EDWARD JOHN Vs. STATE DELHI ADMINISTRATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Bungalow No. 17-B, Prithvi Raj Road, New Delhi has three servant quarters. In one of them lived Alfred John, Edward John and Augilina Gladia. The first two are real brothers. The third Is their mother. On October 12. 1983 there was an addition to the family. Smt. Rajni @ Alvia was married on that day to Alfred John. As per the prosecution, the marriage soon ran into rough whether and that though each day remained laden with heavy clouds of discontent and disharmony, the reason being dissatisfaction over dowry, on December 28, 1983 the day dawned with ill-portent. At about 8.30 a.m.Rajni suffered second to third degree burns all over her body except in the sacral area and the left groin. She was rushed to Safdarjung hospital by Edward John where, at about 10.30 p.m., she breathed her last. Her mortal remains were subjected to post mortem on December 30, 1983. It was opined (See Ex. Public Witness -20/A) that the burni were ante mortem caused by fire and the death was due to shock from burn injuries. However, before her death, Rajni had made three dying declarations. The first before Dr. D.C. Nautiyal at 9.30 a.m. which was recorded in the MLC (Ex. Public Witness -11/A), the second before Public Witness -19, S.I. Rajinder Singh (Ex. Public Witness -4/B) at about 10.50 a.m., and the third before the Sub-Divisional Officer (Ex. Public Witness -2/C) at about 11.50 a.m.

(2.) As the entire case of the prosecution is founded on the dying declarations, it is time to first notice as to what they are. Their closer scrutiny would follow.

(3.) As noticed above, Ex. Public Witness -11/A is the dying declaration earliest in time. The relevant entry runs as under :-