JUDGMENT

S. Mohan, J. – Every time a case relating to dowry death comes up, it causes ripples in the pool of the conscience of this Court. Nothing could be more barbarous, nothing could be more heinous than this sort of crime. The root cause for killing young bride or daughter-in-law is avarice and greed. All tender feelings which alone make the humanity noble disappear from the heart. Kindness which is the hallmark of human culture is buried. Sympathy to the fairer sex, the minimum sympathy is not even shown. The seedling which is uprooted from its original soil and is to be planted in another soil to grow and bear fruits is crushed. With this prefatory note, we pass on to the matrix of facts.

2. The criminal appeal is directed against the conviction of the appellant under Section 302 of Indian Penal Code and sentencing her to life imprisonment reversing the acquittal by the Trial Court. The case of the Prosecution shortly is as under:

Bai Kanta was married to Valji Savji sometime in the year 1972. Accused is the mother-in-law of Bai Kanta. There were frequent quarrels between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law. Once Bai Kanta on account of quarrel went away to her parent's