Dying declaration: Section 32 of Evidence Act
Section 32 in The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 defines dying declaration in a very elaborate manner. For simple understanding a dying declaration is a statement of a dying person soon before his death which reveals the cause of death and the identification of the accused person or such other information which are necessary in relation to that particular incident.
Section 32 in The Indian Evidence Act, 1872- Cases in which statement of relevant fact by person who is dead or cannot be found, etc ., is relevant. —Statements, written or verbal, of relevant facts made by a person who is dead, or who cannot be found, or who has become incapable of giving evidence, or whose attendance cannot be procured without an amount of delay or expense which, under the circumstances of the case, appears to the Court unreasonable, are themselves relevant facts in the following cases:—
1 when it relates to cause of death.
2 or is made in course of business.
3 or against interest of maker.
4 or gives opinion as to public right or custom, or matters of general interest.
5 or relates to existence of relationship.
6 or is made in will or deed relating to family affairs.
7 or in document relating to transaction mentioned in section 13, clause (a).
8 or is made by several persons, and expresses feelings relevant to matter in question.
The greatest argument against the dying declaration is that a statement cannot be made to be admissible unless the accused has an opportunity of cross examining a witness and heresay evidence do not fall within the category of evidence but these defence is not available in Indian Law since the law of dying declaration is based on the saying “truth sits on the lips of a dying man” and the statement made by a person dying is considered to be truth although there are some exception to this also and in the eyes of law it is not the gospel truth.
In these cases injury must be cause of death. It is admissible only on the condition that the death is the result of the injuries which have been caused to the declarant. The dying declaration must clerly fix the identity of the accused. If a dying declaration is found out false with regard to one of the accused, then it is not safe to rely upon the other part. At time FIR can also be treated as a dying declaration. Statement u/s 162 of CRPC are also admissible as dying declaration.
There is no specific procedure laid down for recording of dying declaration u/s 164 CRPC. Before the dying declaration is recorded, there must be a certificate by the doctor that the patient is mentally and physically fit to make a statement. The proper method for recording a dying declaration by a person, he be a magistrate or a police officer or a doctor or any other person, is that he must be first satisfied that the declarant is in his senses. If the injured person is in a position to appended his signature or to put his thumb impression on such statement, signature or thumb impression should be obtained or appended.
The effect of dying declaration is admissible only when its makers is dead. A dying declaration deserves to be recorded in the words of a deceased. This should be a voluntary statement of the deceased only. A dying declaration of a person whose antecedents are doubtful, has little evidentiary value. It is generally not safe to place implicit reliance on such a declaration. A sole dying declaration is not sufficient for conviction of the accused. If a statement is made not with regard to cause of death of its maker and the said statement is also not recorded in a judicial proceedings, then such a statement is inadmissible under this provision. The courts have held that there is no hard and fast rule about the evidentiary value of dying declaration. It is always for the court to decide where the case is pending to find out as to whether the DD is believable or not. Dying declaration should be taken as a whole.