IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD MONDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND ELEVEN Present HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G. BHAVANI PRASAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No.78 of 2009 Between: The State of A.P. .. Appellant AND Gubbala Gopala Krishna and 4 others .. Respondents The Court made the following: HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE G. BHAVANI PRASAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No.78 of 2009 JUDGMENT: This Criminal Appeal is directed against the judgment in C.C.No.430 of 2005 (Old C.C.No.885 of 2003) on the file of the Special Judicial Magistrate of First Class (Excise), West Godavari, Eluru, dated 15.12.2006, by which the accused 1 to 5 were acquitted of the charges under Sections 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (for short, ‘I.P.C.’) and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. (for short, ‘D.P.Act’). 2. The Sub-Inspector of police, Women Police Station, Eluru filed charge sheet in Crime No.7 of 2003 against the five accused alleging that G.Sujatha gave a complaint on 02.03.2003 alleging that she was married to the first accused on 29.08.1999 and her parents deposited Rs.1,75,000/- in Andhra Bank, paid Rs.1,00,000/- as dowry, Rs.35,000/- towards purchase of motorcycle and Rs.15,000/- towards Adapaduchu katnam and performed the marriage. She claimed that she lived happily with her husband till 2000 till a child was born out of the wedlock, after which the accused including her husband, his parents and relatives started harassing her to withdraw the money deposited in Andhra Bank. When she refused, the first accused used to beat her for no reason and all the accused subjected her to mental and physical harassment and ultimately, they drove her out of the house on 21.06.2002. Even when the matter was placed before the elders and a separate family was set up at Gubbalavari Thota, again the husband with the support of the other four accused continued to harass Sujatha. Therefore, she gave a report against all the accused, which was investigated into and resulted in the charge sheet. 3. After the Court took cognizance of the offence and copies of the documents were furnished to the accused on their appearance, the accused were examined under Section 239 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, ‘Cr.P.C.’). When they denied the offences, charges under Section 498-A I.P.C. and Sections 3 and 4 of the D.P. Act were framed against them. The accused pleaded not guilty. The prosecution examined PWs.1 to 12 and marked Exs.P1 to P5 and Ex.D1 during trial. The accused denied the incriminating circumstances appearing in the evidence against them when they were examined under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and no defence evidence fwas produced on their behalf. 4. The trial Court rendered the impugned judgment, noting that none of the witnesses stated that there was any demand made by any of the accused for deposit of Rs.1,75,000/- in bank or for payment of Rs.1,00,000/- towards marriage expenses or for payment of Rs.35,000/- towards purchase of motorcycle or for payment of Rs.15,000/- to the fourth accused as Adapaduchu katnam. In the absence of any reference to any demand either in Ex.P1- Report by PW.1 or during the evidence of PWs.1 to 3, the offence under Section 4 of the D.P.Act cannot be considered to have been made out. It was also noted by the trial Court that it was only in the written arguments submitted by the prosecution, a reference was made to such demand and there was no such reference even in the evidence of PW.1 before the Court. The claim of PW.1 that her father gave a demand draft for Rs.10,000/- in the name of the first accused, when there was such demand and harassment for Rs.25,000/- after three months after the marriage, was not corroborated by the evidence of her mother as PW.3 and PW.2- the father did not produce any counter foil or any proof of giving any such demand draft for Rs.10,000/-. The trial Court further noted that PW.1 claimed that during mediation by elders at a function hall of Bhimavaram, the second accused agreed to deposit Rs.1,75,000/-, while PW.2- the father claimed that the signatures of PW.1 were forcibly obtained by the accused for encashment of the fixed deposit, which was not the claim of PW.1. It was further stated by the trial Court that PW.3 claimed that the second accused purchased one acre of land in his name with the fixed deposit money of Rs.f1,75,000/- about which either PW.1 or PW.2 did not state. But PW.2 only stated about a compromise before the police deciding that the second accused should so purchase one acre of land and take PW.1 to the matrimonial home, but there was no allegation of actual purchase of the land. The trial Court further referred to the evidence of PWs.3, 5 and 7 to 9, who are stated to be the elders in the panchayat, who were not consistent in their version about the panchayat. The trial Court referred to PWs. 4 and 7 stating the quarrels to be petty quarrels and not stating about any dowry harassment. The statement of PW.5 about PW.1 and first accused being required to put up a separate family at Gubbalavaripalem and the statement of PW.8 about a deed being executed for the accused depositing Rs.1,75,000/- in bank and taking back PW.1, were not stated by the other witnesses. PW.9 was noted to have stated only about PW.1 and first accused being chastised by the elders and the non-production of any deed said to have been executed before mediators was also taken adverse note of. PWs.6 and 10 were noted to have not supported the prosecution evidence and it was also noted that PW.1 did not speak of any specific overt acts of the other accused except her husband and the abnormal delay between the alleged desertion of PW.1 and the registration of crime were also noted. The fact that PW.2 was a member of the police force was also taken note of. The trial Court had concluded that the case against the accused 1 to 5 was not proved beyond reasonable doubt and they were acquitted. 5. The State through the learned public prosecutor filed the present appeal contending that the ingredients of the offences have been made out by the prosecution satisfactorily and the evidence of PWs.1 to 3, which was trustworthy could not have been rejected by the trial Court. The non-mentioning of fact by PW.3 about the demand draft for Rs.10,000/- could not have led to the acquittal of the accused. Therefore, the appellant desired that the acquittal be reversed. 6. Heard Sri Rudresh Deshpande, learned counsel representing the learned public prosecutor for the appellant and Ms. K.Kalpana, learned counsel representing firstSri G.L.Nageswara Rao, learned counsel for the respondents/accused. 7. The point for consideration is whether any strong and convincing grounds exist for reversing the acquittal of the accused in appeal. 8. The evidence of PWs.1 to 3, the alleged victim and her parents, is necessarily tainted with interestedness and though every interested evidence is not false evidence, it is an accepted rule of prudence that satisfactory independent corroboration should be looked at before accepting such interested evidence. The First Information Report was registered only on 02.03.2003 on a report said to have been given on 28.02.2003. The contents of the report show that the matrimonial discord commenced even prior to 02.08.2000 when PW.1 gave birth to a male child. The contents of Ex.P1 show the deposit of Rs.1,75,000/-, payment of Rs.1,00,000/- towards marriage expenses, payment of Rs.35,000/- towards motorcycle for the husband and the payment of Rs.15,000/- towards Adapaduchu katnam were made by the parents of PW.1 on their own and there was no reference to any demand from any of the accused in this regard. The same was true in respect of eight sovereigns of gold said to have been given to her husband and also house hold articles etc., given to them. The alleged mental and physical harassment for more dowry by the accused including the maternal uncle of the husband – fifth respondent was stated to be subsequent without any specification as to when such harassment and cruelty commenced. The report similarly did not say as to when the amount in fixed deposit was withdrawn by force or when the panchayat was held at Bhimavaram and the report said to have been given by PW.1 in November, 2002 to the Circle Inspector of Police, Bhimavaram, was not produced before the Court. Apart from the suppression of the earliest version, the subsequent attempt on PW.1 before Seelamsetty Ranga Rao, Chandrasekhar and etc., on 17.04.2002 was not stated in Ex.P1 to be evidenced by any document. Ultimately, the desertion of PW.1 and her child was on 21.06.2002 and as to why PW.1 waited till 28.02.2003 to give Ex.P1 was not satisfactorily explained by PW.1 to PW.3 or Ex.P1. Nobody relating to Mahila Police Station was examined to show that they intervened in the matter and sent back PW.1 after admonishing the accused in August, 2002 and again PW.1 was deserted. The version of PW.1 in Ex.P1 was not even faithfully repeated before the Court in her evidence. 9. The trial Court had noted from the evidence that there was no reference at all to any demand by any of the accused for dowry to make out any offence under the D.P.Act. The discrepancy between PW.3 on the one hand and PWs.1 and 2 on the other about the alleged demand draft for Rs.10,000/- in the name of the first accused on a demand for payment of Rs.25,000/- cannot be discredited as an inconsequential contradiction. Similarly, the discrepancy between PWs.1 to 3 about any agreement to purchase one acre of land by PW.1 or the actual purchase of said land in the name of PW.1 cannot also be ignored lightly and the inconsistent versions of the elders, who were claimed to have conducted the panchayat about the nature and content of the disputes between the parties are such as to throw grave doubts on the alleged mental and physical harassment and cruelty to which PW.1 was allegedly subjected. The abnormal delay in giving the police report in spite of the alleged incidents since long and the several omissions and contradictions in the evidence of the witnesses persuading the trial Court to conclude the offences against the accused to be not proved beyond reasonable doubt, cannot be considered to be a perverse appreciation of the evidence on record or a patently incorrect and improper conclusion drawn from the evidence contrary to the broad human probabilities arising out of the evidence. The ingredients of the offences alleged against the accused being thus found by the trial Court to have not been established beyond reasonable doubt, does not appear to be susceptible to any interference, which requires very strong and convincing grounds and interference with a judgment of acquittal on merits is an exception but not the rule, which exception cannot be considered to have been made out in the present appeal. 10. Therefore, the Criminal Appeal fails and is, accordingly dismissed. __________________ G. BHAVANI PRASAD, J Date: 21st November, 2011 Ivd