IMPORTANT POINT
Sections 304-B and 306, IPC are not mutually exclusive.

Judgment :-

Madan B. Lokur, J.

1. The question before us is whether Bhupendra (the appellant) was rightly convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Morena, Madhya Pradesh of having committed an offence punishable under Section 498-A, Section 304-B and Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and whether his conviction was rightly upheld by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh. In our opinion the question must be answered in the affirmative and therefore we find no merit in this appeal.

The facts

2. Geeta Bai married Bhupendra on 7th June, 1993 and at that time her father PW-1 Bhika Ram gave dowry to Bhupendra and his family according to their means. The case of the prosecution was that Geeta Bai was harassed by Bhupendra and members of his family who demanded dowry over and above what was given to them at the time of marriage. Initially, the demand was for a she buffalo which was met by Bhika Ram. Then there was a further demand for Rs. 10,000/- in cash on 20th August, 1996. However, since Bhika Ram was unable to meet this demand, and apparently fearing the worst, Geeta Bai consumed wheat tablets on the evening of 20th August, 1996 at her matrimonial home.

3. Since Geeta Bai had taken unwell, Bhupendra took her to the District Hospital at Morena for treatment. PW-8 Dr. S.C. Aggarwal informed the Station Officer of Police Station City Kotwali at about 10.30 p.m. about the incident. Later on, Geeta Bai died at about 11.25 p.m. and intimation of this was also sent by Dr. Aggarwal to the Station Officer of Police Station City Kotwali. On the basis of the information received, a case was registered and investigations commenced by the police.

4. Separately, Bhika Ram made a complaint on 21st August, 1996 to the Superintendent of Police and to the District Magistrate at Morena that Bhupendra, his father Vrindavan and his mother Sheela Devi had caused the dowry death of Geeta Bai.

5. On the same day, a post mortem examination was conducted on the body of Geeta Bai and it was opined by PW-7 Dr. Siyaram Sharma (who had conducted the post mortem examination) that she had two injuries on her body, one on the left forearm which was caused by a hard, blunt object while the other injury was on the back of the right hand caused by a tooth bite. Both these injuries were ante mortem. It was also opined that the cause of death was suspected poisoning. [Though the viscera of the deceased were sent for chemical examination, the examination report had not been received when the witness was examined on 13th August, 1999.]

6. On these broad facts, a charge sheet was filed against the three accused persons for offences punishable under Sections 498-A and 304-B of the IPC and in the alternative for an offence punishable under Section 306 of the IPC.

Decision of the Trial Court

7. The Sessions Judge in Sessions Trial No. 328 of 1996 pronounced judgment on 6th June, 2001. It was held, on an examination of the oral and documentary evidence, that there was nothing to doubt the correctness and veracity of the evidence given by Bhika Ram, his wife PW-2 Munni Devi, his brother-in-law PW-3 Munna Lal, the aunt of the deceased being PW-4 Urmila and Bhika Ram’s brother PW-5 Ram Narayan.

8. It was held, on the basis of their evidence, that apart from the dowry given to Bhupendra’s family at the time of marriage, there was an additional demand for dowry made by Vrindavan to give him one buffalo. This demand was met by Bhika Ram but there was a further demand on 20th August, 1996 for a sum of Rs. 10,000/- which could not be met by him.

9. It was also held that due to the inability of Bhika Ram to immediately meet the demand for additional dowry, Geeta Bai was subjected to harassment and cruelty for not bringing adequate dowry. She was subjected to beating and was not given proper clothes to wear about which she had even informed Bhika Ram.

10. Finally, it was held that Geeta Bai had died an unnatural death within 7 years of her marriage thereby inviting an adverse presumption of