The court affirmed that a dying declaration can serve as the sole basis for conviction if it is credible, voluntary, and made in a fit state of mind.

Judgment :

(Ramesh Sinha, CJ.)

(1) In this criminal appeal filed under Section 374(2) of Cr.P.C., the accused-appellants are calling in question the legality, validity and correctness of the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 14.10.2019, passed in Sessions Case No.123 of 2018 (State of Chhattisgarh v. Sudhir Mahana & 02 others), by the 5^th Additional Sessions Judge, District Raigarh (C.G.), whereby they all have been convicted for offence under Section 304-B read with Section 34 of IPC and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life.

(2) Before proceeding further, it would be appropriate to mention here that during the pendency of this appeal, appellant No.02- Dharnidhar Mahana has died and, accordingly, his name has been deleted as per Court order dated 07.01.2025. As such, this appeal stands abated against the appellant No.02 and remained sub judice in respect of the appellants No.01 & 03. Therefore, we consider this appeal only in respect of appellants No.01 & 03.

(3) The case of the prosecution, in a nutshell, is that on 13.09.2018, between 10:00 to 11:00 AM, in the house of the appellant No.1, situated near Jagannath Temple, which comes within the ambit of Police Station Pusour, District Raigarh (CG), the accused-appellants herein firstly shared common intention with each other to commit murder of Pooja (wife of the appellant No.01 and daughter-in-law of the appellant No.03) for or in connection with demand of dowry and, in furtherance thereof, poured kerosene oil over the body of Pooja (hereinafter referred to as the “deceased”) and set her ablaze, due to which, she suffered burn injuries to the extent of 83% and died during the course of her treatment in the hospital within seven years of her marriage, on 17.09.2018 and, thereby, the appellants are said to have committed offences under Sections 304-B /34 of IPC .

(4) It is further case of the prosecution that immediately after the incident, on 13.09.2018 at about 02:00 PM, the deceased was first escorted to Community Health Centre, Pusour wherein she was medically examined by Dr. Rajni Nayak (PW-17) and, as per her MLC report (Ex.P/12), though she suffered 83% burn injuries, but she was stated to be in conscious state of mind. Thereafter, the deceased was referred to District Hospital, Raigarh for better treatment. During the course of treatment at Raigarh, on 13.09.2018 itself, between 02:50 PM to 03:15 PM, after having been certified by the doctor to be in fit state of mind to give statement vide Ex.P/18, the dying declaration (Ex.P/19) of the deceased was recorded by Executive Magistrate, namely, Leeladhar Chandra (PW-13), wherein she clearly deposed the names of the present appellants to be the authors of the crime by stating that on the date and time of the offence, the accused- appellants herein, with regard to dispute relating to demand of dowry, poured kerosene oil over her body and set her ablaze, due to which, she suffered burn injuries. On the basis of aforesaid information, zero FIR (Ex.P/04) and numbered FIR (Ex.P/03) were registered against the appellants and wheels of investigation started running, in which, spot map was prepared vide Ex.P/05.

(5) However, during the course of treatment, the deceased succumbed to the injuries and died on 17.09.2018, pursuant to which, information with regard to sudden and unnatural death was sent by the hospital to the police. Thereafter, merg intimation (Ex.P/01 & Ex.P/02) were recorded. Summons under Section 175 of CrPC were sent vide Ex.P/15 and inquest proceedings were also conducted vide Ex.P/16. The dead-body of the deceased was sent for postmortem examination and, in the postmortem report (Ex.P/14), conducted by Dr. Naveen Agrawal (PW-16), it has been opined that cause of death of the deceased is syncope as a result of hypovolemia due to burn. Thereafter, the accused-appellants were arrested vide Ex.P/20 & Ex.P/22 respectively. Certain articles were seized from the spot and sent for chemical analy