JUDGMENT M.F. Saldanha, J.--An interesting facet of the law relating to an acceptability of dying declarations particularly when applied to wife burning cases has fallen for determination in this appeal. 2. The Respondent before us who was the original accused is the husband of Smt. Suvarna who is the unfortunate victim in the burning incident. On the afternoon of 11.6.1996, Smt. Suvarna was severely burnt as a result of her clothes having been set on fire and she was taken to a private hospital with 61% burns and having regard to the seriousness of her condition, she was thereafter shifted to the Government Hospital at Sangli. On the evening of the same day, the police recorded her statement in the form of a complaint which is Ex.P-9 and in this complaint, she has implicated the husband as being the person who poured kerosene on her clothes and set them on fire. According to her, she was sleeping after having had her afternoon meal and that she suddenly woke up because she found her clothes were wet and that she saw her husband light a match-stick and having lit her clothes. Later that night, a formal dying declaration has been recorded which is Ex. P-13. In this dying declaration, Suvarna has elaborated the circumstances under which she was burnt by stating that there was a violent argument between her husband who is the accused and herself over the fact that she had gone to her parent's place and that this culminated in his throwing kerosene on her clothes and setting them on fire. In both the complaint and in the dying declaration, the accused-husband has been implicated. Apart from this evidence, there is virtually zero evidence on record because the entire string of witnesses who have deposed before the Court have effectively stated that they do not know under what circumstances, the incident took place and secondly, that the relations between the husband and the wife were cordial. Strangely enough, when it came to her own parents, we still have similar evidence on record viz., that they were not aware of any disagreement or hostility between the husband and the wife at any time. Strangely enough, when it came to her own parents, we still have similar evidence on record viz., that they were not aware of any disagreement or hostility between the husband and the wife at any time. The entire record of the prosecution case therefore rests on the two documents viz., the complaint and the dying declaration and the learned Trial Judge for a variety of reasons that have been set out by him has come to the conclusion that the charge under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code cannot be sustained on the basis of this material and has therefore acquitted the accused. The State has assailed the correctness of this decision through the present appeal. 3. We have heard the learned Government Pleader who represents the Appellant-State and we have also heard the learned Counsel Sri B.S. Kamate who appears on behalf of the Respondent-Accused. 4. The record of this case is reasonably modest and the two learned Counsel have not only referred to different parts of it but, have also taken us thread-bare through the whole of this record. As indicated by us earlier, the prosecution case either succeeds or fails entirely on the basis of the two documents referred to by us earlier. 5. The learned State Counsel first alluded to the legal position. We do not need to elaborately set out the decisions one by one because the law on the point is well settled insofar as the Supreme Court has laid down more than once that a conviction is permissible on the sole basis of a dying declaration provided that piece of evidence inspires total confidence in the mind of the Court. Elaborating further, the law contemplates that for obvious reasons particularly in this class of cases relating to matrimonial offences where everything has transpired between the accused and the deceased within the four corners of the matrimonial home where it is impossible to expect eye witnesses and where even friends and neighbours often times for obvious reasons are not willing to come forward to depose about what transpired between the spouses and therefore, the only available evidence is in the form of the dying declaration. This is a head of evidence which unfortunately cannot be tested through cross-examination because the deponent has died but the Evidence Act imports the garb of relevancy to this head of evidence which is not only admissible but, is an important head of evidence because it represents in the words of the victim the exact circumstances under which the injuries or the burns were sustained. Over the years, the Courts have filled in many safeguards as far as dying declarations are concerned, in order to ensure that there is hundred percent reliability in this head of evidence and that explains the reason why the Courts are required to be rigorous in their scrutiny because, it is equally important to be fair to the accused who has no means of assailing the contents of that dying declaration since the deponent is no longer alive. Heavy reliance is placed on the certificate of the doctor because the physical and mental condition of the deponent is of paramount importance but, the experience has shown that the Courts are again required to be rather circumspect even with regard to this head of certification because of the general caliber, competency and integrity or lack of it, as the case may be, of the doctors concerned. Similarly, the Courts have to take cognizance of the fact that the moment an incident of this type takes place, the police ipso facto jump to the conclusion that the husband and the in-laws are the culprits and the Courts have even found that in a large number of instances, this suspicion of allegation is unfounded. Being conscious of the fact that the charges are of an extremely serious nature, particularly under Sections 302 and 304A of the Indian Penal Code, the Courts are required to be guarded before recording a conviction. At the same time, the Courts are conscious of the fact that heinous and anti-social offences of this type cannot go unpunished merely because of legal technicalities or an over-zealous approach on the part of the Courts in bending over backwards in favour of the accused despite the existence of tangible evidence. The mean therefore has been struck by the Court through various decisions and safeguards have been laid down and if the dying declaration passes all these and inspires total confidence in the mind of the Court, it can certainly form the sole basis for a conviction. The mean therefore has been struck by the Court through various decisions and safeguards have been laid down and if the dying declaration passes all these and inspires total confidence in the mind of the Court, it can certainly form the sole basis for a conviction. 6. The learned Government Pleader first drew our attention to the complaint and he submitted that unlike in many other cases, where the victim is in a state of total shock or pain or semi-conscious and therefore, even the history of the incident is required to be ascertained from the persons accompanying the victim, that in this instance, the police found that the victim was conscious and in a position to make a statement and therefore took down her statement in the form of a complaint. We have the supportive evidence of the doctor PW-20 who states that she was conscious and in a fit condition to make a statement and the learned Government Counsel therefore submitted that there is absolutely no ground on which the Court should so much as either doubt or disregard the contents of this statement. This is however is only the background because the real evidence is in the form of the dying declaration Ex. P-13. 7. As far as this document is concerned, the learned Government Counsel submitted that unlike in other cases, that in the present instance, the document passes all the tests prescribed by the Court. Firstly, he states that it was recorded at the earliest point of time without any undue delay. Secondly, he states that it was recorded by a responsible Police Officer viz., the Station House Officer and not a Constable as often happens in other cases. That Officer has given evidence and has reiterated the fact that Suvarna was conscious, that her faculties were in-tact, that she understood the questions put to her and that what ever has been recorded in the dying declaration is a true and correct version of what she stated. That Officer has given evidence and has reiterated the fact that Suvarna was conscious, that her faculties were in-tact, that she understood the questions put to her and that what ever has been recorded in the dying declaration is a true and correct version of what she stated. Apart from these reiterations, the learned Government Counsel points out to us that this is a near perfect dying declaration because, the contents not only tally with the complaint recorded earlier that evening, but, more importantly, because the certification from the doctor has been obtained both before the dying declaration was recorded and after it was recorded and that the certificate is in the prescribed form viz., that the doctor has certified that the patient was conscious and in a fit condition to understand and answer the questions and furthermore that the dying declaration has been recorded in his presence. Learned Counsel submits that when all these tests have been answered positively, that the dying declaration in this case is absolutely impeccable and that the trial Court was not justified in having rejected it. His submission is that the contents of this dying declaration squarely implicate the accused and that he is liable to be convicted of the offence punishable under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. 8. As against this position, the Respondent's learned Counsel has in the first instance submitted that while it may be theoretically true that a dying declaration can form the sole basis for a conviction, it is his submission that before a Court bases a conviction on just one document in the absence of anything else, that it will have to be established beyond every shadow of doubt that the document passes the test of total reliability. The learned Counsel has taken us very carefully through the examination-in-chief and cross-examination of PW-20 Doctor Vinayak Shivaji Rao Mani who was the doctor at the General Hospital, Sangli. The learned Counsel has taken us very carefully through the examination-in-chief and cross-examination of PW-20 Doctor Vinayak Shivaji Rao Mani who was the doctor at the General Hospital, Sangli. He was critical of the caliber of the evidence because he points out to us that in the examination-in-chief itself, this doctor states that he is not sure as to who did the recording and from the subsequent answers given, it is very clear that the doctor has adopted a very dis-interested and cavalier approach to the case and the submission is that the Court will have to go behind the certificate issued by the doctor on the basis of what emerges from his evidence and then decide as to how much credibility the Court will attach to that certificate. The submission canvassed was that this doctor like several others in Government Hospitals has mechanically and without due application of mind issued the certificate as asked for by the Police Officer and having done so, that he is obviously justifying it in the witness box. Secondly, the learned Counsel submits that the Court will have to take judicial notice of the factors which are prevalent and common in all these cases viz., that the Court will have to independently assess as to what was the condition of Suvarna when the complaint and more importantly, the dying declaration were recorded. It was pointed out to us particularly from the post-mortem notes that the burns were extensive and covered 61% of the body and secondly, that despite treatment, the girl died a few days later. The third aspect that was brought to our notice was that the dying declaration was recorded some time after the patient was admitted to the Hospital and that the Court cannot lose sight of the fact that the treatment would have already commenced and that the Court will have to carefully ascertain irrespective of what the doctor has certified, as to what actually was the mental and physical condition of the victim on the night of 11.6.1996 when the dying declaration was recorded. The submission canvassed is that if these tests were to be applied as has been done by the Trial Court, that the only conclusion which would emerge would be that it would be highly unsafe to rely on the dying declaration as the sole basis of a conviction and that consequently no interference is warranted. The submission canvassed is that if these tests were to be applied as has been done by the Trial Court, that the only conclusion which would emerge would be that it would be highly unsafe to rely on the dying declaration as the sole basis of a conviction and that consequently no interference is warranted. 9. The facet of the law that has now come up for consideration is as to whether in this and similar cases, the Court should impose total faith in the certificates issued by the doctors or whether the Courts should embark upon their own independent scrutiny for purposes of accepting or rejecting the contents of a dying declaration, should the Court not embark upon a similar exercise for purposes of satisfying itself with what appears therein is in fact the real truth and not the facts of the case as emerge through the eyes of the investigating Officer or the police. Since it is a requirement of the law that an uncorroborated dying declaration has to pass the complete test of scrutiny, we are inclined to uphold the submissions canvassed on behalf of the Respondent for the reason that before this evidence can be acted upon, it must inspire total confidence. If this is to be the position, then it necessarily follows that the Court will have to independently assess from the material before it as to whether the victim was in fact in a position to rationally understand questions that have been put and more importantly, to give cogent and correct answers to those questions. If the victim is in excruciating pain or if as a result of the shock and pain, the victim is really hovering between a total and semi conscious condition or if the victim is in a Hospital where pain-killers and tranquilisers have been administered, then there are side effects, the most important one being of causing drowsiness, these are aspects of the case which the Court must apply its mind to. The age of the victim and the nature of the injuries and the consequences of those injuries and all other circumstances such as in a given case, loss of blood or weakening effects until the treatments were commenced and all other relevant factors cannot be over-looked by the Court. The age of the victim and the nature of the injuries and the consequences of those injuries and all other circumstances such as in a given case, loss of blood or weakening effects until the treatments were commenced and all other relevant factors cannot be over-looked by the Court. The only means that the Court has to arrive at a right Judgment in these areas in from the case papers viz., the medical evidence and the Court will undoubtedly rely heavily on the evidence of the doctor before the Court. It is not enough in this class of cases to merely argue on the basis of the oral evidence of the doctor or for that matter post-mortem notes or wound certificates because this may be representative but, they are not complete. In our considered view, the medical records are absolutely crucial starting from the entries made in the Medico- Legal Register to every entry in the case papers which indicates a condition of the patient on admission, the nature of the treatment given, what were the drugs administered and in what quantity. It is true that a lot will depend on what the doctor has to say with regard to all these heads in the witness box but, we need to point out that as far as the present case in concerned, since there is a serious challenge to the dying declaration and the complaint, that we consider it absolutely crucial and necessary that we examine these heads. On going through the record and the oral evidence of the doctor we have almost drawn a blank because apart from vague reference of consciousness, the case papers have not been produced. The Medico Legal Register or entries have not been produced and neither are there reproductions of these crucial heads either in the examination-in-chief or in cross-examination. These are areas which cannot be left to conjecture because the normal inference that would arise is that in a case of burns, that the pain and shock are of horrifying dimensions and the victim who has been through that and is then transported to the Hospital would really be hovering between life and death and in such a situation, where the Court is concerned with the normal working of the mental faculty, for a doctor to state that the person was conscious is hardly sufficient. We need to also take judicial notice of the fact that where a victim is brought to the Hospital in a precarious condition, that emergency measures are immediately resorted to for purposes of saving the life and apart from various other measures for purposes of relieving the acute pain and discomfort, large doses of pain-killers and tranquilisers are administered in the general course of treatment. It is an accepted position that these drugs even in reasonably large quantities have the effect of inducing extreme sedation and drowsiness. In a given instance, the patient may be in a position to talk or to answer questions. The real issue is as to how good are the mental faculties and as far as this aspect is concerned, the answer to this question is vital. We need to record here that in the absence of any worthwhile evidence from the doctor, that it has become impossible for us to repose the confidence which the learned Government Counsel has asked us to do in the dying declaration. While we endorse the submissions canvassed by the learned Government Counsel in this Court, what we take note of is that he is hopelessly handicapped because his counter-part who conducted the case before the Trial Court did not take the elementary care and caution to ensure that the case papers were produced and that all the supportive material for purposes of establishing that the certification done by the doctors is correct and valid and should be accepted by the Court. The onus of establishing this is on the prosecution particularly in cases where a conviction is sought on an uncorroborated dying declaration and we need to record here that we consider it too dangerous to accept the certificates given by the doctor in this case particularly in the light of tenor and caliber of his evidence which are far from satisfactory. We do not dispute the fact that the learned Government Counsel has done an excellent job insofar as the propositions and the submissions canvassed are totally acceptable but, it is the weak record of this case that makes it impossible for us to accept those submissions. We do not dispute the fact that the learned Government Counsel has done an excellent job insofar as the propositions and the submissions canvassed are totally acceptable but, it is the weak record of this case that makes it impossible for us to accept those submissions. The Respondent's learned Counsel has done an equally good job in bringing to our notice the special features that would apply in cases of this type particularly the point raised by him that the Court in required to often times go behind the certificates issued or read between the lines or do its own independent scrutiny and arrive at a correct and a fair decision. 10. One of the additional reasons that required us to do this level of in-depth scrutiny is because as indicated by us earlier, the little evidence that we have on record suggests that the relationships between the husband and the wife were cordial and even the girl's father has stated in his evidence that there was no ill-treatment meted out by the accused and according to him, this was a genuine accident that took place while cooking. In this background where we have a complaint and a dying declaration which says exactly the opposite and accuses the husband of having caused the death of the wife, the Court is put on guard. Our findings with regard to the dying declaration would equally hit the complaint because both of them are recorded by the same Officer and the infirmities that apply to the dying declaration would hold equally good as far as the complaint is concerned. 11. Having applied the aforesaid tests to the record of the present case, we consider that it would be unsafe and incorrect to convict the accused on the basis of the uncorroborated dying declaration alone and in this view of the matter, we confirm the order of acquittal recorded by the Trial Court in favour of the accused. 12. The appeal fails on merits and stands dismissed. The bail bond of the accused to stand cancelled. 13. Before parting with the Judgment, we would like to record our appreciation to the two learned Counsel on both sides for a fine analysis and excellent exposition of the law in this appeal.