NON ­ REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1522 OF 2009

DAYARAM & ANOTHER      …APPELLANT

Versus

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH …RESPONDENT  

J U D G M E N T  

INDU MALHOTRA, J.  

1. The  appellants  have filed the  present  Criminal  Appeal to

challenge the  order  of conviction under  Section 302, IPC

and sentence of Life  Imprisonment passed vide Judgment

and Order dated 04.12.2008 by the Jabalpur Bench of the

Madhya Pradesh High Court in Criminal Appeal

No.206/1994. The High Court has affirmed the Judgment

passed by the Sessions Court.

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2. The present appeal arises out of FIR No. 86/1991 lodged on

19.12.1991 at 4:20 p.m. under Sections 341, 323, 325, 307

read with 34 IPC by the deceased – Ghansu himself.  Ghansu, in his F.I.R, stated that on 19.12.1991 he had

gone to Ishanagar  Police  Station to file a  Report  against

appellant No.1 ­ Dayaram Yadav for having beaten his son

Chandu. On his way back from the Police Station, at about

3:00 p.m., near Nahar ki Puliya, both the accused  viz.

Dayaram and Parsu Yadav were hiding in the bushes with

lathis. Both of them waylaid him started hitting the

deceased  with lathis  on  his  head,  hands, legs  and  body

which led to severe bleeding. Ghansu fell unconscious. The

accused assumed that the Ghansu had died, and threw his

body into the canal, and fled from the scene. While Ghansu

was in the water, he regained consciousness and cried for

help. Ghansu stated that Chouda Chamar – P.W.9, Thakur

Sunla Kumar, Lula Kumhar and Ramlal  Kumhar reached

the site of occurrence and rescued him. Ghansu stated that

the beating was given with a motive to eliminate him

completely.

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3. Ghansu was taken to the Ishanagar Police Station where the

F.I.R was lodged. Thereafter, he was taken to the Primary

Health Centre, Ishanagar for treatment.  The Executive Magistrate ­ P.W.19 recorded the dying

declaration of   Ghansu at 4:55 p.m. on 19.12.1991, which

reads as follows: “I,  Ghansu Yadav son of  Judhiya Yadav, aged about 50 years, occupation – cultivation, resident of Pahargaon do hereby state on oath that when I was returning back to my village from Ishanagar, then, in the afternoon at nearby place of the culvert (puliya) of canal in village Pahargaon, Dayaram and Parsu, sons of Durju Yadav, both brothers, assaulted me with lathis. Even prior to it, my son Chandu was assaulted by Dayaram. I  had gone to the Police Station to register a Report. But, the Report could not be registered. Thereafter, I, with my son Chandu, was coming back and at that time, Dayaram and Parsu have assaulted me.”

The medical examination of Ghansu was conducted by

P.W.14 – Dr. Ramakant Chaturvedi who certified that the

dying declaration was recorded in his presence and Ghansu

was fully conscious and well­oriented to the time and place

at the time of giving his statement. 4. Ghansu was referred to the District Hospital, Chhattarpur

due to his critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries

at the Hospital.

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5. The Post Mortem examination of the deceased was

conducted by Dr. Hari Aggarwal – P.W.17 who recorded the

following injuries: (i) Wound on the right forearm – ½ x ½ inch – underlying

bone broken in pieces. (ii) Wound on left forearm with contusion on medial

border forearm lower 1/3 – underlying bone broken in

pieces. (iii) Deep Wound on right III of 2 x 1 x 1 inches. Underlying

bone of II, IV and V metacarpal broken. (iv) Deep  Lacerated  Wound  on scalp – 2 x ½ inches –

underlying parietal bone broken, and haematoma

collection, subdural and epidural. (v) Lacerated wound – ½ x ½ inches size on right leg. (vi) Parietal bone broken. The medical  report recorded that the cause of  death was

shock due to head injury and other injuries. 6. The case was registered as Case No. 20/ 1992 before the

Sessions Judge, Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh (Sessions

Court). P.W.3 – Ram Lal, P.W.4 – Balwant Singh, P.W.7 – Asha

Ram, P.W.8 – Arjun, P.W.9 – Chouda Chamar and P.W.15 –

Vijay Singh deposed that  they heard pother of  screaming

and shouting of Ghansu. They went towards the canal

where Ghansu was  lying with severe  injuries  all  over his

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body. Ghansu told P.W.4 – Balwant Singh and other people

who had gathered there that Durju Nata (father of the

accused) had got the assault done on him. In the statement of P.W.3 and P.W.4 before the Police,

they deposed that when they rescued Ghansu from the

canal,  Ghansu told them  that the  present accused  have

injured him with lathis. The statements given by P.W.3 and

P.W.4 were confirmed by the I.O – P.W.11. However, at the time of evidence, P.W.s 3, 4, 7, 8, 9

and 15 were declared hostile by the Prosecution. 7. The Sessions Court  vide  Judgment and Order dated

05.02.1994 convicted the Appellants for murder under

Section 302 IPC and sentenced them to Life Imprisonment. The Sessions Court held that: (i) The deceased – Ghansu had lodged the F.I.R [Ex­P­20]

wherein the Appellants were specifically mentioned as

the assailants. The F.I.R was recorded by P.W.16 – N.D

Mishra who certified that the F.I.R contained the

thumb impression of the deceased. (ii) The deceased was in a state of consciousness at the

time of  filing the F.I.R, which is corroborated by the

medical evidence of P.W.14 – Dr. Ramakant

Chaturvedi, who has deposed that the medical

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certificate appended to the Dying Declaration was true

and correct.  The F.I.R was recorded 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to

the death of the deceased.  The F.I.R was treated as the first dying declaration of

the deceased. (iii) The statement made by the deceased before the

Executive Magistrate – P.W.19 [Ex­P­19], was

considered to be the second dying declaration.  Even

though the second dying declaration does not bear the

thumb impression of the deceased, the contents of the

same are consistent with the F.I.R lodged by the

deceased himself which bears the thumb impression of

the deceased. (iv) The dying declaration recorded by the Executive

Magistrate ­ P.W19 and the F.I.R recorded by P.W16

are consistent and credible. (v) The Sessions Court convicted the Accused /Appellant

No.1 and Appellant No.2 under Section 302 IPC and

sentenced them to Life Imprisonment. 8. Aggrieved  by Judgment dated  05.02.1994  passed  by the

Trial  Court, the  Appellants filed  a common appeal being

Criminal Appeal No. 206/1994 before the Madhya Pradesh

High Court.

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8.1. The High Court  vide  the impugned Judgment and

Order dated 04.12.2008 dismissed the Appeal filed by

the Appellants, and affirmed the Judgment and Order

of Conviction passed by the Sessions Court. The High

Court held that death of the deceased was homicidal,

and caused by grievous injuries on the head and other

parts of the body. 8.2. From the depositions of the Executive Magistrate ­

P.W.19 and P.W.14 – Dr. Ramakant Chaturvedi, it is

evident that the deceased was conscious at the time of

recording the dying declaration. The Medical certificate

was issued by P.W.14 – Dr. Ramakant Chaturvedi

which was appended at the foot of the Dying

Declaration that the deceased was fully conscious at

the time of recording his dying declaration.  8.3. The High Court relied on the Judgment of this Court in

Laxman  v.  State  of  Maharashtra1  wherein this  Court

held that: “3…What is essentially required is that the person who records a dying declaration must be satisfied that the deceased was in a fit state of mind. Where it is proved by the testimony of the magistrate that the  declarant  was fit to make the statement even without

1 (2002) 6 SCC 710.

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examination by the doctor the declaration can be acted upon provided the court ultimately holds the same to be voluntary and truthful. A certification by the doctor is essentially a rule of caution and therefore, the voluntary  and truthful  nature  of the declaration can be established otherwise   .”

(emphasis supplied)

8.4. The High Court found that there was no inconsistency

in  the statement made by the deceased  in  the F.I.R

lodged by the deceased before P.W.16 and the dying

declaration recorded by Executive Magistrate ­ P.W.19. The substratum of  both the Dying Declarations

remained consistent to the effect that both the

Appellants had assaulted the deceased with  lathis  on

his head, hands and legs when he was returning from

Ishanagar Police Station.  The  dying  declaration  was corroborated  by the

medical evidence that the Appellants had inflicted

grievous  injuries on the deceased, which caused his

death. The High Court dismissed the Appeal filed by the

Appellants and affirmed the conviction of the

Appellants under Section 302 of IPC and the sentence

of Life Imprisonment. 9. The Appellants have filed a common Special Leave Petition,

against the  Judgment  and Order  of the  Madhya Pradesh

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High Court dated 04.12.2008. Leave to Appeal was granted

vide Order dated 13.08.2009. 10. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

We have carefully perused the record of the case and

considered the submissions made by the Counsel for the

parties. 10.1. The motive for the crime was established by the

prosecution from the dying declaration of the

deceased, and the  deposition of the  P.W.6 ­ son  of

deceased. Chandu – P.W.6 has deposed that,  on the

date  of the incident, the  Accused/ Appellant  No.1  –

Dayaram had  abused  and  beaten  him up  and then

picked up an axe to assault him, when he ran away.

The assault took place since the buffaloes belonging to

Chandu had got mixed up with the buffaloes of

Appellant No.1 ­ Dayaram. Thereafter, Chandu – P.W.6

along with his father – Ghansu went to lodge a Report

at the Ishanagar Police Station. While returning from

the Police Station, appellant No.1 attacked his father

with a lathi on his head, while Appellant No.2 attacked

Chandu – P.W.6 on his hand with a lathi.  P.W.6 then

ran to inform Sullu  and  others about the incident.

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P.W.6 – Chandu returned to the site of occurrence, and

saw his father – Ghansu lying on a cot, surrounded by

Sullu and Balwant Singh – P.W.4, who then took him

to Ishanagar Police Station.

The motive behind the attack is established from

the evidence of P.W.6 ­ Chandu.

10.2. The F.I.R was lodged by the deceased and bears his

thumb impression. The F.I.R is treated as the 1st dying

declaration of the deceased. 10.3. The deceased was admitted to the Primary Health

Centre, Ishanagar.  The  deceased  gave  his  2nd  Dying

Declaration before the Executive Magistrate – P.W.19. 10.4. The examination­in­chief of P.W.s 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 15

records that on the date of the incident, they had

heard the cries of the deceased. The deceased  was

found lying in the canal in an injured condition. The

deceased told them of the  attack  by the  assailants.

These prosecution witnesses took the deceased to the

hospital.  From their examination­in­chief it is evident that

the deceased was conscious and, in a state to lodge the

F.I.R. In their cross­examination, these witnesses

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denied having any knowledge about the persons who

attacked the deceased. They were declared hostile

during their cross­examination. The testimony, prior to

cross­examination can be relied upon. Reliance is placed on the decisions of this Court

in  Bhagwan Singh  v. State of Haryana2, Rabindra

Kumar Dey v. State of Orissa3 and Syad Akbar v. State

of Karnataka,4  wherein it has been held that the

evidence of a prosecution witness cannot be rejected in

toto, merely because the prosecution witnesses turned

hostile. The evidence of such witnesses cannot be

treated as effaced or washed off the record altogether

but the same can be accepted to the extent that their

version is found to be dependable on careful scrutiny. This Court in Khujji v. State of M.P,5 in paragraph

6 of the Judgment held that: “6…The evidence of PW 3 Kishan Lal and PW 4 Ramesh came to be rejected by the trial court because they were declared hostile to the prosecution by the learned Public Prosecutor as they refused to identify the appellant and his companions in the dock as the assailants of the deceased. But the counsel for the

2 (1976) 1 SCC 389. 3 (1976) 4 SCC 233. 4 (1980) 1 SCC 30. 5 (1991) 3 SCC 627.

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State  is right  when he submits that the  evidence  of  a  witness,  declared hostile, is not wholly effaced from the record and  the  part  of the  evidence which is otherwise acceptable can be acted upon.”

(emphasis supplied)

This position in law was reiterated in  Vinod

Kumar v. State of Punjab6, wherein the court held that :

“31.  The next aspect which requires to be adverted to is whether testimony of a hostile witness that has come on record should  be relied  upon or  not.  Mr.  Jain, learned Senior Counsel for the appellant would contend that as PW 7 has totally resiled in his cross­examination, his evidence is to be discarded in toto. On a perusal of the testimony of the said witness,  it is evincible that in examination­in­chief, he has supported the prosecution story  in entirety and  in the cross­examination, he has taken the path of prevarication.  In Bhagwan Singh v. State of Haryana7, it has been  laid down that even if a witness is characterised as a hostile witness, his evidence is  not completely  effaced.  The said evidence remains admissible in the trial and there is no legal bar to base a conviction upon his testimony, if corroborated by other reliable evidence…”

(emphasis supplied)

The F.I.R lodged by the deceased was prompt. As

per the statement of the deceased, the incident

6 (2015) 3 SCC 220. 7 (1976) 1 SCC 389.

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occurred  at  3:00  p.m.,  and the  F.I.R  was lodged  at

4:20 p.m. by the deceased. The distance between the

Police  Station and the site  of  occurrence  is  about 4

kilometres. The F.I.R was lodged with promptness and

the appellants were named in the F.I.R along with

details of their weapons.  As per Section 32(1) of the Evidence Act, the F.I.R

should be treated as a Dying Declaration.  This Court in Dharam Pal & Ors. v. State of U.P,8

held that :

“17… The report dictated by the deceased fully satisfied all the ingredients for being made admissible as a dying declaration. To ascertain this aspect, we may refer to some of the general  propositions relating to a dying declaration. Section 32(1) of the Indian Evidence Act deals with dying declaration  and  lays  down  that  when  a 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, such a statement is relevant in every case or proceeding in which the cause of the person’s death comes into question. Further, such statements are relevant whether the person who made them was or was not at the time when they were made under the expectation of death and whatever may be the nature of the proceedings in which the cause of his death comes into question.

18. The principle on which a dying declaration is admissible in evidence is

8 (2008) 17 SCC 337.

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indicated  in  the  Maxim “   Nemo     Moriturus Praesumitur Mentire”, which means that a man will not meet his maker with a lie in his  mouth.  Thus  it is  clear that  a  dying declaration may be relating to :­

a) As to the cause of death of the  deceased

b) As to “any of the circumstances of the transaction” which resulted in the death of the deceased”

“20. …If we look at the report dictated by the deceased in the light of the aforesaid propositions, it  emerges  that  the  names of the accused and the important features of the case  have been clearly mentioned in the report. It contains a narrative by the deceased as to the cause of his death, which finds complete corroboration from the testimony of eye­ witnesses  and the  medical  evidence  on record...”

(emphasis supplied)

From the testimonies of P.W.3, P.W.4, P.W.7,

P.W.8, P.W.9 and P.W.15, prior to cross­examination

and the evidence of the Executive Magistrate ­ P.W.19

who recorded the dying declaration of the deceased in

the Hospital and P.W.14 – Dr. Ramakant Chaturvedi,

it is evident that the deceased was conscious, and in a

state to give a dying declaration.  

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The F.I.R  lodged by  the  deceased clearly  states

the names of both the Appellants, as being the

assailants, and gives clear details of the incident.  

10.5. The Learned Counsel for the Appellants contended that

the second dying declaration, recorded by the

Executive Magistrate ­ P.W.19 did not contain the

thumb impression of the deceased, and hence could

not be relied upon. The Executive Magistrate ­ P.W.19

has stated that the signature or thumb impression

could not be taken since there were injuries on both

his hands. P.W.17 ­ Dr. Hari Agrawal who conducted

the post mortem on the body of the deceased.  Reliance is placed on the decision of this Court in

Sukanti Moharana v. State of Orissa9 wherein the Court

took the view that there is  no reason  why  a  dying

declaration which is otherwise found to be true,

voluntary and correct should be rejected only because

the person who recorded the dying declaration could

not affix his signatures or thumb impressions on the

dying declaration.

9 (2009) 9 SCC 163.

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11. Considering the totality  of  the evidence including the two

dying declarations made by the deceased, which are both

consistent with each other and the ocular evidence is

corroborated by the medical evidence, we are satisfied that

the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable

doubt. The chain of circumstances is complete. We affirm

the Judgment passed by the Sessions Court and the High

Court. In view of the aforesaid, the appeal fails and is hereby

dismissed.   

..….……..........................J. (INDU MALHOTRA)

…..……...........................J. (R. SUBHASH REDDY)

New Delhi

November 7, 2019.

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