IMPORTANT POINT
Dowry death - Husband is under a greater obligation, both moral as well as legal, to ensure well-being of his wife.

JUDGMENT

Mehta, J.

1. Heard.

2. The appellant [Hereinafter, being referred to as “accused-appellant”], through this appeal by special leave, seeks to assail the judgment dated 15th May, 2014, passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh [Hereinafter, being referred to as “High Court”], whereby it dismissed Criminal Appeal No. S-2212-SB of 2011 [Hereinafter, being referred to as “criminal appeal”] preferred by the appellant. The appellant, in the said appeal, had assailed the judgment and order of sentence dated 26th May, 2011 and 28th May, 2011, rendered by the Sessions Judge, Panipat [Hereinafter, being referred to as “trial Court”], convicting the accused- appellant for the offence punishable under Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 [Hereinafter, being referred to as “IPC”] and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.

3. Brief facts relevant and essential for disposal of the present appeal are noted hereinbelow.

4. Shri Balraj Singh (PW1-Complainant) [Hereinafter, referred to as “complainant”] lodged a complaint on 1st June, 2009, at the Police Station Chandni Bagh, Panipat, alleging inter alia that the accused-appellant and his daughter, Punita alias Gayatri [Hereinafter, being referred to as “deceased-Punita”], got married on 28th February, 2008 as per Hindu rites and ceremonies. At the time of their marriage, the complainant had given dowry to the accused-appellant and his family beyond his capacity. However, the accused-appellant, along with his mother, father, brother, and uncle, remained dissatisfied with the dowry and started subjecting deceased-Punita to harassment, taunts, and physical abuse soon after the marriage. The complainant further alleged that during her visits to the parental home, his daughter informed him, his wife Rajwati Devi, and his son Pramod Kumar (PW-2) about the ill-treatment meted out by her in-laws, who repeatedly taunted her for bringing insufficient dowry and coming from a poor family. Consequently, the complainant, along with his brother-in-law, Puran Singh and his nephew Jitender Pal (PW-10), visited the matrimonial home of the deceased during which the accused-appellant, his father and his uncle, Sukhbir allegedly demanded Rs.5 lakhs to secure a job for the accused-appellant. The complainant assured them of making arrangements and later sent his daughter back to her matrimonial home after giving her a sum of Rs.50,000/-. Despite this, the accused-appellant and his family members did not relent from subjecting deceased-Punita to cruelty. On 1st June, 2009, at approximately 07:45 am, the deceased-Punita telephonically informed her brother Satender Kumar (PW-3) that on the previous night, her husband, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother- in-law, and uncle-in-law had assaulted her, and she requested him to come down to her matrimonial home immediately, apprehending impending danger to her life. At about 08:00 am, the complainant received a call from the accused-appellant informing him that his daughter had died. Upon reaching Panipat, the maternal family members of deceased- Punita learnt that she had jumped down from the roof of the house and ended her life due to persistent harassment and demands of dowry meted out to her by the matrimonial family.

5. Based on this complaint, an FIR, bearing No. 335 of 2009, came to be registered at the Police Station Chandni Bagh, Panipat, against the accused- appellant and his family members⁸ [Harinder Kumar @ Billu (Brother of the appellant), Rajeshwar Dayal (Father of the appellant), Brajesh Rani (Mother of the appellant) and Sukhbir Singh (Uncle of the appellant)] for the offences punishable under Section 304-B read with Section 34 of the IPC and subsequently, the investigation commenced. On completion of the investigation, a charge sheet was filed against the accused-appellant, his father and mother for th