Dying declaration  – Magistrate  – Credibility of a dying declaration recorded by the Magistrate

dying declaration  – Magistrate  – The credibility of a dying declaration recorded by the Magistrate –  It has been held that a Magistrate being an uninterested witness and a respected officer and there being no circumstances or material to suspect that he would have any animus against the accused or would in any way be interested for fabricating a dying declaration, such a declaration recorded by the Magistrate, ought not be doubted. Absence of corroborative evidence for convicting an accused based on a dying declaration has been a matter of discussion in several cases [Ref.: Munnu Raja v. State of M.P., (1976) 3 SCC 104, Paniben v. State of Gujarat, (1992) 2 SCC 474, State of U.P. Vs. Ram Sagar Yadav, (1985) 1 SCC 552, Ramawati Devi v. State of Bihar, (1983) 1 SCC 211 and State of Uttar Pradesh v. Veerpal and Another, (2022) 4 SCC 741].