Supreme Court Upholds Murder Conviction Based on Reliable Dying Declaration Despite Hostile Witnesses and Minor Procedural Gaps

Case Name: Shankar v. State of Rajasthan
Citation: 2026 INSC 315
Date of Judgment/Order: 02 April 2026
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sanjay Karol; Hon’ble Mr. Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh

Held: The Supreme Court held that a conviction can be sustained solely on the basis of a reliable dying declaration if it is found to be voluntary, truthful, and supported by medical evidence, and that minor procedural lapses or hostile witnesses do not dilute its evidentiary value.

Summary: The case arose from the conviction of the appellant for murder of his wife by pouring kerosene and setting her on fire. The Trial Court and High Court concurrently relied on the dying declaration recorded by a Magistrate, along with medical evidence, to convict the appellant under Sections 302 and 342 IPC. Before the Supreme Court, the appellant challenged the conviction on grounds including absence of proper certification of mental fitness, alleged tutoring, hostile witnesses, and procedural irregularities in recording the dying declaration. The Court examined the legal principles governing dying declarations under Section 32 of the Evidence Act and reaffirmed that such declarations can form the sole basis of conviction if found reliable. It noted that the Magistrate had recorded the statement in question-answer form after obtaining medical certification of the victim’s fitness, and that the doctor’s testimony supported the same. The Court rejected allegations of tutoring as baseless and found that hostile witnesses did not undermine the prosecution case in light of consistent medical evidence. It further held that minor irregularities such as absence of time endorsement or recording on the reverse side of paper do not affect the evidentiary value when the substance of the declaration is trustworthy.

Decision: The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, upheld the concurrent conviction and sentence of life imprisonment imposed by the Trial Court and affirmed by the High Court, and disposed of all pending applications while reiterating the legal position on evidentiary value of dying declarations.