A dying declaration recorded by a judicial magistrate can, by itself, be enough to uphold a conviction in a serious criminal case, the Madras High Court has ruled while confirming the life sentence awarded to a man convicted under the POCSO Act after a minor girl he sexually assaulted died by self-immolation after he circulated a video of the act.

The court found that the victim’s statement before her death was voluntary, reliable and fully supported by the surrounding circumstances, leaving no reason to interfere with the trial court’s verdict.

A bench of Justices N Anand Venkatesh and K K Ramakrishnan was hearing an appeal filed by the convict against a March 27, 2023, judgment of the special court for exclusive trial of cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, challenging both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the trial court.

“A truthful and voluntary dying declaration can form the sole basis for conviction without the necessity of corroboration…The punishment awarded is proportionate to the gravity of the offence,” the bench said on June 1, upholding the sentence of imprisonment for the remainder of the convict’s natural life.

The case arose from a prosecution launched in connection with offences under the POCSO Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The trial court had convicted the accused and imposed a life sentence after finding the charges proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

Before the high court, the appellant questioned the reliability of the prosecution’s evidence, particularly the dying declaration recorded shortly before the victim’s death.

The defence argued that the victim had sustained 100 per cent burn injuries and was not in a condition to make a reliable statement, but the high court held that the extent of burns was not decisive and accepted the dying declaration after finding that she was conscious and mentally fit when it was recorded.

It was also contended that there was a possibility of tutoring because a police officer had interacted with the victim before the judicial magistrate recorded her statement.

The judgment is a significant reaffirmation of the evidentiary value of dying declarations in criminal trials. It underscores that a statement recorded by a judicial magistrate can, in appropriate cases, be sufficient to sustain a conviction, provided the court is satisfied about its voluntariness, truthfulness and reliability.

The ruling also reiterates that courts will closely scrutinise allegations of tutoring or procedural irregularities but will not discard a dying declaration merely because the victim suffered serious injuries, so long as the evidence establishes that the declarant was conscious and mentally fit when the statement was recorded.