IMPORTANT POINT
The Dying Declaration must be credible and corroborated; in this case, it was deemed unreliable due to contradictions and lack of supporting evidence.

JUDGMENT :

Arvind Singh Sangwan, J.

1. The present appeals have been filed against the judgment of conviction dated 9.7.2019 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 8, Firozabad in ST No. 392 of 2012 (Case Crime No. 239 of 2012), Police Station – Utter, Firozabad by which the appellants were convicted of charge under Sections 498-A, 304-B IPC, read with Section ¾ of the Dowry Prohibition Act. Accused-appellant, Dilawar Singh, was sentenced to undergo life imprisonment under Section 304-B IPC whereas accused-Jagat Singh and Virendra Singh were sentenced to undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. Under Section 498A of IPC, all the accused were awarded two years of imprisonment with fine of Rs. 5000/- each. In case of default of payment of fine, they were directed to further undergo imprisonment for one month each. Under Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, the appellants were directed to undergo two years imprisonment with fine of Rs. 5000/- each and in default of payment of fine, they have to undergo one month further imprisonment. All the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

2. Heard Sri Yogesh Kumar Srivastava, learned counsel for the appellant, Sri Arun Kumar Singh, learned Amicus Curiae, and learned A.G.A. for the State.

3. This case is listed in the category of ‘Supreme Court Expedited Cases’ as in S.L.P. (Criminal) Diary No. 15422 of 2024 (Dilawar Singh Vs. State of U.P.), he Supreme Court has passed the following order on 26.04.2024, which read as under:

"Delay condoned.

We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment and hence, the special leave petition is dismissed.

We request the High Court to take up Criminal Appeal no. 5591/2019 filed by the present petitioner- Dilawar Singh for hearing as expeditiously as possible.

In case the appeal is not taken up for hearing within six months from today for reasons not attributable to the petitioner or co-convicts, the petitioner - Dilawar Singh may file a fresh application for grant of bail, which will be considered in accordance with law.

We also observe that the counsel appearing for the petitioner - Dilawar Singh should be ready for arguments when Criminal Appeal no. 5591/2019 is taken up by the High Court for hearing.

Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of."

4. Paper book is ready. Trial Court record is requisitioned and the arguments on main appeal is heard.

5. During pendency of the appeal, the accused-appellant Jagat Singh has died and this fact is verified by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Firozabad. It is also worth noticing that appellant Virendra Singh was released on bail vide order dated 19.2.2020 as he was on bail during trial, however, the appellant Dilawar Singh is in continuous judicial custody since 29.4.2012 and has undergone 12 years and 5 months of actual custody and 13 years and 4 months of total custody including remission. Both the appellants have no criminal history.

6. Brief facts of the case are that on 29.02.2012, informant- Rambir Singh has given complaint vide Ex.Ka.1 on the basis of which chik FIR (Ex.Ka-3) was registered which read as under:

7. The investigation was carried out by the police. During the investigation, one Naib Tehsildar, who later on, appeared as PW-10, recorded the dying declaration of the victim. The operative part of the dying declaration (Ex.Ka.7) read as under:

“Certified that Smt. Shashi, aged about 25 years, w/o Dilawar Singh R/o Jaid Nagarm ACS North, Distt. Firozabad, is fully conscious and can give her Dying Declaration.

8. The police prepared a Panchayatnama in which it was decided that the post-mortem of the dead body should be conducted. Thereafter, the post-mortem of t