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High Court Of Calcutta
Amit Talukdar, Sankar Prasad Mitra
SUBIR DAS - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF WEST BENGAL - Respondent
Cr. A 123 Of 2000
Decided On : 04/18/2006
SUBIR DAS @ BAPI DAS - V. - STATE OF WEST BENGAL - Dowry Death - Section 302, 498a IPC -Dying declaration recorded by Dr. Anjali Banerjee - Implication of husband as the person responsible for homicidal burn injuries - Conviction under Section 302 IPC - Dying declaration not signed by the victim - Absence of certificate regarding fitness and capability of making statement - Whether admissible in evidence - Corroboration by oral testimonies - Validity.
Fact of the Case:
The victim, Manju Das, died due to burn injuries. The prosecution's case was that the appellants, her husband and mother-in-law, set fire to her body by sprinkling kerosene oil. The appellants denied the charges and claimed that the victim sustained burn injuries when a kerosene lamp was overturned. The trial court convicted both appellants under Sections 498A and 302 IPC. The husband was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5,000/-, and the mother-in-law was sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 2,000/-.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the dying declaration made by the victim was admissible in evidence, even though it was not signed by her and there was no certificate regarding her fitness and capability of making the statement. The court relied on the testimonies of witnesses who corroborated the dying declaration, including the victim's mother, brother, and sister. The court also found that the appellants' conduct, the testimonies of the witnesses, and the medical evidence supported the conclusion that the husband was responsible for the homicidal burn injuries that caused the victim's death.
Issues: 1. Whether the dying declaration made by the victim was admissible in evidence. 2. Whether the evidence supported the conviction of the appellants under Sections 498A and 302 IPC.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the dying declaration was admissible in evidence, even though it was not signed by the victim and there was no certificate regarding her fitness and capability of making the statement. The court relied on the following factors: * The victim was conscious and capable of making the statement at the time it was recorded. * The statement was made voluntarily and without any pressure or coercion. * The statement was corroborated by the testimonies of other witnesses. 2. The court held that the evidence supported the conviction of the appellants under Sections 498A and 302 IPC. The court relied on the following factors: * The testimonies of the victim's mother, brother, and sister corroborated the dying declaration and established that the appellants had tortured the victim both physically and mentally. * The medical evidence established that the victim's death was caused by burn injuries that were homicidal and antimortem in nature. * The appellants' conduct, including their failure to save the victim or extinguish the fire, supported the conclusion that they were responsible for her death.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal filed by the appellants. The conviction of the husband under Section 302 IPC was upheld, and the sentence of imprisonment imposed on the mother-in-law under Section 498A IPC was reduced from two years to three months.
( 1 ) THIS appeal has been preferred by the appellant against the judgment dated 15th February, 2000, passed by the learned Additional Sessions judge, 3rd Court, Alipore in Sessions Trial No. 4 (6) of 1999, Sessions Case no. 24 (3) of 1999, whereby the appellant No. 1 Subir Das @ Bapi Das was convicted and sentenced under Section 302 of I. P. C. to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/- in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year. He was also convicted and sentenced under Section 498a of I. P. C. to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/- in default to suffer rigorous imprisonment for six months. Both the sentences were directed to run concurrently.
( 2 ) APPELLANT No. 2, Sova Das was convicted and sentenced under Section 498a of I. P. C. to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- in default to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months with a direction that both the sentences were to run concurrently if the fine amount was not paid. It was further directed that the period of her detention in custody would be set off against the sentence under Section 428 of Cr. P. C.
( 3 ) THE lodging of written complaint (Exhibit-1 series) by Josthna Dutta, p. W. 1, scribed by Subrata Majumdar, P. W. 2 at Jadavpur Police Station, prompted Madan Mohan Das, P. W. 12, S. I. of Police to fill in the formal F. I. R. vide Exhibit-7, and started Jadavpur P. S. Case No. 296 of 1998 dated 28th may, 1998 against both the appellants under Sections 498a/326/34 of I. P. C. Subsequently Section 302 of I. P. C. was added.
( 4 ) THE prosecution's case in brief is that the appellant No. 1 married Manju das (victim (daughter of the defacto-complainant on 18th February, 1997 which was registered on 8th March, 1997, and after marriage both the appellants started physical and mental torture upon the victim for the last few months continuously before the occurrence of the incident in question. The incident of torture was conveyed by the victim to her mother, sister and other family members. However, to resolve the disputes the de facto-complainant tried to meet her son-in-law, the appellant No. 1 but he avoided her. On 26th May, 1998 in the evening the de facto-complainant received a news to the effect that the victim, Manju Das was admitted at M. R. Bangur Hospital sustaining bum injury to her person. The de facto-complainant, therefore, rushed to the hospital where from the hospital bed she came to know from the victim that on 26th May, 1998 in the evening both the appellants set fire to her body by sprinkling kerosene oil. As the physical condition of the victim was deteriorating she was removed to S. S. K. M. Hospital for better treatment but the victim, Manju Das succumbed to her injuries.
( 5 ) ON receiving complaint, the I. O. P. W. 13, Ananda Kundu, S. I. of police took up the investigation of the case and during investigation he visited the place of occurrence, prepared a sketch map with index vide Exhibit-8. Since the victim expired on 1 st June, 1998 due to 60% burn injury, inquest was held in presence of witnesses on the dead body of the victim at dead house of the S. S. K. M. Hospital by the Executive Magistrate, Aniranjan Bhattacharya, P. W. 10 and the dead body was identified by P. W. 9 Sahadev Koley, A. S. I of Police for which inquest report vide Exhibit-2 series was prepared, signed by the Executive magistrate and other witnesses, namely, P. W. 9 and P. W. 3 Narendra Nath dutta. The I. O. also examined witnesses, recorded their statements and in course of investigation seized wearing apparels etc. of the victim under a seizure list in presence of witnesses vide Exhibit-4 series. The I. O. also arrested Sova das, mother-in-law of the victim on 30th May, 1998 and Subir Das @ Bapi Das, husband of the victim on 3rd June, 1998 and collected P. M. report (Exhibit-9)of the victim which was held by P. W.
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