1 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 Anand IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.453 OF 1993 Dnyaneshwar Vasant Narvade ..Appellant Age : 37 years Residing at Midgulwadi, Taluka Shirur, District Pune. V/s. The State of Maharashtra ..Respondent Mr.B.R.Patil, Advocate, for the Applicant Mrs.Geeta P. Mulekar, APP, for the Respondent - State CORAM : R.C.CHAVAN, J. DATE : 5TH APRIL, 2011 ORAL JUDGMENT . This Appeal is directed against appellant's conviction for the offences punishable under Sections 306 and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and sentence of rigorous imprisonment for five and three years respectively with a fine of Rs.1000/- or in default rigorous imprisonment for further period of three months for each default 2 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 imposed upon the appellant on conclusion of Sessions Case No.47 of 1992 by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Pune. 2. Pathetic facts unfolded by the record are as under :- Kalabai was married to the appellant more than 12 years before she committed suicide along with her two daughters on 21st October, 1991 by jumping in a well. It was alleged that since Kalabai did not give birth to a son, she was illtreated by the appellant, his parents and a sister, who had also been tried along with the appellant. The victim was beaten up by the appellant on the previous night and was not allowed to enter the house. Therefore, she possibly committed suicide in the night itself and the dead body of the victim and her two daughters aged three and seven years were fetched from the well next morning. On a report, an offence was registered and investigation commenced. In 3 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 the course of investigation, after performing inquest, the dead bodies were sent for post mortem examination. Police recorded statements of witnesses and on completion of investigation, sent charge sheet against the appellant and his family members in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ghodnadi, at Shirur, District Pune, who committed the case to the Court of Sessions at Pune. 3. The appellant and co-accused pleaded not guilty to the charge for the offences punishable under Sections 306 and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code framed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge and hence, were put on trial at which the prosecution examined in all six witnesses in its attempt to bring home guilt of the accused. After considering the prosecution evidence in the light of defence of denial, the learned Additional Sessions Judge acquitted all other co-accused and but 4 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 convicted and sentenced the appellant as indicated earlier. Aggrieved thereby, the appellant is before this Court. 4. I have heard the learned Counsel for the appellant and the learned APP. With the help of both the learned Counsel I have gone through the evidence on record. Notes of post mortem examination of the victim as well as her two daughters are at Exhibit Nos.10, 23 and 24. They show that they died of drowning. The victim was given in marriage in the same village. Her mother P.W.4 Sarubai Bhikaji Pingale was also residing in the same village. P.W.1 Geetabai Murlidhar Naravade, P.W.2 Ranjana Balasaheb Naravade and P.W.3 Baban Maruti Pingale are all related to the victim. Though P.W.1 Geetabai Murlidhar Naravade and P.W.2 Ranjana Balasaheb Naravade stated that the victim was beaten up on the previous night and was not allowed by the appellant to enter in his house, these facts were not stated by 5 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 them in their statements before the investigating officer P.W.6 Tukaram Dwarkanath Gaud. They stated about this beating for the first time in their deposition in the Court and therefore, this account of events on the previous evening is doubtful. P.W.3 Baban Maruti Pingale also come with a revised version of this beating which he had not stated before the investigating officer. Therefore, there is nothing to show as to what happened on the previous night to provoke the victim to commit suicide. 5. The learned APP submitted that since the victim had committed suicide with her two young daughters, it cannot be said that nothing had happened and therefore, wanted the account of events of the previous evening given by P.W.1 Geetabai Murlidhar Naravade, P.W.2 Ranjana Balasaheb Naravade and P.W.3 Baban Maruti Pingale would be accepted. This would be difficult since the witnesses have 6 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 not been stated so before the investigating officer. 6. The learned Counsel for the appellant pointed out that evidence of P.W.4 Sarubai Bhikaji Pingale, mother of the victim would give an impression that the victim was, in fact, happily married and was eager to return to her matrimonial home after the birth of the third child. He submitted that P.W.4 Sarubai had indeed stated that the victim did complain to her about not having been served with food and had come to her house with complaint of assault and harassment. Sarubai states that she convinced her daughter that her daughter would have to live in the situation as it was and that she was not in a position to keep the victim in her house. Sarubai was stated that it was the last time she met the victim before her death. 7. The learned Counsel for the appellant 7 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 may be right in submitting that this dialogue on the previous night was possibly the last straw on camel's back and this lack of support from victim's own mother which led the victim to take such a precipitate step. In view of this evidence, the learned Trial Judge should have seen that the possibility that victim was frustrated because of her inability to give birth to a male child and also because of a lack of support from her own mother had not been ruled out. In the absence of any reliable evidence about illtreatment at the hands of the appellant prior to the victim's jumping into the well, the learned Judge should not have accepted the story made up by P.W.1 Geetabai Murlidhar Naravade, P.W.2 Ranjana Balasaheb Naravade and P.W.3 Baban Maruti Pingale at trial and could not have convicted the appellant on the basis of this evidence. 8. Appeal is, therefore, allowed. 8 Cri.Appeal 453-1993 Conviction of the appellant for the offences punishable under Sections 306 and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and sentence of rigorous imprisonment for five years and three years respectively with a fine of Rs.1000/- or in default rigorous imprisonment for further period of three months for each default are set aside. He is acquitted of the said offence. (R.C.CHAVAN, J.)