Jumni & Ors vs State Of Haryana

4. Asha Devi was married at the age of 16 to Jagdish who was employed in the army. According to her father, Asha Devi lived with Jagdish for about one year and thereafter she lived in village Bhojpur in district Jagadhari, Haryana, in a one room tenement along with her two children aged 5 years and 1½ years. Her in- laws were staying in an adjacent tenement. There is no allegation or evidence of any matrimonial disharmony between Jagdish and Asha Devi who had been married for about nine years nor is there any allegation of any demand or harassment for dowry from Asha Devi.

5. The case of the prosecution is entirely dependent on the dying declaration of Asha Devi. In her statement, Asha Devi stated that at about 12.00 noon on 4th April 1996 she was given a severe beating by all her in- laws. Thereafter, at about 3.00 p.m. she wanted to lodge a complaint with the police but all her in- laws prevented her from doing so. Rather, they suggested that she should be set ablaze.

6. On the morning of 5th April 1996, Asha Devi seems to have had a quarrel and in a fit of anger she broke her bangles. Upon this, Jumni said that she should be finished. Consequently, all her in-laws tied her up and poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. This was at about 7.30 a.m.

7. At about 10.30 a.m. Asha Devi was taken to the Civil Hospital at Jagadhari. Seeing her condition with 100% burns, the doctor on duty, Dr. M.R. Passi (PW-1) immediately informed the police who took urgent steps for having her statement recorded. Ms. Sarita Gupta, Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class (PW-9) was deputed for this purpose. According to Ms. Sarita Gupta, she recorded the statement of Asha Devi in the Civil Hospital between 11.22 a.m. and 12.05 p.m. on 5th April 1996. The statement/dying declaration reads as follows:-

8. Soon after the statement was recorded Asha Devi’s father Devi Dayal (PW-6) arrived in the Civil Hospital (although he says that he reached the hospital at about 11.45 a.m. but after the Magistrate left) and he made arrangements to take her to Chandigarh but she died on the way.

9. On these broad facts, investigations were carried out and a charge sheet was filed against the six accused persons for having murdered Asha Devi.

14. On these facts, the Trial Judge concluded that Asha Devi was fit to make a dying declaration.

38. The next question is whether Asha Devi’s dying declaration can be split up to segregate the case of Prem Nath and Raj Bala from the case of the other accused persons.

40. Although at law there is no difficulty in segregating the role of two sets of accused persons if the dying declaration is severable, the present case indicates that the role of the accused persons cannot be segregated. This is because Asha Devi’s dying declaration mentions all the accused persons as being involved in all the events that had taken place on 4th April 1996 and 5th April 1996. There is no distinction made in the role of any of the accused persons and they have all been clubbed together with regard to the harassment of Asha Devi; making plans to eliminate her; Asha Devi being beaten up on 4th April 1996; all the accused persons preventing her from lodging a complaint with the police; all the accused persons tying up Asha Devi with her chunni and pouring kerosene oil on her and then setting her on fire. Asha Devi has referred to each one of them as being involved in every incident on 4th April 1996 and 5th April 1996. If somewhat different roles were assigned to at least some of the accused persons, segregation or severance could have been possible. But with everybody being roped in for every event, it is not possible in this case to segregate or sever the actions of one from another.

44. Insofar as Prem Nath and Raj Bala are concerned there is sufficient material to accept their alibi and they must be acquitted of the charges made against them.

45. As mentioned above Rati Ram and Balbir Prasad are already dead and nothing need be said about their involvement in the incident. Were they alive, they too would have been entitled to the benefit of doubt since the facts pertaining to them were similar to those of Jumni and Sham Lal. Conclusion:

46. The plea of alibi set up by Prem Nath and Raj Bala deserve acceptance and are accepted. They are found not guilty of having murdered Asha Devi. Jumni and Sham Lal are given the benefit of doubt and the charge against them of having murdered Asha Devi is not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Both the appeals are accordingly allowed.

……………………………………J (Ranjana Prakash Desai) ……………………………………J (Madan B. Lokur) New Delhi;

March 12, 2014