The court found insufficient evidence to convict the husband under Section 498A for cruelty, emphasizing that the suicide note alone did not establish the required legal threshold.

JUDGMENT :

ILESH J. VORA, J.

1. The present appeal is filed by the appellant – original accused nos. 1 under Section 374 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (‘Cr.P.C.’, in short) against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 30.07.2013 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Bharuch in Sessions Case no. 8 of 2012, wherein, the appellant alongwith other co-accused came to be tried for offences punishable under Sections 304B, 306 and 498A read with Section 114 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (old) (' IPC ', for short) and Sections 3 and 6 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The trial Court, after appreciation of the evidence, convicted the appellant under Section 498A of IPC and he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and fine of Rs.2500/-, in default simple imprisonment for four months.

2. The case of the prosecution leading to file this conviction appeal is as follows :

2.1 The marriage of appellant – husband and deceased Vaishali wife was solemnized on 09.12.2004 as per Hindu rites and rituals. The wife was residing in a joint family consisting of, father in law, mother in law, brother in law and divorcee sister in law. Out of the said wedlock, the baby girl named Avisha was born.

2.2 After the birth of the child, the matrimonial dispute arose, mainly on the ground that, the husband and her in-laws demanded additional dowry in the form of ornaments and cash to be brought from the parental home of the wife. The father of the wife tried to satisfy the demand of the appellant accused and in-laws but unfortunately, he died in the year 2007. The economic condition of the parental home was not so good. After the death of the father, the wife was subjected to cruelty by the appellant and her in-laws as, the family of the wife could not fulfill the demand of additional dowry. She was also subjected to harassment on the daily household works. She used to inform about the harassment to her mother PW-6. She was tired with the said matrimonial dispute and constant demand of dowry and she was in distress and under depression. On 29.06.2011, the wife of the appellant called her brother PW-21 and informed him about the harassment meted out to her by the accused. However, the brother assured her that he will inform the mother and make a plan to meet her personally. On 30.06.2011, the PW-5 brother Yogeshbhai received a call from the PW-11, who was employee of the Bharuch Railway Department and he conveyed that, the dead body of Vaishali – wife of the appellant, is lying on the railway track. The appellant accused after getting the information, went to the place and took the dead body of deceased Vaishali to the nearest hospital, where she declared brought dead.

2.3 PW-1 – Kamlesh Parmar, being a brother of the deceased Vaishali, lodged an FIR for the alleged suicide committed by her sister, wherein, he alleged the demand of additional dowry and physical and mental harassment caused by the appellant accused to her sister and same was registered as I-C.R.No.119 of 2011 for the offences punishable under Sections 306, 304(B), 498(A), read with Section 114 of theIPC and Sections 3 and 6 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

2.4 Pursuant to the aforesaid FIR, PW-43 was entrusted the investigation of the case. During the investigation, the suicide note allegedly written by the deceased recovered from PW-11, who had found the said suicide note from the body of the deceased. The similar suicide note also found by the PM doctor – PW-14 and same was seized in the presence of independent panchas. The appellant accused and the in-laws of the deceased were arrested. The IO PW-17 had recorded the statement of the witnesses and seized the notebook maintained by deceased Vaishali for comparing her natural handwriting with the suicide notes and same had been sent for its examination by handwriting expert. The IO collected the report, which confirmed that, the handwriting of the suicide note was of deceased Vaishali.

3. At the end of in