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Naresh Kumar v. Kalawati and others

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 211Decided 25 Mar 2021
Criminal Appeal No. 35 of 2013
Justice Navin Sinha · Justice Krishna Murari

Background

The appellant's sister died of 95% burn injuries suffered at her matrimonial home, allegedly set on fire by her sister-in-law and/or husband. There was no eyewitness, and the prosecution's case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence, chiefly the deceased's dying declaration(s), which were inconsistent: at different points blaming the husband alone, then the sister-in-law alone. The Trial Court and High Court both acquitted the husband and sister-in-law, finding the dying declaration unreliable, partly because no doctor certified that the deceased was in a fit state of mind when she made the statement. The deceased's brother appealed the acquittal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court reaffirmed that under Article 136 it is reluctant to overturn a concurrent acquittal by two courts unless the findings are perverse or there has been a complete misappreciation of evidence. Examining the record, it found the deceased's successive statements vacillated between blaming the husband and the sister-in-law, with no corroborating evidence of dowry demand in any version. Crucially, relying on Paparambaka Rosamma v. State of Andhra Pradesh, the Court reiterated that "conscious" and "fit state of mind" are medically distinct, and since no doctor certified the deceased was mentally fit (or was even examined as a witness to prove this) when the dying declaration was recorded, its truthfulness remained suspect. Given these doubts and a plausible defence of suicide (the respondents claimed the deceased was frustrated over her inability to conceive and suspected an affair), the Court held it would be unsafe to convict on this shaky dying declaration, and dismissed the appeal, upholding the acquittal.

Lesson Learnt

A dying declaration can be the sole basis for conviction only if it is shown to be voluntary, consistent, and made when the person was certified by a doctor to be in a fit mental state, being merely "conscious" is not the same as being of sound mind, and courts will not disturb a concurrent acquittal built on genuine doubts about such evidence.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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