IMPORTANT POINTS
Conviction based on dying declaration corroborated by witnesses cannot be faulted.
It is not correct to contend that deceased could not give statement because he had 70% burn injuries.
If the accused does not disclose circumstances within his special knowledge in statement u/s 313 CrPC, adverse presumption may be drawn against him u/s 106 Evidence act.
When chain of circumstances is complete, there is no need to prove motive.

JUDGMENT

Pinaki Chandra Ghose, J.

1. This appeal has been filed by Dasin Bai against the judgment and order dated 1st December, 2006 passed by the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur in Criminal Appeal No.1171 of 2001 by which the High Court while upholding the findings of the Trial Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant. The facts of the case as narrated by the prosecution are briefly stated as under:

2. On February 1, 2000, in the evening, one Raju Rajak (who is the deceased in this case) was roaming near Kargi road railway station after finishing his work in a hotel. There he met with Dasin Bai, the Appellant herein. On the request of Dasin Bai, he went to drop her to her house at Kotsagar Para, Kota, and after dropping her there when he was returning, Dasin Bai asked her to stay back at her house. The deceased slept there by covering himself with a quilt. While he was asleep, Dasin Bai poured Kerosene, kept in a Jerricane, on him. The deceased woke up by the smell of Kerosene and at the same time, Dasin Bai set him on fire with a match stick. He got burnt and shouted for help. On hearing his shout, a neighbor, namely Santosh Yadav and others ran towards the house of Dasin Bai.

3. Santosh Yadav covered the body of the deceased with a shawl while Dasin Bai was standing there. Santosh Yadav (PW 1) brought Raju Rajak out, while the smell of kerosene was still emanating from the body of Raju. Raju disclosed that Dasin Bai poured kerosene on him and set him on fire. Raju was taken to Primary health centre, Kota and then he was taken to District hospital, Bilaspur for treatment where on 3.2.2000 he died. In the hospital, dying declaration of Raju was recorded by S.L. Soni (PW 12) in the presence of Radheyshyam (PW 3), Santosh and Basant Singh.

4. The investigating officer seized burnt bedding, bed sheet, plastic jerrican, one match box, one half-burnt match stick, half burnt clothes of the deceased and one wrist watch from the place of occurrence. Upon investigation, it was found that Dasin Bai committed murder by setting the deceased on fire. She was arrested, the charge-sheet was filed and the case was committed to the Sessions for trial.

5. The Prosecution examined 12 witnesses to establish the charge against the accused. Statement of the accused was recorded under section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The accused examined one witness, namely, Basant Singh Thakur in her defence.

6. The Sessions Court after hearing the counsel on both the sides and after perusing the record, by its judgment dated September 29, 2001, convicted the appellant under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced her to life imprisonment. Aggrieved by the said judgment of conviction and sentence, the appellant preferred an appeal before the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur. The High Court upheld the judgment of conviction and sentence rendered by the Trial Court and dismissed the appeal filed by the appellant. Against the judgment and order passed by the High Court, the appellant has filed this appeal petition from jail.

7. The learned counsel for the appellant contended that the dying declaration should not have been relied upon by the Trial Court and the High Court. It was his case that considering the extent of burns, sustained by the deceased, it was impossible on his part to give any dying declaration. The learned counsel for the appellant further contended that the evidence provided by the prosecution was not free and independent since they were putting forward the version of interested witnesses.

8. The learned counsel for the respondents on the other hand supported the impugned judgment of the High Court.

9. We have heard the learned counsels for the parties. We see no reason to doubt the veracity of the dying declaration especially since there is consistency between them.

10. This Court has observed in a number of cases, that there is no reason to doubt the veracity of the dying declaration especially, since