Indian Evidence Act

Introduction

The word dying declaration is derived from the word ‘leterm motem’ which means words said before death. It means the statement of the person who is dead explaining the cause of death.

• The term dying declaration has not been defined in the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 but Section 32(1) of the Act contains provision in relation to dying declaration.

Section 32(1) of IEA

This section states that when the statement is made by a person as to the cause of his death, or as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in his death, in cases in which the cause of that person's death comes into question. Such statements are relevant whether the person who made them was or was not, at the time when they were made, under expectation of death, and whatever may be the nature of the proceeding in which the cause of his death comes into question.

Characteristics of Dying Declaration

• Dying declaration is one of the exceptions of the rule of excluding hearsay evidence.
• It is not necessary that the dying declaration is relevant only in a particular kind of proceedings. The proceedings may be civil or criminal.
• There is no absolute rule of law that a dying declaration, unless corroborated by other independent evidence, is not fit to be acted upon.

By Whom the Dying Declaration is Recorded

• It is best that it is recorded by the magistrate.
• If there is no time to call the magistrate, keeping in view the deteriorating condition of the declaration, it can be recorded by anybody.
• It cannot be said that a dying declaration recorded by a police officer is always invalid.
• If any dying declaration is not recorded by the competent Magistrate, it is better that signatures of the witnesses are taken who are present at the time of recording it.

Procedure for Recording Dying Declaration

• There is no particular form or procedure prescribed for recording a dying declaration nor is it required to be recorded only by a Magistrate.
• A dying declaration cannot be discarded only on the ground that it was not recorded in question-answer form.
• A statement recorded in a narrative form may be more natural and may give a true version of the incident as perceived by the injured person.

Multiple Dying Declarations

• Law in regard to multiple dying declarations has been well settled as per the various decisions delivered by the Supreme Court time and again.
• In such cases reliability of such statements must be measured very carefully.
• Hence there can be two cases i.e., where multiple dying declarations which are consistent with each other and secondly case of inconsistent multiple dying declarations.
• In the cases of inconsistent dying declarations, the extent of the inconsistencies would then have to be considered by the court.
• The inconsistencies may turn out to be reconcilable. In such cases, where the inconsistencies go to some matter of detail or description but is incriminatory in nature as far as the accused is concerned, the court would look to the material on record to conclude as to which dying declaration is to be relied on unless it be shown that they are unreliable.

Case Laws

• In Uka Ram v. State of Rajasthan (2001) it was held by the Supreme Court that the admissibility of dying declaration rests upon the principle that a sense of impending death produces in man’s mind the same feeling as that of a conscientious and virtuous man under oath.
• In Khushal Rao v. State of Bombay (1958), the Supreme Court laid down the following principles related to dying declaration:
  • There is no absolute rule of law that a dying declaration cannot be the sole basis of conviction unless corroborated. A true & voluntary declaration needs no corroboration.
  • A dying declaration is not a weaker kind of evidence than any other piece of evidence.
  • Each case must be determined on its own facts keeping in view the circumstances in which the dying declaration was made.
  • A dying declaration stands on the same footing as other pieces of evidence & has to be judged in the light of surrounding circumstances & with reference to the principle governing the weight of evidence.
  • A dying declaration which has been recorded by a competent Magistrate in the proper manner, that is to say, in the form of questions and answers, &, as far as practicable in the words of the maker of the declaration stands on a much higher footing than a dying declaration which depends upon oral testimony which may suffer from all the infirmities of human memory & human character.