Dying Declaration

Meaning
A dying declaration is a declaration written or verbal made by a person, as to
the cause of his death or as to any of the circumstances of the transaction,
which resulted in his death.
Section 32(1) of The Indian Evidence Act defines,'dying declaration' as  " a
statement verbal or written made by a person who is dead or cannot be found,
who has become incapable of giving evidence or whose attendance cannot be
procured without an amount of delay or expense, which under the
circumstance of the case, appears to the court unreasonable, are themselves
relevant facts in the following cases.

a) When it relates to cause of death    

b) When it is made in course of business; or

c) Against the interest of maker; or 

d) Gives opinion as to public right or custom or matters of general interest; or

e) Relates to existence of relationship; or 

f) When it is made in will or deed relating to the family affairs; or

g) In document relating to transaction mentioned in section 13(a)

h) When it is made by several persons and expresses feeling relevant to matter
in question

In short according to Section 32(1), “Dying declaration is a statement oral or

written made by a person who is dead or cannot be found or incapable of
giving evidence or whose attendance involves delay or expensive under the
circumstances stated above, which the court considers reasonable “. 
In Uka Ram v. State of Rajasthan (AIR 2001 SC 1814) Apex Court held that,
“when a statement is made by a person as to cause of his death or as to any
circumstance of transaction which resulted into his death, in case in which
causes of his death comes in question is admissible in evidence such
statement in law is called dying declaration.”

Conditions required:-
1. The person making statement must have died.
2. Injuries must have caused the death.
3. Statement must have been made as to cause of his death or as to
circumstances of the transaction resulting in his death.
4. The cause of his death must be in question.
5. The person making statement must be in a fit condition to make the
statement.
6. The statement must be complete.
7. Declaration must be competent.
Essentials of a dying declaration:
Dying declaration must relate to cause of his death only or refer to
circumstances/transaction which caused his death.
The person making the statement i.e. the declarant must be found dead after
making of the statement. If such person doesn’t die the statement fails to fall
under the category of dying declaration and it might rather be treated as a
statement u/s 154 Cr.PC and 161 Cr.PC.
There must be proximity of time in making of the statement and time of death.
This is very important while deciding whether the statement is covered under
this category or not.
The declarant must be mentally fit i.e. conscious oriented, fully aware and able
to understand the aftermath of making his statement, while giving the
statement. It isn’t always necessary that the fact of mental fitness be certified
by the doctor, however if there is a medical certificate to that effect it proves
to be more effective and efficient.
Dying declaration can be made to any person: a doctor, a magistrate, police
personnel, friend or any other person. However, if it is recorded by a
Magistrate, that accords more reliability and authenticity.
The statement must be complete and not vague. An incomplete statement will
always leave a loophole and has more chances of being tampered thus, an
incomplete statement will not be relevant.
The declarant must be competent as a witness i.e. he must be capable of being
a witness if he weren’t dead. (To see competency of a witness, refer Section
118 of the Indian Evidence Act)
It is not necessary that the declarant is under the expectation of death while
giving the statement.
Principles governing dying declaration:
There is no format prescribed for recording a dying declaration. Indeed, no
such format can be prescribed. The courts have laid down in several judgments
the principles governing dying declaration, which can be summed up as under:

There is neither rule of law nor of prudence that dying declaration cannot be
acted upon without corroboration. [Mannu Raja v. State of M.P. (1976) 2 SCR
764]
If the Court is satisfied that the dying declaration is true and voluntary, it can
base the conviction on it, without corroboration. [State of UP v. Ram Sagar
Yadav, AIR 1985 SC 416]
The court has to scrutinise the dying declaration carefully and must ensure that
the declaration is not the result of tutoring, prompting or imagination. The
deceased had the opportunity to observe and identify the assailants and was in
a fit state to make the declaration. [Rama Chandran Reddy v. Public
Prosecutor, AIR 1976 SC 1994]
Where dying declaration is suspicious it should not be acted upon without
corroborative evidence. [Rasheed Beg v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (1974) 4
SCC 264]
Dying declaration can be the sole basis of the conviction if it inspires the full
confidence of the court. [Atbir v. Govt. (NCT of Delhi) , (2010) 9 SCC 1]
RELEVANCY OF JUDGEMENTS
Two kinds of Judgements-
1. Judgement in rem: Judgement affecting the legal status of some subject
matters, person or things are called ‘Judgements in rem’
Eg. Divorce
2. Judgement in personam: All the ordinary judgements not affecting the
status of any subject matter, any person or any thing.
41. Relevancy of certain judgments in probate, etc., jurisdiction.
42. Relevancy and effect of judgments, orders or decrees, other than those
mentioned in section 41
Illustration
A sues B for trespass on his land. B alleges the existence of apublic right of
way over the land, which A denies.
The existence of a decree in favour of the defendant, in a suitby A against C
for a trespass on the same land, in which C alleged theexistence of the same
right of way, is relevant, but it is not conclusive proof that the right of way
exists.
43. Judgments, etc., other than those mentioned in sections 40 to42, when
relevant.-
Judgments, orders or decrees, other than those mentioned in sections 40,
41 and 42, are irrelevant, unless the existence of such judgment, order or
decree is a fact in issue, or is relevant under some other provision of this Act
Illustrations
A and B separately sue C for a libel which reflects upon each of them.
C in each case says that the matter alleged to be libellousis true, and the
circumstances are such that it is probably true ineach case, or in neither.
A obtains a decree against C for damages on the ground that Cfailed to
make out his justification. The fact is irrelevant asbetween B and C.
44. Fraud or collusion in obtaining judgment, or incompetency of Court, may
be proved.-
Any party to a suit or other proceeding may show that any judgment, order or
decree which is relevant under section 40,41 or 42, and which has been
proved by the adverse party, was delivered by a Court not competent to
deliver it, or was obtained by fraud or collusion.

 Evidentiary Value of Dying Declaration:

              The evidentiary value of dying declaration will vary according to

the circumstances of a particular case in which it is made
              Dying Declaration is evidence but it is a weak piece of evidence.
It is to be corroborated by other evidence for example other facts and
evidence supporting Dying Declaration.
It gives guidance to the Court, the has to accept the Dying Declaration as
a suspicious statement, it is duty of the judge to consider the valuation of
Dying Declaration. Such valuation of Dying Declaration depends upon
many things as under

1) State of mind of declarant.

2) State of the body of declarant.

3) To whom the Declaration/Statement is made.

4) Who recorded the statement?

5)  Whether the statement is recorded in the same language and in a

same word of the declarant. Even though Dying Declaration is said to be
of weak piece of evidence it is relevant in the Indian Evidence Act,
because it is the best available evidence as to the cause of his death after
his death.