declaration of Shaikh Asma as ""12.09.2012""",,
instead of ""21.09.2012"".",,
Therefore, there is no substance in the objection raised by the learned counsel appearing for the Appellant.",,
22. It is pertinent to note that the prosecution has proved the dying declaration ExhibitÂ19. The same is reliable and trustworthy. The said dying,,
declaration is recorded by the Special Judicial Magistrate in question and answer form. In view of the exposition by the Supreme Court in the case of,,
Khushal Rao vs. State of Bombay 1958 A.I.R. (S.C.) 22 , the dying declaration recorded by a competent Magistrate in the proper manner, that is to",,
say, in the form of questions and answers, and, as far as practicable, in the words of the maker of the declaration, stands on a much higher footing",,
than a dying declaration which depends upon the oral testimony which may suffer from all the infirmities of human memory and human character. In,,
the present matter, the dying declaration ExhibitÂ19 is recorded by PWÂ5 Sakharam Ghokhle, the Special Judicial Magistrate, and therefore the same",,
stands on a much higher footing.,,
23. The written dying declarations at ExhibitÂ19 and ExhibitÂ28 are corroborated with the oral dying declarations given to the parents of the,,
deceased. PWÂ2 Shaikh Jamil Shaikh Omar deposed that deceased Asma was his daughter. Regarding the main incident, he deposed that on the day",,
of the incident at about 12.30 noon he received the phone message from one Raju Bhai, a relative of the accused, that Asma had got burnt and that",,
she was admitted in GHATI Hospital at Aurangabad. His wife and the witness himself then went to GHATI hospital at Aurangabad. They met Asma,,
in GHATI Hospital near the admission cabin.,,
He further deposed that on being asked by them, Asma informed that the accused set her on fire. She informed that the accused was suspecting her",,
character, his demand of money was not fulfilled and therefore he set her on fire. He further deposed that Asma informed that the accused poured",,
kerosene on her person and set her on fire by means of a matchÂstick. Asma died in the hospital on 24th September, 2012. PWÂ2 Shaikh Jamil was",,
extensively crossÂexamined by the defence but nothing useful to the defence has been elicited.,,
24. PWÂ3 Afsanabee w/o Shaikh Jamil is the mother of deceased Asma. She deposed that on the day of the incident at about 12.00 to 12.30 noon,,
one Raju Bhai informed on telephone to her husband that Asma had got burnt and was admitted in GHATI hospital at Aurangabad. She further,,
deposed that she herself and her husband went to GHATI hospital and met Asma in Ward No.20/22 of the hospital. Asma had sustained burns. She,,
further deposed that on being asked by them, Asma informed that the accused used to suspect her character. Accused had beaten Asmah and abused",,
her in filthy language, and thereafter accused poured kerosene on the person of Asma and set her on fire. She further deposed that Asma also stated",,
that the accused was demanding Rs.50,000/Â for purchasing motorcycle. We have perused the entire crossÂexamination of PWÂ3 Afsanabee. So",,
far as the oral dying declaration is concerned, the witness has not at all shattered in the crossÂexamination.",,
25. The prosecution has examined PWÂ4 Shaikh Yunus Shaikh Rustam, landlord of the accused, PWÂ8 Shaikh Sardar Shaikh Noor, brother of the",,
accused, PWÂ9 Hussain Salim Pathan, a neighbourer of the accused and driver of rickshaw in which Asma was taken to the hospital after the",,
incident, and PWÂ11 Asefa Shaikh Yusuf, a landlady of the accused. But all these witnesses turned hostile and did not support the prosecution case.",,
26. As already observed, both the dying declarations are consistent, reliable and trustworthy and inspires confidence of this Court. On the material",,
point of incident, there is no variance in both the dying declarations. In both the dying declarations, ExhibitÂ19 and ExhibitÂ28, deceased Asma has",,
specifically stated that her husband  accused poured kerosene on her person and set her on fire. In both the dying declarations, Asma has",,
specifically stated that her husband was suspecting about her chastity, and therefore the prosecution has established the motive for committing such",,
crime. Both the written dying declarations are fully corroborated by the oral evidence of father and mother of Asma, i.e. PWÂ2 Shaikh Jamil and",,
PWÂ3 Afsanabee. Soon after the incident, in the hospital itself both these witnesses met Asma at which time Asma stated to them that accused",,
poured kerosene on her person and set her on fire. Thus, conviction can be based upon such reliable, trustworthy and consistent dying declarations.",,
The prosecution has proved, beyond reasonable doubt that the accused has poured kerosene on the person of Asma and set her on fire. Thus, the",,
prosecution has proved that the accused committed an offence punishable under SectionÂ302 of the I.P. Code.,,
27. So far as the offence punishable under Section 498ÂA of the I.P. Code is concerned, PWÂ2 Shaikh Jamil, father of Asma, specifically deposed",,
that the accused used to ask Asma to bring motorcycle from the witness. His oral evidence further reveals that accused used to suspect the character,,
of Asma. Oral evidence of PWÂ2 further shows that accused used to demand Rs.50,000/Â for purchase of motorcycle. He further deposed that",,
deceased Asma used to tell him about the demand of money made by the accused. In this respect, PWÂ3 Afsanabee, mother of Asma, deposed that",,
the accused had started suspecting character of Asma since before 5 to 6 months of the incident. She further deposed that accused was making,,
demand of Rs.50,000/Â for purchasing the motorcycle since 5 to 6 months before the incident. Asma used to tell them about the same whenever she",,
used to meet them. Further, in the dying declaration, Exhibit28, recorded by the police head constable PWÂ6 Vitthal Javkhede, Asma has specifically",,
stated that her husband had asked her to bring Rs.50,000/Â from her father for purchasing motorcycle. Asma has further stated that she told her",,
husband that financial condition of her father was very weak and her father was unable to give such huge amount. Asma further stated that on the,,
said count accused beaten her. Thus, prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had committed an offence punishable",,
under Section 498ÂA of the Indian Penal Code.,,
28. Learned counsel appearing for the Appellant has argued that though record shows that on the spot a stove and matchÂstick were lying, the",,
investigating officer has not seized the said articles. The said argument of the learned counsel deserves no consideration for the simple reason that in,,
the present matter the police machinery has carried out proper investigation and taken immediate steps to record dying declaration of Asma through,,
the police head constable and thereafter through a Special Judicial Magistrate. The prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and,,
therefore, much weightage could not be given to the insignificant loopholes in the investigation, which do not affect the core/substratum of the",,
prosecution case.,,
29. Learned counsel appearing for the Appellant, referring to the text in SectionÂ9 of Modi's Medical Jurisprudence, has argued that the medical",,
evidence shows that Asma received serious burn injuries to her tongue and throat and therefore she was not in a position to give oral dying,,
declarations, and on this count both the dying declarations are liable to be discarded. This objection raised by the learned counsel also deserves no",,
consideration, as the prosecution has brought on record sufficient evidence to show that before and after recording both the dying declarations at",,
ExhibitsÂ19 and 28, the medical officer has examined the condition of Asma and opined that she was conscious, well oriented and fit to give",,
statement. The police head constable and also the Special Judicial Magistrate, after satisfying themselves that Asma was well oriented and mentally fit",,
to give statement, her statements were recorded. Further, it is significant to note that when the medical officer PWÂ9 Dr. Vipul Pathak, who",,
examined Asma before and after recording dying declarations, was crossÂexamined before the trial Court, he was not confronted by showing the said",,
text in Section 9 of Modi's Medical Jurisprudence.,,
30. Learned counsel appearing for the Appellant has placed reliance upon the observations made by the Division Bench of this Court (CORAM: S.S.,,
SHINDE AND V.K. JADHAV, JJ.) in the recent Judgment dated 23rd July, 2018 passed in Criminal Appeal No.429 of 2013 (Bapu (Nandu)",,
Prabhu Koli @ Raut vs. the State of Maharashtra). However, it is significant to note that the facts in the present case are totally different from the",,
facts in the case of Bapu (Nandu) Prabhu Koli, cited supra. In the said case there was only one dying declaration and there was variance in the",,
dying declaration and medical history narrated by the victim about who poured kerosene on the person of victim. There was no corroboration by way,,
of oral or documentary evidence, and therefore the same did not inspire confidence and benefit of doubt has been given to the accused therein. On the",,
other hand, in the present case there are two dying declarations which are consistent, and the same are corroborated by two consistent oral dying",,
declarations.,,
31. The Supreme Court, in the case of P. V. Radhakrishna vs. State of Karnataka AIR 2003 SC 2859 , in paragraph Nos. 12 and 13 of the Judgment,",,
has observed as under:,,
12. This is a case where the basis of conviction of the accused is the dying declaration. The situation in which a person is on deathbed is so solemn,,
and serene when he is dying that the grave position in which he is placed, is the reason in law to accept veracity of his statement. It is for this reason",,
the requirements of oath and crossexamination are dispensed with. Besides, should the dying declaration be excluded it will result in miscarriage of",,
justice because the victim being generally the only eyewitness in a serious crime, the exclusion of the statement would leave the Court without a scrap",,
of evidence.,,
13. Though a dying declaration is entitled to great weight, it is worthwhile to note that the accused has no power of crossÂexamination. Such a power",,
is essential for eliciting the truth as an obligation of oath could be. This is the reason the Court also insists that the dying declaration should be of such,,
a nature as to inspire full confidence of the Court in its correctness. The Court has to be on guard that the statement of deceased was not as a result,,
of either tutoring, or prompting or a product of imagination. The Court must be further satisfied that the deceased was in a fit state of mind after a",,
clear opportunity to observe and identify the assailant. Once the Court is satisfied that the declaration was true and voluntary, undoubtedly, it can base",,
its conviction without any further corroboration. It cannot be laid down as an absolute rule of law that the dying declaration cannot form the sole basis,,
of conviction unless it is corroborated. The rule requiring corroboration is merely a rule of prudence........â€,,
32. Thus, it is clear from the exposition of law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of P. V. Radhakrishna vs. State of Karnataka, cited supra",,
that, if the Court is satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary it can base conviction on it, without corroboration. In the present case, we",,
are fully satisfied that both the dying declarations at ExhibitÂ19 and ExhibitÂ28 are true and voluntary. Further, the said dying declarations are also",,
corroborated by the oral dying declarations given by Asma to her father and mother, and therefore the conviction can be based upon such dying",,
declarations.,,
33. The defence taken by the Appellant is rightly rejected by the trial Court, as the Appellant and Asma were only present in the house and it was for",,
the Appellant to offer an explanation that, under which circumstances the incident had taken place. We are unable to accept the feeble attempt on the",,
part of the Appellant to suggest that Asma caught fire due to flaring of burning stove and her death was accidental, and the same is rightly discarded",,
by the trial Court.,,
34. Therefore, upon considering the evidence in its entirety, we are of the opinion that the findings recorded by the trial Court are in consonance with",,
the evidence brought on record and hence, we do not think it necessary to cause interference in the findings recorded by the trial Court.",,
35. We do not find that there is any substance in the Appeal. Accordingly, the Criminal Appeal stands dismissed.",,
     Â,,
