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Phulel Singh vs. State of Haryana

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 863Decided 27 Sept 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 396 of 2010
B.R. Gavai · Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha · Prashant Kumar Mishra

Background

The appellant's wife suffered fatal burn injuries at their matrimonial home in 1991. The prosecution alleged she was harassed for dowry and was set on fire by her husband and in-laws. Before dying, she gave a "dying declaration" to an Executive Magistrate, but only three days after the incident, after relatives had approached the authorities to have her statement recorded. The trial court convicted the appellant (her husband) under Section 304-B IPC (dowry death) while acquitting him of murder, and the High Court upheld this conviction while acquitting his father.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found serious doubts about the reliability of the delayed dying declaration: it was recorded only after relatives brought an application seeking it, several relatives were present in the room during the recording, and there were inconsistencies about when the doctor certified her fit to make the statement. Tellingly, the High Court itself had disbelieved the very same dying declaration when acquitting the father-in-law, yet relied on it to convict the husband: a contradiction the Supreme Court found untenable. The Court also found no reliable independent evidence of dowry harassment beyond vague, uncorroborated statements from the deceased's relatives. Holding that the dying declaration was not free from doubt and the dowry-harassment evidence was insufficient, the Court acquitted the appellant of all charges.

Lesson Learnt

A dying declaration used as the sole basis for conviction must be shown to be voluntary, free of tutoring, and recorded without undue delay or the presence of interested relatives; if a court disbelieves a dying declaration for one accused, it cannot selectively rely on the same statement to convict a co-accused.

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

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