Established cruelty by a husband can lead to a presumption of abetment of suicide under Section 113A of the Evidence Act.

JUDGMENT :

BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.

1. Both the appeals arise out of the common Judgment and Order dated 16.03.2011 passed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh at Shimla in the Criminal Appeal No. 97 of 2000 preferred by the appellant-Parveen Kumar and the Criminal Appeal No. 325 of 2000 preferred by the State of Himachal Pradesh.

2. The short facts as curled out from the record are that on 10.10.1992 the appellant had married Raksha Devi (the deceased). The said Raksha Devi gave birth to a male child from the loins of the appellant at her parental home on 18.12.1993. As per the case of the prosecution, the appellant used to beat his wife even when she was pregnant and therefore, she had gone away to her parental home and had got registered an FIR being No. 59 of 1993 for the offence under Section 498-A of IPC on 12.09.1993 at the Police Station Ghumarwin. She also filed a petition under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. seeking maintenance from the appellant, and also filed another complaint under Section 107/151 Cr.P.C. Somewhere in May 1994, the appellant brought back his wife to her matrimonial home. On 22.09.1994, the said Raksha Devi gave a statement in the Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate in the proceedings under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. that she did not want to pursue the matter as she was living happily with the appellant. Similar statement was also allegedly given in the Court in respect of the complaint filed by her. However, on 26.09.1994 the wife of the appellant Raksha Devi consumed tablets of aluminum phosphide at about 1:45 a.m. She was admitted in the hospital for treatment, however could not survive and died at 5.00 a.m. on the same day.

3. The information regarding her death was reduced to writing by the SHO in the daily diary register vide DDR No. 30. The SHO sent the body of the deceased to the hospital for carrying out the post-mortem. On 01.10.1994 the brother of the deceased, Sh. Madan Lal (PW-3) lodged an FIR being No. 97 of 1994 at the Police Station, Bhoranj alleging that the appellant had subjected his sister to cruelty and forced her to commit suicide. The Investigating Officer after carrying out the investigation submitted the chargesheet against the appellant for the offence under Section 498-A and 306 of IPC. The Sessions Court, Hamirpur, H.P. after appreciating the evidence on record adduced by the prosecution as well as by the defence, convicted the appellant-accused for the offence under Section 498-A IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- with the default clause, however, acquitted the appellant for the offence under Section 306 of IPC vide the Judgment and Order dated 24.02.2000.

4. Being aggrieved by the said Judgment and Order passed by the Sessions Court, the appellant preferred Criminal Appeal No. 97 of 2000 against his conviction under Section 498-A IPC whereas the State of Himachal Pradesh preferred the Criminal Appeal No. 325 of 2000 against the acquittal of the appellant from the offence under Section 306 of IPC before the High Court. The High Court vide the impugned Judgment and Order dismissed the appeal preferred by the appellant whereas allowed the appeal preferred by the State and convicted the appellant for the offence under Section 306 of IPC. He was directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and to pay a fine of Rs.3,000/- with default clause of the offence under Section 306 of IPC, while confirming the conviction and sentence imposed by the Sessions Court for the offence under Section 498-A of IPC.

5. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that out of the three cases filed by the deceased – Raksha Devi against the appellant, the complaint lodged under Section 107/151 of Cr.P.C. was dismissed by the concerned Court on 04.04.1994, and the other two cases filed under Section 125 Cr.P.C. and FIR No. 59/93 under Section 498-A IPC were settled between the parties as per the