Summarize the following court judgment. minal Appeal No. 248 of 1964. 87 Appeal from the judgment and order dated September 16	 1964 of the Allahabad High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 348 of 1964 and capital sentence No. 26 of 1964. P.C. Khanna	 for the appellant. O.P. Rana	 for the respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Subba Rao	 J. Sahoo	 the appellant	 is a resident of Pachperwa in the District of Gonda. He has two sons	 Badri and Kirpa Shanker. He lost his wife years ago. His eldest son	 Badri	 married one Sunderpatti. Badri was employed in Lucknow	 and his wife was residing with his father. It is said that Sunderpatti developed illicit intimacy with Sahoo; but there were incessant quarrels between them. On August 12	 1963	 during one of those quarrels	Sunderpatti ran away to the house of one Mohammed Abdullah 	a neighbour of theirs. The appellant brought her buck	 and after some wordy altercation between them they slept in the only room of their house. The only other inmate of the house was the appellant 's second son	 Kirpa Shanker	 a lad of about 8 years. On the morning of August 13	 1963	 Sunderpatti was found with serious injuries in the room of the house where she was sleeping and the appellant was not in the house. Sunderpatti was admitted in the Sadar Hospital Gonda	 at 5.25 p.m. on that day and she died on August 26	 1963 at 3 p.m. Sahoo was sent up for trial before the Court of Sessions	 Gonda	 on a charge under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Sessions Judge	 on a consideration of the entire evidence came to the conclusion that Sahoo killed Sunderpatti. On that finding	 he convicted the accused under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to death. On appeal	 a Division Bench of the High Court at Allahabad confirmed both the conviction and the sentence. Hence the appeal. Except for an extra judicial confession	 the entire evidence in the case is circumstantial. Before we advert to the arguments advanced in the appeal it will be convenient to narrate the circumstances found by the High Court	 which are as follows: (1) The accused had illicit connections with the deceased; (2) the deceased and the accused had some quarrel on the Janmashtami day in the evening and the deceased had to be persuaded through the influence of their neighbors	 Mohammed Abdullah and his womenfolk	 to go back to the house of the accused; (3) the deceased was seen in the company of the accused for the fast time when she was alive; (4) during the fateful night 3 persons	 namely. the accused. the deceased and the accused 's second son	 Kirpa Shanker (P.W. 17)	 slept in the room inside the house; (5) on the early morning of next day	 P.W. 17 was asked by his father to go out to attend to calls of nature	 and when he came back to the verandah of the house he heard some gurgling sound and he saw his father going out of the house murmuring something; and (6) P. Ws. 9	 11	 13 88 and 15 saw the accused going out of the house at about 6 a.m. on that day soliloquying that he had finished Sunderpatti and thereby finished the daily quarrels. This Court in a series of decisions has reaffirmed the following well settled rule of "circumstantial evidence". The circumstances from which the conclusion of guilt is to be drawn should be in the first instance fully established. "All the facts so established should be consistent only with the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused and the circumstances should be of a conclusive nature and tendency that they should be such as to exclude other hypotheses but the one proposed to be proved. " Before we consider whether the circumstances narrated above would stand the said rigorous test	 we will at the outset deal with the contention that the soliloquy of the accused admitting his guilt was not an extra judicial confession as the Courts below held it to be. If it was an extra judicial confession	 it would really partake the character of direct evidence rather than that of circumstantial evidence. It is argued that it is implicit in the concept of confession	 whether it is extra judicial or judicial	 that it shall be communicated to another. It is said that one cannot confess to himself: he can only confess to another. This raises an interesting point	 which fails to be decided on a consideration of the relevant provisions of the Evidence Act. Sections 24 to 30 of the Evidence Act deal with the admissibility of confessions by accused persons in criminal cases. But the expression "confession" is not defined. The Judicial Committee in Pakala Narayana vs R.(1) has defined the said expression thus: "A confession is a statement made by an accused ' which must either admit in terms the offence. or at any rate substantially all the facts which constitute the offence. " A scrutiny of the provisions of sections 17 to 30 of the Evidence Act discloses	 as one learned author puts it	 that statement is a genus. admission is the species and confession is the sub species. Shortly stated	 a confession is a statement made by an accused admitting his guilt. What does the expression "statement" mean? The dictionary meaning of the word "statement" is "the act of stating	 reciting or presenting verbally or on paper." The term "statement" therefore	 includes both oral and written statements. Is it also a necessary ingredient of the term that it shall be communicated to another? The dictionary meaning of the term does not warrant any such extension; nor the reason of the rule underlying the doctrine of admission or confession demands it. Admissions and confessions are exceptions to the hearsay rule. The Evidence Act places them in the category of relevant evidence	 presumably on the ground that	 as they are declarations against the interest of the person making them	 they are probably true. The probative value of 89 an admission or a confession does not depend upon its communication to another	 though	 just like any other piece of evidence	 it can be admitted in evidence only on proof. This proof in the case of oral admission or confession can be offered only by witnesses who heard the admission or confession	 as the case may be. The following illustration pertaining to a written confession brings out the said idea: A kills B; enters in his diary that he had killed him	 puts it in his drawer and absconds. When he places his act on record	 he does not communicate to another; indeed	 he does not have any intention of communicating it to a third party. Even so	 at the trial the said statement of the accused can certainly be proved as a confession made by him. If that be so in the case of a statement in writing	 there cannot be any difference in principle in the case of an oral statement. Both must stand on the same footing. This aspect of the doctrine of confession received some treatment from wellknown authors on evidence	 like Taylor	 Best and Phipson. In "A Treatise on the Law of Evidence" by Taylor	 11th Edn.	 Vol. I	 the following statement appears at p. 596: "What the accused has been overheard muttering to himself	 or saying to his wife or to any other person in confidence	 will be receivable in evidence. " In "The Principles of the Law of Evidence" by W.M. Best	 12th Edn.	 at p. 454	 it is stated much to the same effect thus: "Words addressed to others	 and writing	 are no doubt the most usual forms; but words uttered in soliloquy seem equally receivable. " We also find the following passage in "Phipson on Evidence"	 7th Edn.	 at p. 262: "A statement which the prisoner had been overheard muttering to himself	f	 if otherwise than in his sleep	 is admissible against him	 if independently proved." These passages establish that communication to another is not a necessary ingredient of the concept of "confession". In this context a decision of this Court in Bhogilal Chunilal Pandya v The State of Bombay(1) may usefully be referred to. There the question was whether a former statement made by a witness within the meaning of $. 157 of the Evidence Act should have been communicated to another before it could be used to corroborate the testimony of another witness. This Court	 after considering the relevant provisions of the Evidence Act and the case law on the subject came to the conclusion that the word "statement" used in section 157 meant only "something that is stated" and the element of communication was not necessary before "something that is stated" became a statement under that section. If	 as we have said	 statement is the genus and confession is only a sub species of that genus	 we do not see any reason why the statement implied in the confession should be given (1) [1959] Supp. 1 S.C.R. 310. 90 a different meaning. We	 therefore	 hold that a statement	 whether communicated or not	 admitting guilt is a confession of guilt. But	 there is a clear distinction between the admissibility of an evidence and the weight to be attached to it. A confessional soliloquy is a direct piece of evidence. It may be an expression of conflict of emotion; a conscious effort to stifle the pricked conscience; an argument to find excuse or justification for his act; or a penitent or remorseful act of exaggeration of his part in the crime. The tone may be soft and low; the words may be confused; they may be capable of conflicting interpretations depending on witnesses	 whether they are biased or honest	 intelligent or ignorant	 imaginative or prosaic	 as the case may be. Generally they are mutterings of a confused mind. Before such evidence can be accepted	 it must be established by cogent evidence what were the exact words used by the accused. Even if so much was established	 prudence and justice demand that such evidence cannot be made the sole ground of conviction. It may be used only as a corroborative piece of evidence. The circumstances found by the High Court	 which we have stated earlier	 lead to the only conclusion that the accused must have committed the murder. No other reasonable hypothesis was or could be suggested. Further	 in this case	 as we have noticed earlier	 P.W.s 11	 13 and 15 deposed that they clearly heard the accused say when he opened the door of the house and came out at 60 'clock in the morning of the fateful day that he had "finished Sunderpatti	 his daughter in law	 and thereby finished the daily quarrels". We hold that this extra judicial confession is relevant evidence: it certainly corroborates the circumstantial evidence adduced in the .case. In the result	 we agree with the conclusion arrived at by the High Court both in regard to the conviction and the sentence. The appeal fails and is dismissed. Appeal dismissed.

The Sessions Judge in convicting the appellant of murder took into account an extra judicial confession alleged to have been made by him when shortly after the murder he was muttering to himself that he had finished the deceased. The High Court confirmed the conviction. In appeal before this Court it was contended that the muttering of the accused did not amount to a confession as it was implicit in the concept of confession whether judicial or extra judicial that it should be communicated to another. A man can. not confess to himself; he can only confess to another. HELD: (i) Sections 24 to 30 of the Evidence Act deal with the admissibility of confessions	 but the expression 'confession ' is not defined. Shortly stated a confession is a statement made by an accused admitting his guilt. [88 E] Pakala Narayana vs R.L.R. 66 I.A. 66	 referred to. (ii) It is not a necessary ingredient of the term confession that it shall be communicated to another. The dictionary meaning of the term does not warrant any such extension	 nor the reason of the rule underlying the doctrine of admission or confession demands it. The probative nature of an admission or confession does not depend on its communication to another though just like any other piece of evidence can be admitted in evidence only on proof. The following illustration pertaining to a written confession brings out the idea: A kills B; enters in his diary that he had killed him	 puts it in his drawer and absconds. When he places his act on record he does not communicate to another; indeed he does not have any intention of communicating it to a third party. Even so at the trial the said state agent of the accused can certainly be proved as a confession made by him. If that be so in the case of a statement in writing	 there cannot be any difference in principle in the case of an oral statement	 [88 H 89 C] Bhogilal Chunilal Pandya vs State of Bombay	 [1959] Supp. 1 S.C.R.310	reliedon. (iii) But there is a clear distinction between the admissibility of an item. of evidence and the weight to be attached to it. A confessional soliloquy is a direct piece of evidence. Generally such soliloquies are mutterings of a confused mind. Before such evidence can be accepted it must be established by cogent evidence what were the exact words used by the accused. Even if so much was established prudence and justice demand that such evidence cannot be made the sole ground of conviction. It may be used only as a corroborative piece of evidence. [90 B	 D] In the present case the confession along with the other evidence of circumstances was sufficient to prove the guilt of the appellant.