Dying Declaration -- No Prescribed Form of Medical Certificate -- Validity depends on satisfaction of fitness and voluntariness
(i) Indian Evidence Act, 1872, S.32 -- Dying Declaration -- No Prescribed Form of Medical Certificate -- No particular form of medical certificate is required to treat a dying declaration as valid. What is required is that the Magistrate or officer recording the statement is satisfied that the declarant was in a fit condition to make it, and that the declaration is found to be truthful and voluntary. A dying declaration found truthful and voluntary can sustain conviction without corroboration. (ii) Indian Evidence Act, 1872, S.32 -- Dying Declaration -- Discrepancy Regarding Manner of Assault -- A discrepancy in a dying declaration regarding a peripheral detail, such as the type of substance used in the assault, does not discount its evidentiary worth. A victim who has suffered extensive burn injuries may reasonably mistake such a detail without affecting the reliability of the declaration. (iii) Indian Evidence Act, 1872, S.6 -- Res Gestae -- Testimony of Witnesses Reaching Scene Immediately After Occurrence -- Witnesses who are not eyewitnesses to the actual assault but who reach the scene immediately after and hear the victim identify the assailant qualify as witnesses of res gestae. Their testimony is admissible and carries evidentiary weight.
LOGIN TO READCaseLawToday.com is powered by M/s Law Herald Infotech
