Where there is more than one statement like dying declaration, which one must be preferred?
Where there is more than one statement like a dying declaration, one first in point of time must be preferred.
Section 302, 34, and 160 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Does the burden of proof lie on the accused or the prosecution?
Can conviction only be given on the ground of circumstantial evidence?
Burden of Proof: In the Criminal Justice of India, evidence is to be proved before a court of law to prove the guilt of the accused. As per the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, some standards set that the evidence of the case will be substantially proved and the burden of proof lies on the prosecution.
Circumstantial Evidence: In many cases, the evidence is not directed which creates difficulty to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. To prove the case, the circumstantial evidence is put along with the general evidence to strengthen the case. The chain of the circumstantial events put together like the last appearance of a person, dying declaration or letters, etc. It also establishes the probability of the chain of events and it should be highly reliable.
Whether the statement of the accused can be considered a confession?
Whether the statement of the deceased to his wife that he is going to Berhampur to take back his loan was considered a dying declaration?
Dying declarations are exceptions to the hearsay rule where it is believed that a person who makes a statement in expectation of his/her death would not lie.
Can the recorded dying declaration of the deceased be ignored merely because the doctor had not made the endorsement that the deceased was in a fit state of mind to make the statement?
The dying declaration of the deceased thus recorded cannot be ignored merely because the doctor had not made the endorsement that the deceased was in a fit state of mind to make the statement in question.
The juristic theory regarding the acceptability of a dying declaration is that such declaration is made in extremity, when the party is at the point of death and when every hope of this world is gone when every motive to falsehood is silenced, and the man is induced by the most powerful consideration to speak only the truth.