SANJIB SARDAR Vs. THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant has been convicted of murder for burning his wife to death and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and pay a fine of Rs.10,000/-, with a default clause.

(2.) The incident occurred late on May 6, 2007. The victim suffered serious burn injuries and her cries broke the silence of the night and drew several of her neighbours to the house where the victim and the appellant had been residing for several months. The trial court accepted the statement attributed to the victim on May 9, 2007 when she was at the SSKM Hospital. The appellant claims that the veracity of such statement is in serious doubt, particularly since the document recording the nature of treatment administered to the victim on the relevant date did not surface in course of the trial. The appellant claims that the accounts of the several witnesses are contradictory, to the extent that it is not clear whether the victim was taken to the local nursing home by a van or by an ambulance. The appellant insinuates that a number of the witnesses may have been tutored as their evidence in course of the trial shows a remarkable improvement on the statements made by them to the investigating officer in implicating the appellant.

(3.) The dying declaration was recorded by the investigating officer at about 4.50 pm on May 9, 2007. It was signed by a resident medical officer at the hospital, who proved the document and the recording of the statement in his presence. The document also recorded that the statement had been made in the presence of a staff nurse. However, such staff nurse could not "recollect as to whether any statement was recorded by police at SSKM hospital in burnt ward in my presence or not."