Criminal Misc. No.M-22173 of 2008 -1- **** IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No.M-22173 of 2008 Date of decision : 3.10.2008 Darshan Singh ....Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ...Respondent **** CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. D. ANAND Present: Mr. R.S.Rai, Senior Advocate with Ms. Meenakshi, Advocate for the petitioner. Ms. Manjari Nehru, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab. S. D. ANAND, J. It is common ground that the deceased made three dying declarations. The first two dying declarations were made before the Medical Officer at different points of time; while the third dying declaration was recorded by a Judicial Officer. In the course of the first statement (at the time of admission to Daya Nand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana), the deceased informed that she caught fire while she was cooking food at her house. ( “alleged r/o burns when pt. Was cooking food at house and gas leaked and it caught fire and pt.'s clothes caught fire as told by pt.” In the course of the second statement made by the deceased on 16.12.2007 at 1.00 P.M., she accused her husband and her brother in law (non- applicant) to have set her afire as they felt irritated by her repeated Criminal Misc. No.M-22173 of 2008 -2- **** plea to her husband to refrain from indulging in booze. It is only in the course of last dying declaration that she accused the petitioner- father-in-law of having caught hold of her hands while her husband and brother-in-law set her afire. Without expressing any opinion on merits, the petitioner is allowed to be released on bail to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sangrur/Duty Magistrate. October 03, 2008 (S. D. ANAND) Pka JUDGE