Can a Conviction be based solely on Dying Declaration without corroboration? SC says YES, Read Judgment

  

On Wednesday, a 22-year-old civil engineer from Sabarmati filed a complaint with the cybercrime police, claiming that she was first duped by an astrologer then an advocate when she tried to pursue a man whom she wanted to marry. The woman was cheated out of a total of Rs 4.5 lakh.

Nidhi Prajapati, a resident of Harshnagar society in Sabarmati, said in her FIR that she liked a man named Parth Kapadia who was her classmate in an engineering college in Bhat village in Gandhinagar in 2020.

“I feared that if I went ahead & proposed marriage, he would reject me. So, I decided to take the help of an astrologer,” said Prajapati, who works with a private firm in the city.

She told police, “I googled for an astrologer & found Kishan Adhikari from Jaipur. I told him that I wanted to marry Kapadia. Adhikari demanded Rs 14,000 to perform some rituals. He said that I will face severe trouble in life if I did not perform the rituals.” Prajapati paid Rs 14,000 but the astrologer went incommunicado.

Feeling cheated, she searched for an advocate’s number to take legal action against Adhikari. “I found the number of Parth Pardhi from Rajpipla. He demanded Rs 3,100 to file an FIR against the astrologer. I paid the amount but he demanded more claiming he would deal with the case in such a way that police would not come near my house & I would save myself from being embarrassed in society. I ended up paying Rs 4.31 lakh to him. Then he began blackmailing me,” she told cops.

 It was submitted that as such cogent reasons were given by the Trial Court on appreciation of evidence that the statement before the IO which was considered to be first dying declaration does not inspire any confidence whereas finding recorded by the Trial Court was on appreciation of available evidence on record more particularly the medical evidence.

Reliance was placed on Koli Chunilal Savji & ANR Vs. State of Gujarat, 1999 Latest Caselaw 373 SC,  Jagbir Singh V. State (NCT of Delhi), 2019 Latest Caselaw 804 SC,  Ravi Chander & Ors. V. State of Punjab (1998); Harjit Kaur V. State of Punjab (1999); Vikas & Ors. V. State of Maharashtra (2008); Laxman V. State of Maharashtra (2002)

 Finally, Prajapati narrated the incident to her father who filed a complaint of cheating, breach of trust, extortion & criminal conspiracy along with charges under the IT act against the accused. 

The High Court had specifically observed tha both the dying declarations cannot be believed and it was not safe to rely upon   multiple dying declarations of the deceased in the absence of any corroborative evidence.

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(With input from news agency language)

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