Dowry death case: Dying declaration has to be subjected to close scrutiny, says Bombay HC

While ordering a retrial in the dowry death case, the Bombay High Court said the dying declaration has to be subjected to very close scrutiny.

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed and set aside an order of the Nanded Sessions court in a case of dowry death, in which the accused of a family were acquitted of charges of abetting a woman to commit suicide within three years of marriage. The woman was subjected to ill-treatment and a demand for dowry, according to her parents.

The high court has also remanded the case back to the Sessions Judge, Nanded to hear the parties afresh and to decide the case 'as expeditiously as possible, however, within a period of six (06) months from the date of receipt of the writ from this court.'

Justice BP Deshpande also ordered all the accused to appear before the Sessions Court Nanded on Aug 22, 2022.

"In order to rely on a dying declaration, the court has to keep in view the circumstances like an opportunity for a dying person for observation. Hence, in order to pass the test of reliability, the dying declaration has to be subjected to very close scrutiny, keeping in view with the fact that the statement has been made in the absence of the accused, who had no opportunity to test the veracity of such a statement by cross examination.”

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The case was of 2002 and the Nanded sessions judge, in his judgement in 2004, had found that the prosecution had failed to prove charges levelled against accused persons and, accordingly, the three accused were acquitted of the offences punishable under Sections 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), 304-B (dowry death), 306 (abetment to suicide) read with 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In spite of the acquittal passed by the Sessions Judge, the state did not file any appeal challenging such a decision. The father of the girl had filed a revision before the high court. A post-mortem report showed that the woman had sustained 97% burn injuries. The cause of death, according to the doctor, was due to shock due to burn injuries.