HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA Cr.A. No. : 34 of 2004 Decided on: 22.9.2010 Dinesh Kumar ……… Appellant. Versus State of H.P. ………Respondent. Coram: The Hon’ble Mr.Justice V.K. Ahuja, Judge. Whether approved for reporting? No. For the appellant: Pt.Om Parkash, Advocate. For the respondent: Mr.J.S. Guleria, Assistant Advocate General. V.K. Ahuja, J.(Oral): This is an appeal filed by the appellant under Section 374 of the Cr.P.C. against the judgment of the Court of learned Sessions Judge, Una, dated 5.1.2004, vide which the appellant was held guilty under Sections 498-A and 306 of the IPC and was sentenced as under: Under Section 498-A RI for one year and a fine of Rs.1,000/-. In default of payment of fine, the accused was to undergo imprisonment of one month. Under Section 306 IPC RI for three years and a fine or Rs.2,000/-. In default of payment of fine, the accused was to undergo imprisonment of three months. ___________________________________________ Whether reporters of local newspapers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes. - 2 - 2. Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that on 21.9.2002, at about 12.15 p.m., statement of Ranjit Singh was recorded by a Police Officer at the spot under Section 154 of the Cr.P.C. In the said statement, the complainant Ranjit Singh had alleged that he had married his younger daughter, namely, Anita Kumari on 31.5.2002 with Dinesh Kumar according to Hindu rites and ceremonies. After 15 days of marriage, Dinesh Kumar started telling Anita Kumari that her parents had not given washing machine in dowry and had given inferior quality of items. It was further alleged that Dinesh Kumar started giving beatings and maltreating Anita Kumari that he was not willing to marry her. It was also alleged that his daughter Anita Kumari had told him as well as his wife that Dinesh Kumar was having illicit relations with his Bhabhi (brother’s wife). It was also told that Dinesh Kumar used to sleep separately and used to visit her very rarely. These facts were told to the complainant Ranjit Singh as well as to his wife by Anita Kumari. It was also alleged that the appellant used to say that either she should leave the house or take poison and die. 3. It was further alleged that on 19.9.2002, his daughter gave a telephonic message to him that her husband Dinesh Kumar was giving her beatings and was maltreating her and he should visit her. On this, the complainant went to the house of Dinesh Kumar and advised him but Dinesh Kumar insisted that he should take Anita Kumari since he did not want to keep her, but he advised the parties and came back. On 20.9.2002, Anita gave a telephonic call in the house of his neighbour Sharwan Kumar, who told him that a telephone - 3 - was received from Anita that the complainant should take her. He could not visit his daughter for some reason on the said day. However, on the next day on 21.9.2002, at about 7.00 a.m., he received a telephonic message from Shrawan Singh that Pradhan of Village Pathari has informed him that his daughter has died and he should visit there. He took some respectable persons and his son and visited the house of his daughter Anita Kumari where he found that Anita Kumari had committed suicide by tying a rope around his neck. He also found that the room was bolted from inside. The complainant alleged that Anita Kumari committed suicide since the accused was having illicit relations with his Bhabhi and in view of the maltreatment meted out to her. On this report, a case was registered. After investigation, the challan was filed before the court of the learned Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Court No.II, Una, who committed the case to the court of the learned Sessions Judge, Una, who tried the appellant for the offences detailed above leading to his conviction and sentence. 4. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record of the case. 5. The submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellant were that no witness has been examined from the neighbourhood of the appellant where the deceased was living after her marriage. It was also submitted that there is no evidence in regard to the beatings or illicit relations in between the appellant and his Bhabhi except the testimony of the complainant Ranjit Singh, the father of the deceased. It was also submitted that the medical evidence shows that - 4 - the deceased died within 5 minutes of hanging but none came from the neighbourbood and this specific question was also not put to the accused under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C. Thus, it was submitted that the prosecution had only examined the relatives of the deceased, whose statements do not prove the guilt of the appellant and as such the appellant deserves to be acquitted of the charge as framed against him. 6. On the other hand, the learned Assistant Advocate General had supported the impugned judgment for the reasons given therein. 7. The evidence of the prosecution deserves to be appreciated in the light of the pleas raised by the learned counsel for the appellant during the course of arguments. 8. A perusal of the record shows that the prosecution has examined PW-2 Ranjit Singh, the father of the deceased and the complainant, who reiterated that after 15 days of marriage, the accused started maltreating his daughter on account of giving inferior dowry articles. She was also tortured for not bringing washing machine in dowry. It was further stated that whenever the deceased Anita used to visit his house, she complained of beatings as well as maltreatment meted out to her on account of dowry. She also complained to him that the accused never wanted to marry her as he was having illicit relations with his Bhabhi. The accused used to sleep in a separate room after bolting the same from inside and she used to sleep alone in a different room. After 3-4 months of marriage, he received a telephonic message from his daughter regarding beatings given to her. He thereafter alongwith his son Ashok Kumar went to the house - 5 - of the accused and prevailed upon him to keep his daughter like a wife. He alongwith his son came back on the same day. Thereafter, he again received telephonic message after 3-4 days from his daughter Anita Kumari regarding beatings given to her and she also requested to take her from her in-laws house. Next day, he received a telephonic message from the Pradhan of the Gram Panchayant of the appellant that his daughter had committed suicide. The specific suggestion was put to this witness that the accused was not having illicit relation with his Bhabhi, which suggestion was denied. PW-2 Ranjit Singh further admitted in his cross examination that he did not make any complaint, either verbally or in writing, to any official or any relative regarding the maltreatment being given to his daughter by the accused. He volunteered to add that he only advised the accused and his family members to understand the situation and to live amicably. He further stated that he told his brother-in-law Bhim Singh regarding the maltreatment to his daughter when he visited his house. He admitted that he went to the house of the accused on 19.9.2002 and Sadhu Ram was also present there. 9. A perusal of his statement shows that he has reiterated the assertions made in the complaint in regard to the maltreatment, beatings and the message received by him and the allegations that the appellant was having illicit relations with his Bhabhi, which fact was told to him by his daughter Anita Kumari. 10. PW-3 Nirmala Devi, mother of the deceased, has materially corroborated the statement of PW-2 Ranjit Singh in regard to the facts. She stated that her daughter was also - 6 - complaining of beatings when she used to visit their house. She complained about the illicit relations and also about the fact that the accused used to sleep separately and that he was interested in marrying some other girl and was not interested in marrying the deceased. She further stated that her daughter sent a telephonic message regarding the maltreatment and thereafter her husband went to the house of the accused to enquire about the matter. She also corroborated the statement of PW-2 Ranjit Singh that her son also accompanied her husband at that time and the accused assured of good treatment in future. Her daughter also told her before death that her husband was forcing her to leave the matrimonial house or he would kill her and was compelling her to commit suicide. The telephonic message was also received from her daughter on the day before occurrence to take her but her husband could not visit the house of the accused on that day. Later on, in the next morning they learnt about the death of Anita. She has also corroborated the statement of her husband in regard to the visit on one occasion and the telephonic message received one day prior to the death of the deceased. She admitted that the matter was not reported to the police or Gram Panchayat or to any of the relatives. She also admitted that Sadhu Ram was present when her husband visited the house of the accused. 11. PW-4 Raghunath Singh, uncle of the deceased, has also stated that after 15 days of the marriage, Anita was maltreated by accused on account of bringing of inferior dowry articles. Demand was also made by the accused of washing machine and the deceased was tortured for not - 7 - bringing the same. She had also complained that the accused was sleeping all alone by bolting the door from inside and that he was having illicit relations with his real Bhabhi. He also stated that on 17/18.9.2002, Anita made a telephonic call to her parents to take her back. Thereafter, her father and brother visited her house. On 19.9.20002, a telephonic call was made by Anita to take her since she was being subjected to excessive beating. He stated that his brother could not visit the house of Anita on the said day. On the next day, a message was received that the deceased had committed suicide. 12. PW-6 Sarwan Singh, the neighbour in whose house the telephone message was received, has stated that his house is adjoining to the house of PW-2 Ranjit Singh. He has stated that he used to receive telephonic calls from Anita since he was having telephone facility at his house. Most of the time, she was complaining that her in-laws were maltreating her. He further stated that he received a telephone around 7.00 a.m. from the Pradhan of the Gram Panchayat of the accused to call Ranjit Singh who then told him that his daughter Anita had committed suicide. He admitted that he did not disclose to any person that Anita had been making telephone calls at his house and complaining of maltreatment. He denied any reason to falsely implicate the accused in this case. 13. PW-1 Biant Singh, is the Medical Officer, who conducted postmortem on the body of the deceased and observed as under: “External appearance - 8 - A moderately built body of a young female 5’ 5” (164 cms) in length lying supine on the Postmortem table bearing almond coloured printed Salwar, Kamiz and matching Dupatta of dark brown colour around neck with knot on right side white bra, No panti. Ornaments:- Yellow metallic two ear rings, studded nose pin, yellow colour singi (Tabij) in red cotton thread in the neck, yellow metallic ring in left middle finger, white metallic Paijev one in each ankle. While metallic rings one in each second toe adjoining great toe. Ligature mark There was as obliquely placed ligature mark of 0.5 cm to 2.2. cm wide 26 cm long, started from 2 cms in front of angle of mandible right side extending obliquely downward between chin and larynix to the left side of the neck and back of the neck upto midline. The colour of the ligature mark is light brown. No abrasion or echymoses were there around ligature mark. Sub contaneous tissue under the mark is white, hard and glistening. No injury to the neck muscle larynx and cervical vertebre is detected. External appearance of the body. The face of the deceased was pale. Postmortem staining present rigor mortis is well developed on whole of the body. No external injury on the body detected. No bleeding/discharge from the natural orifices detected. Cranium and spinal cord No fracture of skull/vertebrae, membrances of brain were congested. Eyes were opened and there was sub conjunctival congestion and petichial haemorrhages were present. Thorax Mucous memerance of the larynx were red and congested, both the lungs were congested right side of the heart and IVC full of dark coloured blood left side empty, rest all of the thorax were normal. - 9 - Abdomen There was saliva mark on left angle of the mouth, pharynx and oesophagus were red and congested, stomach and small intestines contained semi digested food and digested food. Large intestine contained faecal matter walls and peritoneum of the abdomen were normal. Liver spleen and kidney were congested, bladder was empty. External genitalia was well developed and there was no injury. Uterus were nulliparious size, tubes and ovaries were normal. Opinion of the Medical Officer In our opinion the deceased died due to antemortem hanging. Probable time between injury and death was within 5 minutes and between death and post-mortem between 12 to 24 hours.” He proved the postmortem report Ext.PA, which bears his signatures, which was also signed by another Medical Officer Dr.R.C. Thakur. 14. On appraisal of the above evidence led by the prosecution, it is clear that the marriage of the deceased had taken place on 31.5.2002 and the deceased died within less than four months of the marriage i.e. on 20.9.2002. She made allegations of maltreatment and narrated the reasons for maltreatment to her parents which have been duly proved from the testimony of the parents of the deceased examined by the prosecution. They are unanimous that the complaint was in regard to the inferior quality of dowry articles, not giving the washing machine and that the appellant was having illicit relations with his Bhabhi. There was no occasion for the parents of the deceased to make any complaint to the Panchayat or the police since only a period of less than four - 10 - months had elapsed in between the marriage and death. The first thing done by the parents was that they tried for reconciliation and not to rush to the police or to the Panchayat to make such complaint in regard to maltreatment etc. Therefore, there was no occasion for the parents of the deceased to make complaint since the deceased died too early within less than four months of marriage. The reasons given by all the witnesses are similar and there are no contradictions in the reasons given in regard to maltreatment. This court has not to decide as to whether the appellant was having illicit relations with his Bhabhi or not, but the only fact is that a complaint was made by the deceased to her parents based on her observations while living in the house of the appellant and made the complaint accordingly to her parents. In regard to the question as to whether this illicit relation can be there in between a person and his Bhabhi, there are large number of instances in this regard and no opinion can be expressed in this regard. In regard to the complaints not made to any witness, it was not necessary for the parents to make the complaint within such a short period to other relatives or bring the family to disrepute or make these facts public in regard to the relations in between the appellant and his wife. 15. Coming to the plea raised by the learned counsel for the appellant that none was examined from the neighbourhood of the appellant, there is nothing on the record to show as to the houses which are there nearby the house of the appellant or the number of persons living nearby. Moreover, even in case such an alarm was raised by a - 11 - girl living in her in-laws house, the neighbours may be reluctant to depose in favour of the girl who is married from another village just only four months ago. Therefore, non- examination of persons from the neighbourhood does not affect the merits of the case. 16. Coming to the question of time in between hanging and death, it was only of five minutes and the plea that the Investigating Officer should have examined the neighbours who could have visited the spot on hearing the cries of the deceased, there is nothing on the record to show that the deceased had any opportunity to raise crises since she died within five minutes of the hanging as per the opinion of the Medical Officer. None may not have heard the cries in the neighbourhood, who must be reluctant to depose against their neighbours. This question was not put to accused specifically in his statement under Section 313 of the Cr.P.C. since it was not material circumstance to be explained by the accused in his statement under Section 313 Cr.P.C. In regard to the beatings, no direct evidence can be there and the evidence can be only of the deceased and the facts told by her to her parents or other relatives and may be in some cases even the neighbours can be witnesses to the beatings who were not there in the present case. 17. On appraisal of the evidence and the judgment passed by the learned trial Court, it is clear that the learned trial Court had relied upon the evidence led by the prosecution which did not suffer from any contradictions or infirmities and as such it had come to a right conclusion - 12 - holding the appellant guilty under Section 498-A and 306 of the IPC. 18. No prayer in the alternative was made for reduction of the sentence imposed by the learned trial Court as the learned trial Court has already taken pittance upon the appellant and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment, as detailed above, which findings of the learned trial Court, in the facts and circumstances of the case, do not call for an interference by this Court. 19. In view of the above discussion, I hold that there is no merit in the appeal filed by the appellant, which is dismissed accordingly. Warrant of arrest shall be issued by the learned trial Court for the arrest of the appellant to serve the sentence imposed upon him by the Court. Compliance be sent to this Court for records. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly. September 22, 2010. (V.K. Ahuja), (TILAK) Judge