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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
SANJAY KUMAR, K.VINOD CHANDRAN, JJ.
Sanjay Kumar Sharma – Appellant
Versus
State of Bihar & Ors. – Respondents
Criminal Appeal No of 2026 [@Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 15378 of 2024]
Decided On : 11-03-2026
(A) Indian Evidence Act, 1872 – Section 32 – Dying declaration – Evidentiary value – Dying declaration is a very important species of evidence capable of proving crime proper and identifying accused, an exception to hearsay evidence – Court should be satisfied it is made by deceased without any prompting or tutoring or coercion or is a mere figment of imagination – Conviction can be based solely on dying declaration and there is no requirement of any corroboration – It can be reduced to writing or can be oral, as testified by reliable witnesses – Capacity of injured to make statement, both physical and mental, need not be necessarily certified by a doctor and would rest again on satisfaction of Court on an analysis of testimony of various witnesses and other evidence coming forth in trial – If there is an iota of suspicion Court has to look for corroboration – Medical certification as to physical and mental state always aids in arriving at a satisfaction. (Paras 13 and 14)
(B) Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Section 302 – Murder of parents by son and daughter-in-law – Acquittal by High Court – Postmortem report of deceased husband indicates that he sustained 100% burns – Degree of burn injuries suffered by deceased wife is not mentioned in report prepared by Doctor who carried out postmortem – Court is unable to find that dying declarations alleged to have been made to witnesses are credible or even probable, especially considering fact that deceased is alleged to have made statement immediately after sustaining grievous burn injuries – There was no investigation on that count and I.O. did not even carry out forensic examination of site to find out cause of fire, whether it was arson or accidental – Investigation and prosecution was premised on motive alleged and nothing more – High Court was perfectly correct in acquitting accused. (Paras 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31 and 33)
Facts of the case:
Overzealous investigation is as fatal to prosecution as are lethargic and tardy. Framing a case on public perceptions and personal predilections ends up in a mess, often putting to peril an innocent and always letting free perpetrator. Here, we have a case of gruesome death of a couple when their house was gutted in a fire, with the son and daughter-in-law accused of murder. Entire case is founded on motive; the ill-will son harbored against father for not having given him his due share in ancestral property. The entire village was against son and mishap ended in an investigation where truth was sacrificed at altar of perceived vengeance, ably assisted by Investigating Officer’s selective but careless pursuits, derailing entire prosecution.
Findings of Court:
The trauma of arrest, incarceration and trial will always scar couple and more so their children who were left orphaned, during the time when their parents were imprisoned. We cannot but caution the investigators and Courts to strive to do better and follow accepted practices and procedural rules to the hilt, when lives are lost or taken and there is a possibility of false accusations being made, putting to peril the reputations of the living.
Result : Appeal dismissed.
This case involves the death of a couple who were burned alive in their house, with the accused being their son and daughter-in-law. The prosecution's case was primarily based on motive and multiple dying declarations made by the victims, which implicated the accused in setting the fire. The investigation, however, was found to be significantly deficient, lacking proper forensic examination, scene investigation, and independent witness corroboration. The recorded dying declarations were inconsistent and raised doubts about their credibility, especially given the severe injuries sustained by the victims and the circumstances under which the declarations were made. The trial court initially convicted the accused, but the High Court acquitted them, citing the unreliability of the evidence, the suspicious nature of the dying declarations, and the lapses in investigation. The appellate court, after reviewing the evidence and procedural issues, upheld the acquittal, emphasizing that the investigation and evidence did not establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The case underscores the importance of thorough investigation and cautious evaluation of dying declarations, especially when the evidence is inconsistent or when procedural lapses cast doubt on the credibility of the evidence.
JUDGMENT :
K. Vinod Chandran, J.
Leave granted.
2. Overzealous investigation is as fatal to prosecution as are the lethargic and the tardy. Framing a case on public perceptions and personal predilections ends up in a mess, often putting to peril an innocent and always letting free the perpetrator. Here, we have a case of gruesome death of a couple when their house was gutted in a fire, with the son and daughter-in-law accused of murder. The entire case is founded on motive; the ill-will the son harbored against the father for not having given him his due share in the ancestral property. The entire village was against the son and the mishap ended in an investigation where truth was sacrificed at the altar of perceived vengeance, ably assisted by the Investigating Officer’s selective but careless pursuits, derailing the entire prosecution.
3. On the early hours of 23.11.2016, a shanty in which a lawyer and his wife were residing was gutted in a fire, killing the old man immediately and his wife after two days in a hospital at Patna. It was alleged that the younger son and daughter-in-law of the couple, due to previous enmity arising from land disputes, torched the hut with the intention to murder the parents. In defense, as is permissible, inconsistent stances were taken; of the neighbour, who was managing the properties of the deceased, and the elder son having colluded to murder the couple and an accidental fire, by reason of the cooking gas cylinder bursting. The Trial Court convicted the accused, while the High Court acquitted him. We are faced with the divergent findings of the Trial Court and the High Court; that of the High Court by its order of acquittal having fortified the presumption of innocence available to the accused.
4. Sri Smarhar Singh, Advocate-on-Record, appearing for the petitioner, the elder son of the deceased, argued that the High Court has completely lost sight of the evidence in the case and entered an acquittal totally ignoring the dying declarations. In addition to the recorded dying declarations as coming out from the First Information Statement (FIS) and that recorded by PW8, a Block Development Officer (BDO), PWs 1 to 3, 5 and 6 also spoke of the statement made by one of the deceased pinning the dastardly act of setting ablaze the hut and murdering the parents on the accused. There was sufficient evidence to prove the motive, which together with the dying declarations ought to have persuaded the High Court to affirm the conviction ordered by the Trial Court. The Doctor who carried out the post-mortem spoke only of 60% burns and confirmed the mental status of the deceased, who spoke about the cause of her death and that of her husband. A number of decisions are placed before us to put forth the contention that a dying declaration can be solely relied on to enter a conviction. In the present case, there was sufficient corroboration from the medical evidence, the motive proved and the testimony of witnesses who reached the crime spot immediately afterwards. The High Court ought to have ensured that the parricide was not left unavenged, when egregiously the accused were acquitted without a proper appreciation of the evidence.
5. Sri Amanullah, learned Counsel appearing for the State sought to uphold the conviction of the Trial Court and reverse the order of acquittal especially pointing out the dastardly crime. The testimonies of the witnesses, the dying declaration and the motive proved ought to have convinced the High Court about the culpability of the accused is the contention.
6. Sri Vipin Sanghi, learned Senior Counsel for the accused pointed out the lapses in the investigation and the concerted effort to somehow punish the accused, by manufacturing evidence not only in the form of inconsistent dying declarations but also by way of interested testimony of the witnesses. There was a clear pick and choose employed in bringing witnesses to the trial, all interested and by their testimony validating the def
(1) Dying declaration – Conviction can be based solely on dying declaration and there is no requirement of any corroboration – If there is an iota of suspicion Court has to look for corroboration. (2....
Kidnapped and Murder – Conviction set aside - Appellant is justified in pointing out lacunae in investigation, but benefit of faulty investigation cannot be given to accused especially, when prosecut....
A dying declaration, if made in a fit mental state and corroborated by witnesses, can be sufficient for conviction without the need for further corroboration, emphasizing the sanctity of such stateme....
In cases of multiple dying declarations, inconsistencies necessitate corroboration for conviction; the earliest declaration indicating self-immolation was preferred, creating reasonable doubt about t....
A conviction based on circumstantial evidence must establish clear links and prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; the reliability of dying declarations is paramount.
A conviction based on inconsistent dying declarations is unsafe without corroborative evidence; discrepancies create reasonable doubt undermining the prosecution's case.
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