In Brief
The appellant, brother of a deceased woman who died from 95% burn injuries, challenged the acquittal of his sister-in-law and brother-in-law by the High Court. The case rested entirely on the deceased's dying declaration, which vacillated between naming her husband and sister-in-law. The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal, holding that the dying declaration lacked medical certification of the deceased's fitness of mind to make the statement. The Court distinguished between consciousness and mental fitness, and found the statement's credibility suspect given the vacillations and the absence of the recording doctor's testimony. Without reversing the concurrent acquittal, the Court applied the principle that benefit of doubt must favour the accused.
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