In Brief
Jagbir Singh was convicted of murdering his wife by pouring kerosene oil on her, resulting in severe burn injuries to both. The wife initially gave statements suggesting the fire was accidental (due to a motorcycle fuel leak during matchstick lighting), but later declared in her dying statement that the appellant deliberately attacked her out of jealousy over illicit relations with his sister-in-law. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction, holding that while the earlier and later statements contradicted, the later dying declaration was reliable due to its consistency with circumstantial evidence (kerosene smell, oil found at the scene) and was recorded in the presence of doctors, rendering its lack of a formal fitness certificate non-fatal. The appeal was dismissed.", <parameter name="cited_cases">[]
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.