2019 Supreme(Bom) 2515
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY (NAGPUR BENCH)
SWAPNA JOSHI, J.
Pramod and Ors. – Appellant
Versus
The State of Maharashtra and Ors. – Respondents
Criminal Appeal No. 652 of 2006 and Criminal Revision No. 315 of 2006
Decided On : 24-04-2019
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : R.R. Vyas and R.H. Ravlani, Advs.
For the Respondents: Mrunal Barabde, Additional Public Prosecutor and R.R. Vyas, Adv.
Headnote:
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 - Section 3 and 4 – Indian penal code, 1860 - Section 304B, 306 and 498 - committing suicide – Appeal against conviction - Marriage (deceased) with accused- was solemnized as per Hindu customs and rituals - During ceremony an amount - and some articles were given- Four days after marriage when came to her parental home she informed to her parents that her in-laws were making demand of Hero Honda motorcycle gold chain and a color TV- PW 1- complainant and father of deceased told that he would talk to her in-laws- In i-e- one day before festival of colors i-e- Holi visited her parental home along with her husband - At that time she informed her father that she was subjected to harassment at hands of her in-laws for want of above-referred objects of desire - After four to five days her husband and in-laws visited house of PW 1 to fetch - At that time PW 1 gave one gold chain weighing grams and new clothes to accused - In again visited her parental home and told PW 1 that her husband was unable to maintain her and was pressing her for doing a job- along with accused suddenly came to house of PW 1 and at that time accused- demanded vehicle and TV from PW 1- accused further said that if he was not in a position to fulfill his demand then he should build two rooms for him – Held, overall assessment of prosecution witnesses reveal that their testimony is not in consonance with each other - There are material discrepancies in their testimony which go to root of prosecution case and creates a serious doubt about demand of dowry made by accused - Significantly if at all it was case of prosecution witnesses that was subjected to cruelty soon before her death it is not clear as to why parents of had not lodged any complaint in police station that was ill-treated by accused and ill-treatment was of such a nature that drove her to commit suicide - As already discussed above prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt - As far as investigation is concerned Investigating Officer PW 6-Gulab PSI shows that he admitted that he has not annexed statements of neighbors as they were not supporting prosecution case - Said version of PW 6 indicates that statements of neighbors were not recorded by Investigating Officer as they were not supporting case of prosecution which shows that there were no independent witnesses to support case of prosecution witnesses who were relatives of deceased - Criminal Appeal is allowed
JUDGMENT :
Swapna Joshi, J.
1. Criminal Appeal No. 652/2006 has been preferred by appellant-Pramod, who is the husband of deceased-Deepa, against the judgment and order dated 31st October 2006 delivered by learned Ad-hoc District Judge-6 & ASJ Nagpur in Sessions Trial No. 467/2005 convicting the appellant (hereinafter referred to as "accused" under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing to suffer RI for two years and to pay fine of Rs. 1000/-, in default, to suffer SI for one month.
Criminal Revision No. 315/2006 has been preferred by the father of the deceased, namely, Shivpal Pardeshi against the State and all the four accused who were acquitted by learned trial Judge u/s.498-A and Section 304B, 306 read with Section 34 of the IPC and Section 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
2. Brief facts of the case may be summarized as under:-
The marriage of Deepa (deceased) with accused-Pramod was solemnized on 05.12.2004 as per the Hindu customs and rituals. During tilak ceremony an amount of Rs.5051/- and some articles were given. Four days after the marriage when Deepa came to her parental home, she informed to her parents that her in-laws were making demand of Hero Honda motorcycle, gold chain and a colour TV. PW 1- Shivpal, the complainant and father of deceased told Deepa that he would talk to her in-laws. In March 2005 i.e., one day before the festival of colours i.e. Holi, Deepa visited her parental home along with her husband. At that time, she informed her father that she was subjected to harassment at the hands of her in-laws for want of above-referred objects of desire. After four to five days, her husband and in-laws visited the house of PW 1 to fetch Deepa. At that time, PW 1 gave one gold chain weighing 12 grams and new clothes to the accused-Pramod. In April 2005, Deepa again visited her parental home and told PW 1 that her husband was unable to maintain her and was pressing her for doing a job. On 27.5.2005 Deepa along with the accused suddenly came to the house of PW 1 and at that time accused-Pramod demanded vehicle and TV from PW 1. The accused further said that if he was not in a position to fulfill his demand then he should build two rooms for him. Deepa informed to her father that her mother-in-law had asked her to bring an amount of Rs. 1,50,000 from PW 1 which was spent in the marriage, otherwise she should permanently reside at her parental home. On 30.5.2005 at about 11.30 am., PW 1 received a phone call from the house of Deepa that she was not keeping good health. When PW 1 went to the house of Deepa she was dead. PW 1 then lodged the complaint against accused-Pramod and in-laws of Deepa.
3. At the relevant time, PW 9 PSI Vidyasagaar Shrimanwar was attached to Koradi Police Station. On the basis of report of PW 1, he registered the offence and arrested the accused on the same day. PW 9 recorded the statements of relevant witnesses. On 31.5.2005 PW 6, PSI-Gulab Wadke, visited the place of the incident and recorded the spot panchnama. One PSI Mamore (not examined) had sealed one almirah at the time of recording the spot panchnama on 10.6.2005. PW 6 broke opened the seal of the almirah and seized one glass bottle 375 ml. capacity containing 75 ml. liquid. Accordingly, seizure panchnama was prepared (Exh. 33). The said bottle was sent to CA for analysis and the CA reports were secured (Exhs. 61 and 62). After completion of investigation, charge-sheet was filed in the Court of JMFC. Since the case was exclusively triable by Court of Sessions, the same was committed to the Court of Sessions. Charge was framed. The defence of the accused was of total denial and no witnesses were examined on their behalf. The learned trial Judge after recording the evidence and hearing both sides, convicted the appellant and acquitted the other accused, as aforesaid.
4. I have heard learned counsel for the respective parties, at length. With their able assistance, I have gone through the record and proceedings of