1 mss CRA+129 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO. 129 OF 2011 IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 698 OF 2009 PARVEENBI HANIF SHAIKH @ ASMA .. APPLICANT Vs. THESTATE OF MAHARASHTRA .. RESPONDENT Ms. P. U. Badadare i/b Mr. M. K. Kocharekar i/b Mr. Rajeev Sawant for the applicant Mrs. M. M. Deshmukh, APP CORAM: SMT. RANJANA DESAI & SMT. MRIDULA BHATKAR, JJ. DATED : 5TH MAY, 2011 P.C.: The applicant Parveenbi @ Asma, original accused 3 was tried along with two others by Sessions Court for Greater Bombay in Sessions Case No. 710 of 2008 for offence punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC. 2 mss CRA+129 2. Original accused 1 Kulsumbi is her mother-in-law. Original accused 2, Yasmin is her married sister. The applicant is unmarried. Deceased Shamim was the wife of applicant’s brother Firoz Shaikh. Deceased Shamim, her husband, her two brothers in law, her mother-in-law i.e. accused 1 and the applicant were residing together. According to the prosecution the deceased was being ill-treated by her in laws. 3. The prosecution case further is that on 29/6/2008, in the evening the accused quarreled with the deceased and left the home. The deceased was sitting and crying. At 5.30 p.m. all of them came home. They poured kerosene on the deceased and set her on fire. The deceased succumbed to the injuries. Learned Sessions Judge held the accused guilty of the offence under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC and sentenced each one of them to life imprisonment. 4. The applicant had filed one bail application which came to be withdrawn. This is her second bail application. 5. Learned counsel for the applicant submitted that the prosecution case rests on two written dying declarations. He submitted that there is no consistency between the dying declarations as regards the alleged role of the 3 mss CRA+129 applicant. The dying declarations are vague and it is risky to place reliance on such dying declarations. Counsel submitted that in any event the applicant is about 20 years old. Looking to her age on humanitarian ground she may be released on bail. Learned APP on the other hand vehemently opposed the bail application. 6. Exh.-28 is the first dying declaration recorded on 29/6/08 by PW 3 Waman Sapre, Special Executive Officer. In this dying declaration the deceased has stated that all the accused stood behind her, poured kerosene on her and set her on fire with a match stick. According to her, her husband and the applicant took her to the hospital. 7. Exh.-40 is the second dying declaration recorded by PW 8 PSI Kiran Shaligram on 30/6/08. In this dying declaration the deceased has stated that the accused came from the back. She has further stated that her mother-in- law poured kerosene on her from the mug which was in her hand. Her sister-in-law Yasmin i.e. accused 2 had a match stick in her hand. According to the deceased when she turned around she saw that her clothes had caught fire. Thereafter her husband and the applicant took her to the hospital. She has stated that all the accused poured kerosene on her and tried to kill her by setting her on fire. 4 mss CRA+129 8. In these two written dying declarations the deceased has not given any specific role to the applicant. She has stated that she saw accused 1 holding a mug and accused 2 holding a match stick. But as regards applicant’s role the deceased is not specific. Besides the deceased has stated that it is her husband and the applicant, who took her to the hospital. Thus the case of the present applicant stands on a different footing from the case of the other accused. So far as oral dying declarations made by the deceased to her parents are concerned, they are of a general nature. 9. In our opinion, since no specific role is assigned to the applicant and since the applicant took the deceased to the hospital along with her brother and since she is just 20 years old, she needs to be released on bail. Hence the following order: The applicant Parveenbi Hanif Shaikh @ Asma is ordered to be released on bail in the sum of Rs.10,000/- with one or two sureties to make up the amount. Applicant is disposed of. (SMT. RANJANA DESAI, J.) (SMT. MRIDULA BHATKAR, J.)