Judgment

Sema, J.—Six accused, accused No. 1 Vimal Kumar husband of the deceased, accused No. 2 Karam Chand, the father of A1, accused No. 3 Anil Kumar young brother of A1, accused No. 4 Tirath Kumar @ Raj Rani, mother of A1, accused No. 5 Asha Rani daughter of A2 and accused No. 6 Nanda the sister of A1 were put up for trial before the trial court under Section 304-B IPC. The trial court after concluding of the trial acquitted the four accused but convicted accused No. 1 and accused No. 4 husband and mother-in-law of the deceased under Section 304-B and sentenced them to undergo RI for 10 years and to pay fine of Rs. 2500/- each; in default RI for one year. Their conviction and sentence were confirmed by the High Court in appeal. Hence the present appeal by special leave.

2. All the accused were charged for burning to death of Neena Kumari & Meena Devi in the evening of 30.6.1989 in relation to demand of dowry. The marriage performed between the parties on 7.6.1987 and the date of incident was 30.6.1989 at 11 p.m. The deceased succumbed to burn injuries on 1.7.1989 at 5.30 a.m. She suffered 92 per cent of burning.

3. It is not disputed that the incident had taken place within seven y