Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2023 Supreme(Del) 401

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
AMIT MAHAJAN, J.
Nadeem Chaudhary - Applicant
Versus
State of NCT of Delhi - Respondent
Bail Appln. No. 39 of 2022, Crl. M.A. No.15297 of 2022 (for Additional Documents) & Crl. M.A. No. 26103 of 2022 (for placing additional documents on record)
Decided On : 03-03-2023

Advocates Appeared:
For the Applicant : Mr. Shreeyash U. Lalit, Mr. Vimal Tyagi & Mr. Anil Dalal.
For the Respondent: Ms. Richa Dhawan, APP, with SI Amit Solanki.

The presumption of a 'dowry death' under Section 304B IPC should be tested in trial and is meant to act as a deterrent to the demand of dowry.

Headnote:
Bail - Criminal Procedure - Indian Penal Code - 498A/304B/34 - CrPC 439 - Summary
Fact of the Case:

The applicant, Nadeem Chowdhary, filed for regular bail under Section 439 of the CrPC in a case registered under Sections 498A/304B/34 of the IPC. The deceased's family alleged harassment and torture leading to her suicide, citing dowry demands and cruelty.
Finding of the Court:

The court found that the allegations of dowry demands were made against the entire family of the applicant, and the chargesheet was filed for offenses under Section 498A/304B/34 IPC. The court noted that the allegations of demand of dowry were vague and not specific to the period before the victim's death.
Issues: The key issue was whether the victim was subjected to cruelty soon before her death in connection with any demand of dowry to attract the presumption under Section 304B IPC.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the presumption of a 'dowry death' is meant to act as a deterrent to the demand of dowry and should be tested in trial. It considered previous cases where bail was granted due to lengthy imprisonment and lack of specific dowry details.
Final Decision: The court granted the applicant regular bail with specific conditions, noting that the trial was likely to take considerable time and the applicant had already spent over 2 years in judicial custody.

JUDGMENT :

1. The present application for grant of regular bail under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) is filed in FIR No. 293/2020, under Sections 498A/304B/34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), registered at Police Station Sunlight Colony.

2. The FIR was registered on a complaint made by Shri Sagir Ahmed, alleging that the Applicant, Nadeem Chowdhary was married to his daughter, deceased Shehzadi @Chand, who committed suicide on the intervening night of 05.09.2020-06.09.2020, due to harassment and torture, being caused by her husband (the present applicant), and his family members.

3. It is alleged that the family of the complainant was under pressure even before the marriage took place. The family members of the accused even before the marriage started demanding a car, an expensive watch and a lavish marriage, at which around 4000 people were to be catered. The marriage between the appellant and the deceased took place on 22.12.2017.

4. It is alleged that the deceased was subjected to cruelty and was beaten on a regular basis, the reason stated for the same was that she did not bring enough dowry as demanded by the family of the applicant. The complainant once received a call from the deceased informing about a fight and that she was being brutally beaten. The complainant on reaching the house of the accused was told not to come again as this was the internal matter of the family and thereafter the accused also broke the mobile phone of the deceased which was used to call the complainant and the other family members.

5. On the day of the incident, that is, 05.09.2020, at around 1:00 P.M., the deceased had called her mother from her own sim card using the phone instrument of her neighbor and told her that the accused is having some extra-marital affair and she saw a video of them in his mobile phone because of which she was being beaten by the accused and was also threatened to be killed.

6. Thereafter on the same night at around 1:00 A.M. the complainant had received 3-4 missed calls and when he picked the call he was informed about the death of her daughter and was told “Chand aab nahi rahi” and that she had committed suicide by hanging herself with the fan. Upon reaching the house of the accused the complainant alleged that his wife and son namely Sanam did not see any sign of her committing suicide as the bedsheet on the bed of the room was completely fine and no dupatta was seen nor did they find anything that she could have used to hang herself. No stool/table which she could have used to reach the fan was found and the police was also not present at the place of the incident. The complainant’s wife and son were told upon reaching the matrimonial home of their daughter that the deceased was taken to Jeevan Hospital, and when they reached there, they were informed that she was declared brought dead. After sometime the complainant also reached Delhi and after being told about the said incident he gave his complaint which later culminated into the present FIR.

7. The post mortem was conducted and it reported as under :

Opinion- No external injury other than ligature mark was present over body. Thyrohyoid complex was Intact. No poison was detected in viscera of deceased.

In view of all this fact, am of the opinion that cause of death in this case, asphyxia due to compression by ligature in case of ante-mortem hanging which is invariably suicidal in nature.

8. The matter was adjourned on the last date of hearing giving liberty to the applicant to press for hearing after the examination of PW-19, the complainant. It is stated that the complainant PW-19 has already been examined.

9. Learned counsel for the applicant submits that the applicant has been falsely implicated in the present case. He further submits that the unsubstantiated allegations of demand of dowry in the present case were made against the entire family of the applicant and the father has already been granted bail by the Court of Sessio