The Supreme Court recently upheld the Allahabad High Court’s judgment which dismissed a plea against conviction of Mashkoor for the murder of Shahin Parveen on December 1, 2016.
A bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta remarked that a dying declaration even without independent corroboration can be the sole basis of conviction, as it confirmed conviction of a man for setting ablaze his widowed sister-in-law, while relying on the statement of the deceased.
Before her death, Shahin Parveen made a dying declaration accusing her brother-in-law, his wife and the wife’s brother of setting her ablaze as she resisted their attempts to enter into immoral trafficking and prostitution. The petitioner submitted that the conviction is based only on the dying declaration of the deceased. He further asserted that the dying declaration is not free from doubt.
Referring to the Supreme Court judgment in Atbir Vs Government of NCT of Delhi (2010), the bench remarked that it has been clearly held that dying declaration can be the sole basis of the conviction if it inspires the full confidence of the court.
The bench further remarked that the material placed on record would reveal that the deceased was in a fit state of mind at the time of making the statement and that it was not the result of tutoring, prompting or imagination.
Furthermore, the bench observed that they have no reason to interfere with the concurrent findings of fact that the dying declaration is true and free from any effort to induce the deceased to make a false statement. It added that they find that the dying declaration is cogent, trustworthy and reliable to base the conviction on the same.
Considering the statement of the victim, the bench noted the victim stated that she had a quarrel with her brother-in-law, Mashkoor over partition of the house. However, Naeema, wife of accused Mashkoor, and her brother Naeem are concerned, she stated that they aided her brother-in-law without assigning any specific role of how they assisted him.
Subsequently, the bench upheld Allahabad High Court’s order.