Victim’s last words at crime scene valid dying declaration: High Court

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has upheld the life imprisonment of two men convicted of murder, ruling that a victim’s spontaneous oral statement naming his assailants immediately after being shot constitutes a valid and reliable dying declaration, even if it is not recorded in writing.

A Division Bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta affirmed the trial court’s findings in a case arising from a fatal shooting inside a house in Birbhum district on the eve of the 2013 Panchayat elections.

The court relied on the testimony of the victim’s wife and daughter-in-law, who were present at the scene. It held that the victim’s immediate naming of the two appellants after suffering the first gunshot injury formed part of the same transaction and was therefore admissible in evidence. The Bench observed that such spontaneous utterances leave no scope for fabrication and can be relied upon to establish both the cause of death and the persons responsible.

Medical evidence showed that although the victim was in severe pain, he remained conscious and capable of identifying his assailants. The court noted consistent testimony from doctors who treated him before his death. The Bench further reasoned that if the assailants could accurately fire bullets through a grill gate after scaling the boundary wall, visibility was sufficient for the victim to recognise them. It also noted that the appellants neither explained their presence near the house at the relevant time nor set up any plea of alibi.

While noting serious shortcomings in the investigation, the court observed that the core eyewitness testimony, corroborated by medical and forensic evidence showing the use of a firearm and bullet injuries consistent with the account of the attack, was sufficient to sustain the conviction.

The Bench modified the compensation direction, ordering that the fine amount, if realised, be shared equally between the victim’s wife and daughter-in-law. It further directed that if the convicts fail to deposit the fine within the stipulated period, the state must pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation, to be equally divided between the two women.