Introduction

Dying Declaration is a statement made by the person while he was dying and states the reason for his death. The statement given by the dying person can be circumstantial or tells the cause for his death. Hence, the only statement given just before the death of a person is called Dying Declaration. The person who is conscious of Compos Mentis and knows that death is about to happen can make a declaration and state the cause of his death and that statement will be Admissible and treated as Evidence in the Court. Declaration made by the deceased person can be in oral, written and by conduct.

In Section 32 (1) of Indian Evidence Act defines when the statement is made by the person as the cause of his death, or as any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in his loss of life, in cases in which the cause of that person’s death comes into question. Such statements made by the person are relevant whether the person who made them was alive or was not, at the time when they were made, under the expectation of death, and whatever may be the nature of the proceeding in which the cause of his death comes into question.

Expectations of death is not necessary

Under English Law, the victim should not be under any expectation of death. Evidence Act has taken this law from English law. If the statement has been made even when no cause of death had arisen then also the statement will be relevant. It is not important at all that the statement recorded should be just before the death of the victim.

In Pakala Narayan Swami Vs Emperor, it was held that the letter given by the deceased to his wife before going to the place where he was killed was relevant. The court said that the statement made must be at any rate near death or the circumstances of the transaction explaining his death is relevant under section 32 of Evidence Act. In this case, the court stated that dying declaration can be any statement that explains the cause of death or the circumstances of the transaction explaining his death. Hence, statements as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in the death would be included.

F.I.R as a dying declaration

In a situation where a person dies after, when a F.I.R was lodged and stating that his life was in danger, it is relevant to be recorded as circumstantial dying declaration.

In the case of Munnu Raja and another v. State of M.P the Supreme Court of India observed that statement made by injured person recorded as FIR can be deemed as dying declaration and such declaration is admissible under Section 32 of Indian Evidence Act. It was also observed by the court that dying declaration must not shows the whole incident or narrate the case history. Corroboration is not necessary in this situation, Dying declaration can be declared as the exclusive evidence for the purpose of conviction.

Evidentiary Value of Dying Declaration

Evidentiary value of dying declaration depends on the statements oral or written of relevant facts made by a person who is dead. It is an important piece of evidence and conviction can be based solely on the declaration of a dead man. Mathew Arnold said truth sits on the lips of dying man. Recognising the value of dying declaration Indian Supreme Court in a famous case stated as follow:

“A person who is facing imminent death, with even a shadow of continuing in this world practically non-existent every motive of falsehood is obliterated. The mind gets altered by the most powerful ethical reasons to speak only the truth. Great solemnity and sanctity is attached to the words of a dying man because a person on the verge of death is not likely to tell lies or to concoct a case so as to implicate an innocent person …….the general principle on which the species of evidence is admitted is that they are declarations made in extremity, when the party is at the point of death, and when every hope of this world is gone, when every motive to falsehood is silenced and mind induced by the most powerful consideration to speak the truth; situations so solemn that law considers the same as creating an obligation equal to that which is imposed by a positive oath administered in a Court of justice.”

The court has very beautifully explained the evidentiary value of Dying Declaration through judgments like Khushal Rao v. State of Bombay, Kusa v. State of Orissa and K.R. Reddy v. Public Prosecutor and many other cases. The SC has culled out following principle related evidentiary value of dying declaration:

1.   A dying declaration made by a person on the verge of his death has a special sanctity as at that solemn moment, a person is most unlikely to make any untrue statement.

2.   A dying declaration can be the sole basis of conviction. A true and voluntary declaration needs no corroboration since the shadow of impending death is by itself the guarantee of the truth of the statement made.

3.   Each case must be determined on its own facts keeping in view the circumstances in which dying declaration was made.

4.   A dying declaration stands on the same footing as any other piece of evidence and has to be judged in the light of surrounding circumstances and with reference to the principles governing the weighing of evidence.

5.   A dying declaration recorded by the Magistrate in question answer form stands on a much higher footing.

6.   In order to test the reliability of dying declaration court has to keep in mind the circumstances like the opportunity for observation of the dying man i.e., sufficient light when crime was committed, capacity to remember the facts, statements are consistent and the statement has been made at the earlier opportunity and was not the result of tutoring by interested parties

7.   Once the court is satisfied that the dying declaration was true, voluntary and not influenced by any extraneous consideration, it can base its conviction without any further corroboration as a rule; requiring corroboration is not a rule of law but only a rule of prudence.

Thus, law is quite clear that if the dying declaration is absolutely credible and nothing is brought on record that the deceased was in such a condition, he or she could not have made a dying declaration to a witness there is no justification to discard the same. SC overruled the judgment in Ram Nath Mahadeo Prasad v. State of M.P while making the statement that dying declaration if found true can safely be relied upon even if it is not corroborate.

Conclusion

With the above research, it can be concluded that dying declaration holds paramount evidentiary value and can be a sole factor for conviction of the accused. Despite possessing a major fault, it bears a lot of weight. That is a fundamental deviation from existing proof standards since the statement and its veracity cannot be cross-examined, essentially making hearsay evidence admissible.