State Of Maharashtra vs Rajendra & Ors

2. Respondents – accused No.1, Shivpujan and accused No.3, Malti Devi are husband and wife. Accused No.2, Rajendra, accused No.5, Surendra and accused No.6, Virendra are their sons. Accused No.4, Anita is the daughter of accused Nos.1 and 3 and is married to one Satyam Mishra who is in Police service. Accused Nos.1 and 5 are also in Police service. Accused Nos. 1 to 3, 5 and 6 reside together in Plot No.96, Adarsha Colony, behind Police Line Takli at Nagpur. Accused No.4 resides in Police Line, Pathrigad Quarter, Sadar at Nagpur. Accused No.2-Rajendra is the youngest son of accused Nos.1 and 3. Deceased Ranjana was the wife of accused No.2- Rajendra.

4. The deceased sustained 98% burn injuries in the early morning of 8th April, 1999, in her matrimonial house i.e. the house of the accused Nos.1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. She was taken to Mayo Hospital, but before treatment could commence, she died at 9.30 a.m. on the same day itself and at that time the deceased was in the 7th month of her first pregnancy.

5. The prosecution case is that the husband and the mother-in-law i.e. accused Nos.2 and 3 used to beat the deceased whereas other accused together with accused Nos.2 and 3 used to mentally and physically ill-treat the deceased on account of dowry demand. Accused No.2-Rajendra wanted Hero Honda Motor Cycle from the parents of the deceased. He always used to press his demand. The deceased had informed her parents that she was being subjected to cruelty and that her in-laws behaved with her like animals. Many a times father of the deceased went to fetch the deceased but accused used to ask him that he should first bring money for Hero Honda Motorcycle and then only he can take the deceased along with him. Since 7th month of the pregnancy of the deceased was to begin, on 8th April, 1999 at 6 a.m. her father had been to her matrimonial house to fetch her. Accused insulted him on account of dowry demands and refused to send the deceased with him. At 9 a.m. accused No.5-Surendra i.e. elder brother-in-law (jeth) of the deceased came to the house of parents of the deceased and told them that their daughter had sustained burns and that she was admitted in Mayo Hospital. The parents of the deceased immediately rushed to Mayo Hospital. It was found that their daughter was already dead.

6. A.D. No.28/99 under Section 174 Cr.P.C. was registered at 10.50 a.m. on 8th April, 1999 on the basis of report of Police Head Constable Diwakar from Mayo Hospital Police Booth. The PSI-S.R. Parvekar thereafter visited the spot of occurrence, prepared spot panchanama (Ext.40) and then proceeded to Mayo Hospital and prepared inquest panchanama (Ext.43) and sent the dead body for its postmortem. Postmortem was conducted by Dr. Ashish Wankhede (PW-10) and report is Ext.62. Thereafter, the report (Ext.54) was lodged by PW.8, mother of the deceased with the Police Head Constable Girish Pande (PW-14) upon which FIR (Ext.55) was registered at 7.10 p.m. on 8th April, 1999 for the offence punishable under Sections 498- A, 306 r/w 34 IPC. Further investigation was carried out by Police Sub- Inspector, Parvekar. He recorded the statement of the father of deceased and arrested accused No.2-Rajendra i.e. husband of the deceased on 8th April, 1999 itself. The further investigation was carried out by Police Inspector Ravindra Relgudwar (PW.12) and then Police Sub-Inspector, Dadasaheb Khade (PW.13). In the statements of witnesses i.e. neighbours of the complainant, brother of the deceased, supplementary statement of the complainant were recorded. Viscera of the deceased that was preserved at the time of the postmortem examination, pieces of saree, match box and a piece of burnt plastic which were seized at the time of drawing the panchanama were forwarded to the Chemical Analyser for examination. The marriage ceremony of the deceased and accused No.2-Rajendra was shot by a video shooting. Its video cassette was produced by the complainant before the Investigating Officer. It was seized (Ext.45). Pursuant to a direction in Criminal Writ Petition No.168/99 filed by the complainant, offence punishable under Section 304-B IPC was also added. Other accused were arrested and on completion of investigation, charge-sheet was sent up to the Court of CJM, Nagpur who committed the case to the Court of Sessions. Charges for offence punishable under Sections 498-A, 304-B, 306 r/w 34 IPC were framed to which the accused pleaded not guilty. The prosecution produced altogether 14 witnesses. The witnesses against the accused made their statements under Section 313 Cr. P.C. (Ext.91 to 96) and submitted their written statement (Ext.97). Four defence witnesses viz. DW.1-Mohd Asgar, DW.2-A.S.I., Chandrabhan Osare, DW.3-ASI Pralhad Kaware and DW.4- Rajesh Soni were also examined. The defence, as how it appears from the cross-examination of the witnesses etc. is that of total denial with regard to the alleged cruelty. The stand was that the accused always gave good treatment to the deceased. They gave jewellery to the deceased and also invested money in her name in the post office. It was denied that they ever demanded any dowry from her parents. It is their case that the deceased was under pressure from her mother. They were disowned knowledge as to how the deceased died.

33. For the reasons aforesaid, we set aside the major part of the judgment dated 18th August, 2005 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Nagpur Bench, Nagpur in Criminal Appeal NO.388 of 2005 except the part relating to offence under Section 306 r/w 34 IPC. The judgment dated 20th July, 2005 passed by the Trial Court in Sessions Case No.447 of 2000 holding accused Nos.1 to 6 guilty for the offence u/s 498A and 304B IPC. is upheld but the part of the judgment relating to offence under Section 306 r/w 34 IPC against the accused Nos.1 to 6 stands set aside by the judgment passed by the High Court. The respondents- accused No.1-Shivpujan, accused No.2-Rajendra, accused No.3-Malti Devi, accused No.4-Anita, accused No.5- Surendra and accused No.6-Virendra be taken into custody forthwith to undergo the remainder period of sentence for offence under Section 498-A and 304-B read with 34 IPC.

34. The appeals are allowed to the extent above.

Date : 08/07/2014 These appeals were called on for judgment today.

For Appellant(s) Mr. Aniruddha P. Mayee ,Adv.

For Respondent(s) Mr. K.L. Taneja, Adv.

Mr. Sanjay Jain,Adv.

Ms. Asha Gopalan Nair, Adv.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya pronounced the judgment of the Bench comprising His Lordship and Hon'ble Mr. Justice V. Gopala Gowda.

The appeals are allowed to the extent indicated in the signed judgment.