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HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH
Ramesh Sinha, Ravindra Kumar Agrawal
Sudhir Mahana, Son of Dharnidhar Mahana – Appellant
Versus
State of Chhattisgarh – Respondent
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 5th 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
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.
Dying declarations can serve as the sole basis for conviction if deemed credible and made in a fit state of mind, as established in this case.
A dying declaration must be trustworthy and corroborated; significant discrepancies in the statement led to acquittal due to reasonable doubt not established by prosecution.
A dying declaration can only serve as a basis for conviction if it is proven to be reliable and made in a fit mental state; otherwise, it cannot sustain a conviction.
The court upheld the convictions based on the reliability of the dying declaration and corroborative evidence, affirming the principles governing the admissibility of such declarations.
The dying declaration of the deceased, supported by medical evidence and circumstantial evidence, can be sufficient to establish guilt under Section 302 of IPC.
A dying declaration must be supported by evidence of the declarant's mental fitness; absence of such certification undermines its reliability as a basis for conviction.
Court emphasized that a magistrate's dying declaration carries significant weight over oral declarations, affecting conviction in murder cases.
(1) Merely because there are two/multiple dying declarations, all dying declarations are not to be rejected.(2) There is neither a rule of law nor of prudence to the effect that a dying declaration c....
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