Anyone can record a dying declaration, Supreme Court rules

Anyone can record a dying declaration, Supreme Court rules

NEW DELHI: You need not be a police officer, doctor or a magistrate to record the dying declaration, a statement accusing those responsible for the death of the person making his last possible statement.

The Supreme Court has found this to be true in law, at least in cases where the person dies of burn injuries. "The law on the issue can be summarized to the effect that law does not provide who can record a dying declaration, nor is there any prescribed form, format or procedure for the same," said a bench of Justices B S Chauhan and Dipak Misra while reversing the high court ordered acquittal in a dowry death case.

While indicating that any member of public could record the statement of a dying person, the bench said the only caveat was that the person recording the dying declaration must be sure that the one making the statement was in a proper mental condition to do so.

"The person who records a dying declaration must be satisfied that the maker is in a fair state of mind and is capable of making such a statement," said Justice Chauhan, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench.

But, how does a lay man understand that a dying man is in a proper frame of mind to make the statement? The court left it to the discretion of the individual recording the statement and said a doctor's certificate about the dying man's mental condition was not necessary to make the dying declaration acceptable as evidence.

"Moreover, the requirement of a certificate provided by a doctor in respect of such state of the deceased, is not essential in every case," the bench said.

In the case at hand, a Damoh trial court had convicted one Dal Singh and his wife for setting ablaze their daughter-in-law, who had been subjected to cruelty in the matrimonial home. However, finding that she had suffered 100% burn injuries, the Madhya Pradesh High Court acquitted the accused doubting the veracity of the woman's dying declaration.

MP's standing counsel Vibha Datta Makhija argued that the HC was not justified in doubting the dying declaration as there were sufficient evidence on record to show that the daughter-in-law was ill-treated by her parents-in-law and were responsible for her death.

"A person having 100% burns can make a statement, and a certificate provided by a doctor is not a condition precedent for placing reliance upon a dying declaration," she said and argued for reversal of the acquittal. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Anyone-can-record-a-dying-declaration-Supreme-Court-rules/articleshow/20237310.cms