IMPORTANT POINTThe prosecution must stand or fall on its own legs, and no infirmity or lacuna can be cured or supplied by a false defence or a plea rejected by a court.

JUDGMENT

S. RATNAVEL PANDIAN, J.:—These two appeals arise ot of a common judgment rendered in Criminal Appeal No. 500 of 1985 on the file of High Court of Gujarat at Ahmedabad. Criminal Appeal No. 459/1987 is preferred by the convicted appellant, S. D. Soni challenging his conviction under S. 304, Part I, I.P.C. and the sentence of 5 years rigorous imprisonment and Criminal Appeal makes out a case for an offence punishable under S. 302, I.P.C. and that the judgment of the High Court convicting S. D. Soni (respondent in the State appeal) under S. 304, Part-II, I.P.C.-is erroneous.

2. The facts, materials for the purpose of these appeals, may however be briefly indicated:

The appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 459 of 1987 hereinafter referred to by his name Soni married Varsha, the deceased herein on 4-12-82. After the marriage, she came to Ahmedabad and stayed with her husband who was in joint family of Roopam Society at Ahmedabad. After having stayed for about one month with her husband, she returned to her parentsplace at Bombay and after about a month, Soni took her back to the matrimonial home. According to the prosecution that even during her stay with her husband for about a month, the matrimonial life was not happy as it ought to be as the lady members of the house used to taunt her. She was not even allowed to see and freely talk to her father and brother in private when they used to visit her. While so, on 7-8-83 the deceased wrote a letter Exh. 18 to her parents informing them that she was being ill-treated by her husband and in-laws and other relatives complaining that her father did not give her anything at the time of marriage and that only Almighty could save her from threatened danger. After the receipt of the letter, the father of the deceased contacted the father of Soni who asked the father of the deceased (P.W. 5) to come to meet him personally. Thereafter, there was a hain of correspondence between the parents of the deceased and the appellant, Soni. While it is so, on the morning of 1st August 1983, the deceased Varsha was found lying dead in her bed in her matrimonial home. According to the defence version, a chit (Exh. 80) was seen underneath a pillow, said to have been written by Varsha herself to the effect that she was committing suicide on her own volition by consuming sleeping pills as she was in love with a boy at Bombay and her demand for divorce was not acceded to by her husband. At the request of the inmates of the house, one medical officer by name Dr. Kumudchandra (P.W. 23) examined Varsha and declared her to be dead. Thereafter, the police was informed that Varsha had committed suicide. The Sub-Inspector of Police (P.W. 17) attached to Navrangpura Police Station held the inquest over the dead body and sent a report Exh. 10 stating that it was a suicidal death. After the inquest, the dead body was sent to Civil Hospital for postmortem examination. The parents of Varsha on being informed that their daughter was in a serious condition rushed to Ahmedabad from Bombay by the evening flight. The dead body after the post-mortem examination was brought to the house of Soni in the early morning of 2-8-83 and thereafter the cremation took place.

3. Be that as it may, after the completion of the 12th day ceremony, P.W. 5 sent a petition Exh. 29 to the Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad requesting for a thorough enquiry into the death of his daughter, Varsha as he had suspected some foul play and that the death was not of a natural one. Copies of the letters were sent to the Home Minister, IGP and Chief Justice of Gujarat State. Another petition Exh. 30 dated 1-9-83 was also submitted to the Home Minister of the State. As P.W. 5 felt Navrangpura Police had not taken proper investigation and was misled by the false information given by Soni and his father and as the alleged chit Exh. 80 was a fabricated one, the father and brother of the victim sent successive petitions which ultimately led to the entrusting of