..(1).. IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.328 of 2008 [LEAVE TO APPEAL] IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. OF 2008 The State of Maharashtra. ..Applicant. Versus Prakash Ashok Bamane. ..Respondent. .... Mr.Y.S.Shinde, APP, for the Applicant-State. .... CORAM : SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI,J. CORAM : SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI,J. CORAM : SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI,J. DATED : 21st April, 2008. DATED : 21st April, 2008. DATED : 21st April, 2008. P.C.: 1. The applicant-State of Maharashtra has filed this application for leave to file appeal against the judgment and order dated 20th October, 2007 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Gadhinglaj in Sessions Case No.10 of 2007. By the said judgment and order, the learned Sessions Judge acquitted the respondent-Orig. accused of the offences under Sections 498-A and 306 of the Indian Penal Code. 2. Heard the learned APP for the Applicant-State. Perused the judgment and order of the learned Sessions Judge as well as the evidence produced by the learned APP. ..(2).. 3. The prosecution case is that the accused who is husband of Rupali subjected her to cruelty which led Rupali to commit suicide. Infact the prosecution case is that the accused used to beat Rupali under the influence of alcohol or because he doubted her character. 4. The star witness in the present case is PW-1 Narayan who is the father of Rupali (deceased). None of the witnesses have stated that the respondent-accused has treated Rupali with cruelty on account of any demand by the accused. PW-1 Narayan has stated that two months after the marriage he had been to the house of the accused to fetch his daughter on occasion of festival. At that time his daughter disclosed to him that the accused is addicted to vice of consuming alcohol and under the influence of alcohol he used to beat her. He further stated to the effect that two months thereafter his daughter had been to his house at that time she again disclosed to him the said fact and also further disclosed that the accused used to take doubt about her fidelity. He then narrated that at that ..(3).. time his daughter stayed at his house for 1 to 1 1/2 months and thereafter he received phone message of the brother-in-law of the accused to take his daughter for cohabitation and thereafter he took his daughter to the house of accused along with three to four respectable persons and left his daughter at the house of accused. He further narrated that six months after he left his daughter at the house of accused, he received phone message that his daughter committed suicide by hanging herself. However, this witness has stated that all these facts were stated by him to the police, but police did not record the same in his statement. He further states that he cannot assign any reason for the same. After careful perusal of the evidence of this witness as well as his cross-examination, it is seen that the evidence led by this prosecution witness is a completely improved story which he had not stated in the FIR. Besides the above from the story putforth by PW-1 Narayan, it seems that six to seven months prior to the incident deceased Rupali had been to his house for delivery as she was pregnant and she delivered male child at his house and that child died in womb and one and quarter ..(4).. month thereafter she was sent back to the house of accused and thereafter neither he had been to the house of accused nor his daughter came to his house. If such was the situation, the story putforth by this witness when he stepped in the witness box is a completely improved story and, therefore, not worthy of acceptance. 5. The prosecution has also examined PW-2 Devendra Bhandari, who was the brother-in-law of deceased Rupali. He has stated that Rupali had disclosed to him about torture to her under the influence of alcohol by the accused when Rupali had been to her maternal home on occasion of Diwali and Bendur festivals. However, said fact was not stated by him before police and it is an improved story which is clear from the cross-examination of this witness. 6. The prosecution has also examined PW-3 Balasaheb Chavan who is the father of a friend of Rupali. This witness has stated that Rupali was friend of his daughter and whenever she used to come to her maternal home on occasion of festival, she used to disclose that her husband used to beat ..(5).. her under the influence of alcohol and used to take doubt about her fidelity. However he used to convince her. When this witness was put to test of cross-examination he is unable to tell in which year, on occasion of which festival Rupali had been to her maternal home. He was unable to tell as to on which festival she had been to her maternal home. Besides that his statement to the effect that Rupali used to disclose to him that accused used to take doubt about her fidelity seems to be improved story by him which is brought out in his cross examination. 7. So also the material evidence of PW-4 Krushna More is an improvement and hence the same cannot be safely relied upon. The learned Sessions Judge, after considering the evidence of the above four witnesses has concluded that the prosecution could not succeed in proving its case that the accused has subjected his wife Rupali to cruelty. 8. Looking to the evidence on record, I find that the view taken by the learned Sessions Judge is a reasonable and possible view. Hence no ..(6).. interference is called for. Application for leave to file appeal is rejected. (SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI,J.) (SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI,J.) (SMT.V.K.TAHILRAMANI,J.)