dying declaration

Under s.26(a) BSA (old s.32(1) Evidence Act), a statement by a person who has died, as to the cause of his death or any circumstance of the transaction which resulted in his death, is relevant where the cause of his death is in question. It is an exception to the hearsay rule, justified by necessity and the belief that a dying person speaks the truth.

Unlike English law, Indian law does not require that the declarant was under expectation of death, and the rule applies in civil as well as criminal cases. A dying declaration can be the sole basis of conviction if the court is satisfied that it is true, voluntary and made in a fit state of mind. In Laxman a Constitution Bench held that a doctor's certificate of fitness is not essential if the recording officer was satisfied. Oral, written and gesture declarations are all admissible.

Example

Her statement to the Magistrate naming her husband, recorded hours before she died, is a dying declaration under s.26(a) BSA and may alone support a conviction.

In Indian law

• Section 26(a) BSA (old s.32(1) Evidence Act)
• Laxman v. State of Maharashtra, 2002 INSC 352
• Pakala Narayana Swami v. Emperor (Privy Council, 1939): “circumstances of the transaction”

See also

evidence · dowry death · extra-judicial confession

Read more in the study notes

• Dying declarations (section 26(a)) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Introduction to the law of evidence and its central conceptions (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Res gestae, motive, conduct, identification, conspiracy and alibi (sections 4 to 9) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Other statements by persons who cannot be called, former evidence, and statements in special circumstances (sections 26(b) to (h), 27 to 33) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Facts which need not be proved, and oral evidence (sections 51 to 55) (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)
• Burden of proof: the general rules (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam)