THANKAPPAN ACHARY Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "Nemo moriturus praesumitur mentire", ; "A man will not meet his maker with a lie in his mouth"; the principle behind the admissibility of the dying declaration is the core issue in this appeal. The reason which lends credibility to the dying declaration is that, 'a sense of impending death produces in a man's mind the same feeling as that of a conscientious and virtuous man under oath' (2001 (5) SCC 259 ; Uka Ram Vs State of Rajasthan) and in this case we are called upon to decide the applicability of the above principle; which all the same has to be applied depending upon the overall circumstances.

(2.) The appellant is the sole accused in S.C. No.550 of 2016 on the file of the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Neyyattinkara. The appeal is filed being aggrieved by the conviction and sentence imposed upon him by the Sessions Court for the offences punishable under Section 302 IPC. The sentence imposed upon him is imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs.50,000/-with a default sentence of rigorous imprisonment for one year.

(3.) The prosecution case is as follows: The appellant/accused is the elder brother of the husband of the deceased. He is residing at a portion of the residential building in which his brother also resides with family consisting of his wife and two children. The property as well as the house situated therein were in the name of the mother of the brothers. The relationship between the appellant and the deceased was not at all cordial and there used to be frequent squabbles between them. Because of such quarrels, the appellant used to cook his food separately. Even though both the parties were residing in two portions of the very same house, there was only one electricity connection and the charges were being shared by both. In the bill issued by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for the month of June 2014, there was steep increase in the electricity charges, which prompted the deceased to submit a complaint before KSEB. Pursuant to the complaint, the officers of KSEB came to the premises and tested the meter. But they could not find any defect in the meter and according to them the increase in the bill was due to high consumption. The deceased maintained that the increase in consumption was due to the higher consumption of electricity by the appellant and she questioned the appellant about the same, which resulted in a verbal altercation between the parties, on 15.06.2014. The appellant countered her allegations by stating that it was due to the consumption of electricity by the deceased and her family. He also accused the deceased of selling LPG cylinder to other persons. On the very same day evening, when the son of the deceased came to the house from his office, the deceased told him about the above incident. Immediately, her son went to the appellant and questioned him about this incident and it resulted in a scuffle between the parties during which, the son of the deceased (PW1) also inflicted two blows upon the appellant. On the next morning i.e. on 16.07.2014, the husband of the deceased returned from duty as a Security staff in a private establishment and the deceased served break fast to him. Even at that time there were some verbal exchanges between the appellant and the deceased. While the husband of the deceased was sitting inside the house, he heard the cry of the deceased from the veranda of the house. He ran out and found the deceased engulfed in flames, on the steps of the house, at around 9.45 A.M. Immediately he covered her with a sack to douse the fire. The appellant was also present at the scene of occurrence at the relevant time. Even though she was immediately taken to the Taluk General Hospital initially and later to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, she succumbed to the injuries at 5.45 AM on 17.07.2014. According to the prosecution, it was the appellant who committed the homicide of the deceased by setting her ablaze after pouring kerosene over her body. The motive projected is the animosity of the appellant against the deceased which emanated from their domestic rivalry; intensified by the events that occurred on 15.07.2014.