The prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that a woman was subjected to cruelty for dowry demand to establish a case of dowry death under IPC Section 304-B.

Judgment :

(Rajani Dubey, J.)

1. Since both the appeals arise out of the common judgment of conviction and order of sentence, therefore, both the appeals are heard together and are being decided by a common order.

2. The present appeals are directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 12.03.2020 passed by the learned 3^rd Additional Session Judge, Baloda Bazar- Bhatapara (C.G.) in ST No.74/2017, whereby the appellants have been convicted under Sections 498-A /34 and 304-B/34 of IPC and sentenced to undergo RI for 3 years and life imprisonment with default stipulations.

3. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 23/05/2017, the Police of Police Station, Kasdol received information that Archana Sahu has been burnt from the fire and has been admitted in Community Health Center Kasdol, thereafter Police went there and recorded the dying declaration of the deceased Archana Sahu, wherein she stated that appellants committed maarpeet with her and poured kerosene oil on her and set her ablaze. After investigation, the charge sheet was filed before the Magistrate concerned. After appreciating the oral and documentary evidence available on record, the learned Trial Court convicted the appellants, as mentioned in para 2 of the judgment.

4. Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the judgment of conviction and order of sentence passed by learned trial court is bad in law as well as facts available on record. That the judgment of conviction passed by the learned trial court is bad in law as well as facts available on record. The learned Trial Court have not considered the statements of PW-1 Raghuveer Sahu, PW-2 Rameshwari, PW-3 Smt. Ram Bai and PW-4 Neetu Manikpuri, who are the neighbors of the appellants. There is no eye witness to the incident and only on the basis of conjectures and surmises, the appellants have been convicted. Most of the important witnesses have turned hostile and have not supported the prosecution case, but these aspects of the matter have not been considered by the learned Trial Court. Therefore, the impugned judgment is liable to be set aside. Reliance has been placed on the judgment rendered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Phulel Singh vs State of Haryana , reported in (2024) 1 SCC CR 64.

5. Per contra, learned State counsel supports the impugned judgment and submits that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. The learned Trial Court has minutely appreciated the oral and documentary evidence and rightly convicted the present appellants. Therefore, the appeals are liable to be dismissed.

6. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record.

7. It is clear from the record of the learned Trial Court that the learned Trial Court framed charges under Section 498-A and Section 304-B read with Section 34 of IPC and in alternate Section 302 read with Section 34 of IPC against all the appellants and after appreciating the oral and documentary evidence the learned Trial Court convicted the appellants, as mentioned in para 2 of the judgment.

8. It is not disputed in this case that the deceased Archana is the wife of Bhagwat and their marriage was solemnized prior to 2 years of the incident. It is also not disputed that the deceased died due to burning. PW-18 R. K. Khande stated that he was posted as Head of the Medical Record Department in Narayana Hospital and Archana Sahu was admitted in the siad hospital on 23.05.2017 and she died on 27.05.2017. As per hospital memo, merg intimation was recorded vide Ex-P/21 and he admitted his signature on A to A part.

9. Dr. A. S. Chouhan (PW-21) stated that he is posted at CHC, Kasdol as Medical Officer and on 23.05.2017, Archana Sahu was brought by Constable Mratyunjay. He examined the deceased on 12:40 pm and after examination he found that her body was burnt 80-85% and deep burn and grievous injuries were found due to burning by kerosene oil and gave report (Ex-P/22). Dr. Om Prakash Dubey