IMPORTANT POINT
Ingredients of sections 304B, 498A and 306 IPC discussed.

JUDGMENT

A. K. PATNAIK, J.

This is an appeal by way of special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution against the judgment dated 16.09.2004 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Criminal Appeal No.337-SB of 1992.

Facts:

2. The facts very briefly are that on 26.02.1991 at 11.20 P.M., the Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police of Police Station-City Dabwali, District Sirsa in Haryana, Madan Lal recorded a statement of Vandana at CHC Hospital, Mandi Dabwali. She stated that about two years ago, she was married to the appellant and the appellant used to taunt her on petty matters and earlier the appellant used to tease her for dowry and on being fed up with the habits of the appellant, on 26.02.1991 between 7.00 and 7.30 P.M., she sprinkled kerosene on her and set herself on fire. The statement of Vandana was registered as First Information Report (FIR) by the S.I. of P.S. Dabwali, Kuldeep Singh. Soon thereafter on 26.02.1991, the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, R.S. Bagri, recorded a statement of Vandana under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short ‘Cr.P.C.’) in which Vandana reiterated her statement to the Police. On 27.02.1991 at 2.20 A.M., Vandana died. Post mortem was carried out on the body of Vandana (hereinafter referred to as ‘the deceased’) by Dr. S.S. Bansal. The Police then took up the investigation and submitted a charge-sheet against the appellant.

3. On 28.08.1991, the Sessions Court framed a charge under Section 304B, IPC, against the appellant to which the appellant pleaded not guilty. At the trial, the prosecution examined Kedar Nath, who had prepared the scaled plan (Ext. PA) on the place of occurrence, as PW-1; Dr. R.C. Chaudhary, Medical Officer, General Hospital, Mandi Dabwali, who had examined the deceased and found the burn injuries on her body as PW-2; S.I. Kuldeep Singh of P.S. Dabwali, who had registered the FIR as PW-3; the landlord of the house in which the deceased lived with her husband as PW-4; Niranjan Ram Gupta, the father of the deceased, as PW-5; Bhupinder Kumar, the uncle of the deceased as PW-6; Dr. S.S. Bansal, who conducted the post mortem on the body of the deceased as PW-7; R.S. Bagri, the Judicial Magistrate, who recorded the statement of the deceased under Section 164, Cr.P.C. as PW-8 and ASI Madan Lal, the Investigating Officer, as PW-9. The statement of the appellant was recorded under Section 313, Cr.P.C. In defence, the appellant examined Ramesh Devra as DW-1; Jagdish Kumar as DW-2; Nihal Singh, Assistant Chief Medical Officer, Sirsa, as DW-3; Dr. Ajay Kumar Gupta, Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Sirsa, as DW-4 and Dr. J.L. Bhutani as DW-5. After considering the evidence and the arguments on behalf of the parties, the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Sirsa, in his judgment dated 31.08.1992 held that the prosecution has been able to prove the charge against the appellant and accordingly convicted him under Section 304B, IPC. Thereafter, the learned Additional Sessions Judge heard the accused on the quantum of sentence and ordered that the appellant be sentenced to seven years R.I. with a fine of Rs.2,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further imprisonment of six months.

4. Aggrieved, the appellant filed Criminal Appeal No.337-SB of 1992 before the High Court. After hearing the appeal, the High Court in the impugned judgment held that the deceased had indicated in her dying declarations (Exts.PG and PN) before ASI Madan Lal and the Judicial Magistrate R.S. Bagri that she was being harassed by her husband with demands of dowry on account of which she had sprinkled kerosene on herself before setting herself ablaze. The High Court further held that the statement of the deceased in these two dying declarations (Exts. PG and PN) that she was being harassed for dowry stood corroborated by the evidence of the father of the deceased (PW-5) and uncle of the deceased (PW-6). The High Court rejected the contention raised on behalf of the appellant that th