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2010 Supreme(Cal) 1472
High Court of Judicature at Calcutta
ASHIM KUMAR BANERJEE & RAGHUNATH RAY
Ashok Mondal @ Asoke Mondal & Others
Versus
The State of West Bengal
C.R.A. No.619 of 2007 WITH C.R.R. No.4304 of 2007
Decided On : 23-12-2010
For the Appellants:Joymalya Bagchi, Joydeep Biswas, Advocates.
For the Defacto Complainant:Sudipto Moitra, Tapas Kumar Ghosh, Snehasish Banerjee, Tanmoy Chowdhury, Advocates.
For the State:Jharna Biswas, Advocate.
The judgment established the need for evidence of dowry demand, torture, and instigation for suicide to convict under Section 498-A and Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.
Headnote:
Dowry - Criminal Law - Indian Penal Code - Section 498-A, Section 306
Fact of the Case:
The case involved the suicide of a woman due to alleged dowry harassment by her in-laws. The trial court convicted the husband and mother-in-law under Section 498-A and Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, while acquitting the father-in-law and brother-in-law.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that there was evidence of dowry demand and torture, leading to the conviction of the husband and mother-in-law under Section 498-A. However, the court acquitted them of the charge under Section 306, ruling that the evidence did not conclusively suggest instigation for suicide.
Issues: The main issues were the presence of dowry demand, torture, and instigation for suicide, as well as the applicability of Section 113-A of the Indian Evidence Act.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that to convict under Section 498-A and Section 306, there must be evidence of dowry demand, torture, and instigation for suicide. The court also discussed the applicability of Section 113-A in cases of unnatural death of a bride within seven years of marriage.
Final Decision: The appeal succeeded in part, with the conviction under Section 498-A upheld and the conviction under Section 306 quashed. The accused were directed to surrender for the remainder of their sentence.
ASHIM KUMAR BANERJEE.J
1. FACTS
On or about March 20, 2006 one Tirtha Kumar Dey of village Singrapur in the district of Hooghly made a written complaint to Goghat Police Station. As per his complaint, Tirtha’s daughter Shampa got married with Ashok Mondal being the Appellant no.1 above named. On March 19, 2006 Shampa committed suicide at her in-laws place. Her husband Ashok, father-in-law Santinath, mother-in-law Bimola and brother-in-law Taraknath subjected Shampa to mental torture. Complainant also asserted that his daughter had committed suicide by way of hanging due to “unbearable torture”. Police acted on the said complaint, held inquest and got the dead body examined by the Autopsy Surgeon being PW-17 The Autopsy Surgeon opined, “death was due to the effects of hanging as noted above - ante mortem in nature”. The Police carried out the investigation and charged Asoke, Santinath, Taraknath and Bimala inter alia under Section 498-A read with Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.
All the three accused pleaded not guilty and opted to be tried. Initially, all of them were arrested. They were subsequently released. However, the husband Asoke was in custody during trial and was ultimately released by this Court on February 1, 2008. The learned Sessions Judge, Arambagh held Asoke and Bimala guilty of the offence committed under Section 498-A read with Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. Asoke was sentenced for three years for the offence committed under Section 498-A and for a period of ten years in respect of the offence committed under Section 306, apart from the fines so imposed upon him. In case of Bimala, the punishment was for three years and seven years respectively, apart from the fines imposed upon her. The accused Santinath and Taraknath were acquitted of the charges.
Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgment and order of the Assistant Sessions Judge, Arambagh, in Sessions Trial Case No. 12 (IX)/2006 arising out of Sessions Case No. 41 of 2006 dated September 29, 2007, Asoke and Bimala preferred the instant appeal. Both of them were released on bail as referred to above. We heard the appeal on the above mentioned dates.
2. EVIDENCE
PW-1 (Tirtha Kumar Dey):-
The witness was a school teacher and unfortunate father of Shampa. The marriage took place on 11th Falgoon, 1411 B.S. He had to give Rs.3.2 lakhs in the marriage. It was decided that Asoke would purchase a motor cycle and gold ornaments weighing to Ten Bhories. The balance amount was to be spent by the accused for holding the marriage ceremony. The distance between two houses was about three to four miles. On March 20, 2006 the elder son-in-law (Janardan) of santi had informed over telephone that Shampa had committed suicide. Soon after marriage, the in-laws family maintained a cordial relationship with Shampa. However, after two months they started demanding “extra dowry” from Shampa. They also claimed a motor cycle from Shampa and a Cooking Gas from Tirtha. They used filthy language while abusing her. Shampa narrated the factum of torture to her mother that was later on informed to him by her (Mother). Having heard the news of torture, Tirtha discussed the matter with the family and proceeded towards the house of the accused and requested them not to do the same with Shampa. The accused became furious and started to rebuke them by using filthy languages.
After receiving the information of suicide from Janardan, Tirtha proceeded to the place of occurrence and found the dead body of Shampa lying near the door of her in-law’s house. The neighbours told him that on the previous night there had been loud quarrel. Radharaman Deb, a friend of Tirtha went to Goghat Police Station and submitted a written complaint as per his direction. Radharaman wrote the same and Tirtha signed it. Police held inquest of the dead body. He also identified the letter written by Shampa to her sister being Exhibit-3. He also produced History Exercise Book used by Shampa
