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1994 Supreme(SC) 1382
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
S. Ratnavel Pandian, J.S. Verma, JJ.
Rajnesh Tandon - Appellant
Versus
State of Punjab - Respondent
Criminal Appeal No. 341 of 1992
Decided On : 12-01-1994
Headnote:
Indian Penal Code - Section 304B - Trial court - Rigorous imprisonment – Offence of murder – Injury - Appellant is none other than the husband of the deceased-Anita who at time of her death - In respect of the death of the deceased-Anita, this appellant, his father, mother and sister were put up for trial for offences punishable under Sections 304-B, 498-A and 306 Indian Penal Code. It is not in dispute that during the pendency of the case before the trial court father and mother of the appellant committed suicide. Therefore, the trial went on only as against the appellant and his sister trial court acquitted but convicted the appellant only for the offence under Section 304B Indian Penal Code and acquitted the appellant of the other charges under Sections 498-A and 306 Indian Penal Code - Factual matrix of the case which led to the filing of this appeal can be stated as follows – Held, However, for the reasons mentioned in the judgment, the learned Judge has not relied upon the document. The High Court has rejected the document only on the ground that it is undated. We are unable to understand the reason given by the High Court for not considering Ext. D-G because the letter should have been written only on the date of the incident since the contents read that the deceased had decided to put an end to her life and wanted to absolve the inmates of the house and did so by stating that neither the appellant nor any of the relatives was responsible for her death. It is not the case of the prosecution that this letter was obtained from her either under compulsion or coercion - Both the courts below have overlooked all those unassailable documentary evidence emerging from and conveniently omitted that evidence which cuts the very root of the prosecution. The reasons given by the High Court for rejecting Ext. D-G is not logical and acceptable - Now, coming to the conduct of the appellant, it is in evidence that the appellant finding his wife vomiting brought DW 2 even at 7.30 a.m. and thereafter admitted her in the hospital by - Concurrent and cumulative effect of the entire evidence when scrupulously examined shows that the deceased was not subjected to cruelty or harassment of any kind either by her husband for or in connection with any demand for dowry. In the absence of necessary ingredients to make out a case punishable under Section 304B Indian Penal Code, the presumption as to dowry death as envisaged in Section 113-B is not attracted - There is one more clinching circumstance that stands against the prosecution is the vital document marked as Ext. D-G. Though PW 4 the father of the deceased (sic) neither the signature of the deceased nor the contents of the letter, he admits the signature and writings of the letter marked as Ext. D-F which has been addressed to DW 5 by the deceased. The disputed writings and signature of the deceased in Ext. D-G was compared with the admitted writings and signature of the deceased in Ext. D-F by the handwriting expert DW 6 who has given the opinion that only the person who wrote Ext. D-F should have written D-G. The trial Judge on basis of the evidence of the handwriting expert has recorded its finding in the following words - Appeal allowed
ORDER :
S. Ratnavel Pandian, J.
The appellant, Rajnesh Tandon, has preferred this criminal appeal, on grant of leave, questioning the correctness of the judgment of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dated 26-2-1992 made in Criminal Appeal No. 311-SB of 1989 dismissing the appeal and confirming the judgment of the trial court convicting the appellant under Section 304B Indian Penal Code and sentencing him to 7 years' rigorous imprisonment and also imposing a fine of Rs. 20,000 with the usual default clause.
2. The appellant is none other than the husband of the deceased-Anita who was aged 24 at the time of her death. In respect of the death of the deceased-Anita, this appellant, his father, mother and sister-Ashu were put up for trial for offences punishable under Sections 304-B, 498-A and 306 Indian Penal Code. It is not in dispute that during the pendency of the case before the trial court, the father and mother of the appellant committed suicide. Therefore, the trial went on only as against the appellant and his sister Ashu. The trial court acquitted Ashu but convicted the appellant only for the offence under Section 304B Indian Penal Code and acquitted the appellant of the other charges under Sections 498-A and 306 Indian Penal Code. The factual matrix of the case which led to the filing of this appeal can be stated as follows.
3. The appellant married the deceased-Anita who was a double graduate on 24-10-1987. After the marriage, admittedly both of them were leading a very happy conjugal relationship and in fact they had gone for honeymoon to Kashmir. At the time of the incident in question, Anita was pregnant by fourteen weeks. While it was so, Anita is said to have committed suicide on 24-2-1988 in her marital home in which the four persons who were arrayed as accused were living with the deceased. It is positively established that the deceased-Anita died by consuming poison, namely, Aluminium Phosphate which is usually used as rat poison and insecticide. The cause of death is spoken to by PW 1, the Medical Officer who conducted the post-mortem on the dead body of the deceased. On receipt of the information of this incident, PW 15, the Sub-Inspector of Police registered a case on the basis of a complaint given by the father of the girl PW 4, held inquest over the dead body of the deceased, examined the relevant witnesses and sent the dead body for post-mortem. During the course of the investigation a letter marked as Ext. D-G was seized from the scene house and that the said letter is characterised as a suicide note and said to have been left by the deceased herself. On completion of the investigation, the Inspector of Police filed the challan.
4. Thus the admitted facts that are established from evidence are (1) that the appellant married the deceased on 24-10-1987; and (2) that Anita committed suicide on 24-2-1988 within a period of four months from the date of marriage by consuming poison. The evidence of PW 1 the Medical Officer who conducted the post-mortem examination, the Chemical Report Ext. PD and the evidence of DW 5 who gave the first treatment to the deceased at the scene house cumulatively reveal that the deceased-Anita had consumed poison, namely, Aluminium Phosphate and died in the hospital at about 10.45 a.m. on 24-2-1988. The fact that on the date of the incident the appellant-husband, his parents and Ashu were in the house is not in dispute.
5. According to the prosecution the deceased had consumed poison on account of cruelty and harassment meted out to her by her husband and other members of his family. Therefore, the only question that rises for our consideration is as to whether the deceased went to the extent of putting her end on her own accord for any other reason other than one mentioned in Section 304B Indian Penal Code or whether the deceased was driven to resort to committing suicide on being subjected to cruelty and harassment by the husband and other members of the family.
6. The prosecution to
