1appln-4238-10 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY APPELLATE SIDE CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 4238 OF 2010 IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. OF 2010. The State of Maharashtra ..Applicant /Appellant versus Sonali Dhanaji Sawant & ors.. Respondents. (Orig.Accused 1 to 3) Ms M. H. Mhatre, Additional Public Prosecutor – for Appellant / State. CORAM : D. D. SINHA AND A. P. BHANGALE, JJ. DATED : 28TH OCTOBER, 2010. P.C. : 1. Heard the learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the applicant/appellant. 2. The criminal appeal is directed against the judgment and order of conviction passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Satara dated 29.3.2010 whereby the respondents/accused came to be acquitted for the offence punishable under sections 302, 498-A read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. 2appln-4238-10 3. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor has submitted that in the instant case, there are three dying declarations, made by the deceased, recorded by the police and two oral dying declarations given by the deceased to her brother and mother. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor has submitted that the incident in question had taken place on 27.10.2008 at about 8:00 a.m. The first dying declaration of the deceased Madhuri was recorded by Police Constable on the same day at 11:00 a.m. It is submitted that the deceased did not implicate the respondents in the said dying declaration since the deceased was under pressure from the members of her husband’s family. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor further contended that so far as the other two dying declarations are concerned i.e.Exhs 31 and 36, which were recorded on 28.10.2008 by police personnel, the deceased had implicated the respondents. It is contended that the material particulars disclosed by the deceased in the second and third dying declarations were corroborated by the medical evidence, which shows that the deceased died due to 97% burns. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor contended that in addition to the dying declarations which were recorded by the police personnel, deceased gave oral dying declarations to her brother and mother, in which she has implicated respondent No.1 Sunil so far as charge under section 302 is concerned and respondent Nos.2 and 3 for the offence punishable under section 498-A of IPC. It is submitted that 3appln-4238-10 the trial Court did not take into consideration the evidence adduced by the prosecution in its right perspective and, therefore, the findings of acquittal recorded by the trial Court are unsustainable in law. 4. Considered the contentions canvassed by the learned Additional Public Prosecutor for State. We must express that when the prosecution evidence consists of more than one dying declaration given by the deceased, normally, the dying declaration recorded first in point of time, should be accepted unless there is a reason to believe that the same is not voluntary, or given by the deceased under pressure, threat or otherwise. 5. In the instant case, the first dying declaration of the deceased was recorded almost immediately after the incident in question by the Police Constable. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor has not disputed that in the said dying declaration the deceased has not implicated any of the respondents and specifically stated that her clothes caught fire accidentally. The deceased has not blamed any respondents for the same. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor could not point out to the Court that the first dying declaration was given by the deceased either under pressure or under same kind of threat. In the absence of anything on record to show that the first dying declaration given by the deceased was not voluntary and not under pressure or any kind of threats from anybody, in that event, there is no reason to discard the same merely because at later point of time the 4appln-4238-10 deceased gave two more dying declarations in which she has implicated the respondents, When the first dying declaration is voluntary one, it is obvious that the other two dying declarations which were recorded at later point of time, were the outcome of after thought. Similar is the situation so far as oral dying declarations of the deceased are concerned. 6. Taking into consideration, over all view of the matter, we are of the view that the view taken by the trial Court is a reasonable view, needs no interference at the hands of this Court. 7. Hence, criminal appeal suffers from lack of merits. Criminal Application as well as the appeal, both are dismissed. (D. D. SINHA, J.) (A. P. BHANGALE, J.)