On Inconsistency Between Multiple Dying Declarations, Statement Recorded By Magistrate Or Higher Official Can Be Relied Upon: Jharkhand HC

The Jharkhand High Court reiterated the significance of dying declarations in criminal cases, emphasizing the weightage of statements recorded before a Magistrate or higher official. In an appeal, the court upheld the conviction of one appellant but acquitted another in a case involving a heinous crime. \r

Despite minor discrepancies in the victim's statements, the court deemed the dying declaration recorded by the judicial magistrate as reliable. It stressed the need for cautious scrutiny of multiple dying declarations and highlighted the judgment's reliance on the statement recorded by a higher authority. \r

The court affirmed the conviction of the appellant-brother-in-law while acquitting the appellant-sister-in-law based on the judicial magistrate's dying declaration.