- (1.) BARKAT Ali Zaidi, J. A 26 years old married lady with two children was put aflame and died of 95% burns. She was admitted to City Hospital Hapur Road, Meerut, where her dying declaration was recorded by Sri R. R. Singh, Additional City Magistrate-I, Meerut in presence of Dr. Joseph Jamal Zaidi, a Surgeon. The doctor certified that she was fit to make a statement. The statement which she has alleged to have given to the Magistrate is as follows when translated into English; "i Jamila wife of Isamuddin aged about 26 years, resident of Ghamera, P. S. Babuganj Chawni, District Ghaziabad depose on oath that whatever I say, will say the truth. It came to me. I put myself aflame by sprinkling Kerosene oil. My mother-in-law and two small sister-in-laws were inside the house at that time. I have two children; daughter Shahin and son Sahil. There is no role of my family or my husband in this incident. I do not want to say anything except this. "
(2.) THEREAFTER, the police of Police Station Babugarh, under Section 306 IPC. submitted a Charge-sheet (in Case Crime No. 304 of 2006) in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Hapur District Ghaziabad against four persons who are the husband, the father- in-law, mother-in-law and father-in-law's brother. The aforesaid three in-laws out of the four excluding the husband have come to this Court under Section 482 Cr. P. C. seeking eradication of their names from the array of the accused in the case. Heard Sri Dharmendra Singhal, learned Counsel for the applicants and Sri R. D. Yadav, learned A. G. A. for the State. The argument of the Counsel for the applicant is that there is no evidence to sustain the charge under Section 306 I. P. C. against the accused, because the deceased lady has clearly stated in her dying declaration, that she put herself afire on her own accord, and nobody else is responsible, for the same. The Counsel for the applicants, therefore, says that it is virtually a case of no evidence and the trial will be a wholly futile exercise, and consequently an abuse of the process of the Court.
(3.) A little probe into the circumstances of the case, will reveal that there is tumult and storm under the placid surface. Courts are supposed to delve deep into matters like these to unearth the truth. Anyone who looks at the dying declaration of the deceased lady, and the words used therein, will be forced to suspect the veracity of the dying declaration. The words in the Dying Declaration that no one in the family is responsible for her killing are significant and reveal the tutored character of the dying declaration. The Magistrate who recorded the dying declaration seems to have recorded the same just like a scribe without his eyes and ears fully focused on the nature of the crime. A natural querry which would arise in any mind after hearing or seeing this dying declaration would be to enquire as to why the lady put herself afire. The Magistrate meekly recorded this fact in the dying declaration without asking the lady as to why she put herself afire. It was expected of a Magistrate to ask the lady about the same. It does not go down the throat easily that a lady with two small children will commit suicide leaving the children behind, at the mercy of others. This Court, has therefore, serious reservations about the fact that any such dying declaration was given and the matter needs to be probed and examined thoroughly to ascertain the truth and the trial Court will frame appropriate charges and give the matter a penetrating probe in order to discover the real truth.;