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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
Swatanter Kumar & Madan B. Lokur, JJ.
Surinder Kumar
Vs.
State of Punjab
Criminal Appeal No. 579 of 2009, Crl. Appeal No. 337-SB of 1995
Decided On : 21 November, 2012
Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Section 304-B and Section 498-A - Commit suicide - Contact - Question for consideration is whether dying declaration given to effect that her husband had driven her to commit suicide should be accepted or not - Case of appellant is that accidentally caught fire and therefore it is not a case of suicide - Court agree with concurrent view of Trial Court and High Court that was driven to suicide by appellant and as such his conviction and sentence Section and Indian Penal Code - Appellant were married some time - They have female child – Held, Not necessary for us to repeat principles laid down in Paniben since they have been repeated in several judgments some of which have been referred to above - All that court need say is that decisions referred to and relied on in Paniben need to be updated - Applying principles laid down Paniben dying declaration given by ought to be accepted as voluntary and truthful - Counsel for appellant relied on particularly paragraph of Report - In that case third dying declaration out of five was consideration - This Court doubt expressed by Trial Court and endorsed by High Court that even though victim had burns her neck mouth and lips were burnt - Records available with Burns Ward of concerned hospital also showed that her hands were burnt and the skin had peeled - In such situation grave doubt was expressed whether victim could have made detailed statement and put her signature thereon - Clearly that case was decided on its peculiar facts and no general principle of law was laid down in paragraph reference – Appeal dismissed
JUDGMENT
Madan B. Lokur, J.
1. The question for consideration is whether the dying declaration given by Kiran Bala to the effect that her husband (the appellant) had driven her to commit suicide should be accepted or not. The case of the appellant is that Kiran Bala accidentally caught fire and therefore it is not a case of suicide.
2. We agree with the concurrent view of the Trial Court and the High Court that Kiran Bala was driven to suicide by the appellant and as such his conviction and sentence under Section 304-B and Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (for short the IPC) should be upheld.
The facts:
3. The appellant Surinder Kumar and Kiran Bala were married some time in 1990-91. They have a female child.
4. On 28th April 1994 Kiran Bala was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Tanda, with burn injuries all over her body. Since her condition appeared to be serious, Dr. Kewal Singh the Medical Officer informed the Assistant Sub Inspector of Police, Mohinder Singh, through a memo, of her admission in the hospital with 90% burns.
5. Mohinder Singh went to the Tehsil Office to contact the Tehsildar who was also the Executive Magistrate. Finding that he was not available and since a Judicial Magistrate was not located in Tanda, Mohinder Singh went to the Civil Hospital apparently to obtain first hand information of the events.
6. In the Civil Hospital, Mohinder Singh contacted Dr. Kewal Singh at about 9.30 a.m. and he certified that Kiran Bala was fit to make a statement. Thereafter, Mohinder Singh recorded the statement of Kiran Bala in vernacular in the presence of Dr. Kewal Singh and Dr. Satpal Singh, Medical Officer. The statement was read over to her and after she admitted the contents to be true, her signature and right thumb impression was taken on the statement. An endorsement was made on the statement by Dr. Kewal Singh and Dr. Satpal Singh to the effect that Kiran Bala had given her statement in their presence.
7. Unfortunately, Kiran Bala passed away on the same day.
8. In the meanwhile, based on the statement given by Kiran Bala, Mohinder Singh began investigating into the occurrence. On 5th May, 1994 he arrested the appellant who had been absconding till then and on completion of investigations, he filed a challan in which the appellant was accused of having driven Kiran Bala to commit suicide. The appellant was charged for offences under Section 304-B and Section 498-A of the IPC. He pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
9. Before filing the challan, Mohinder Singh asked Dr. Kewal Singh in writing on 8th July 1994 whether Kiran Bala was conscious throughout the time her statement was recorded. Dr. Kewal Singh certified that Kiran Bala was medically fit (fully conscious) from the beginning of her statement till the very end.
10. At this stage, it is appropriate to quote the English translation of the dying declaration made by Kiran Bala on 28th April 1994. This reads as under:
'I am resident of village Bainchan. My parental village is Chatiwind in Amritsar. I was married about 3 years ago with Surinder Kumar son of Rattan Chand, caste Balmiki, resident of Bainchan, Distt. Hoshiarpur, according to customary rites. I have one daughter, who is aged about 2 years. My husband Surinder Kumar is working as a labourer. Today i.e. 28.4.1994 at about 7.30 A.M. my husband Surinder Kumar quarreled with me and was saying that I had brought less dowry at the time of marriage and that I should bring a scooter and Rs.5000/- in cash from my parents. I had been telling my mother-in-law and brothers-in-law that my husband had been demanding more dowry and they had been asking him not to make such demands. I had not informed my parents about the demands of dowry so that they may not form a bad opinion about my husband. Today, at about 7.30 A.M. fed up with the demands of dowry made by my husband, I poured kerosene oil and set myself on fire. When I put myself on fire, my mother-in-law Ramo, sister-in-law Paramjit Kaur, my daughter Ritu, my husb
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