Deepak Gupta, J.

1. By means of this appeal, the accused/Appellant has challenged the judgment of Learned Sessions Judge, Raipur dated 27.4.1998 passed in Sessions Trial No.277 of 1996, whereby the Appellant was convicted for having committed an offence of murder of his wife punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

2. The undisputed facts are that the Appellant was married to Usha Pateria. As per the evidence on record, the marriage had taken place more than 7 years prior to the date of the incident 8.4.1996. It is also not disputed that Usha Pateria received serious burn injuries on 8.4.1996 at about 3:30 p.m. She was taken to the Medical College Hospital, Raipur. She was suffering from 80%–85% burns and as a result of the injuries sustained she unfortunately expired on 26.4.1996. Another undisputed fact is that the Appellant also received burn injuries during this very incident. When Usha Pateria was lying admitted in the hospital, her dying declaration (Ex.P-9) was recorded by PW-8, Ashok Tiwari, Executive Magistrate on 11.4.1996 and in this dying declaration, she had stated that her husband poured kerosene on he