Letters written by a husband to his wife before their marriage, expressing his love and affection for her and concern for her welfare, do not amount to cruelty within the meaning of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

V.K. Agrawal, J.

1. The accused/appellant stands convicted under Sections 498A of Indian Penal Code and has been sentenced to undergo R.I. for three years and to pay fine of Rs. 5,000/- (Rupees five thousand only) by judgment dated 23-9-1997 in Sessions Trial No. 59/94 by IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Satna.

2. Undisputably, deceased Usha was married to the appellant Nawal Kishore in the year 1985. 'Gauna' ceremony of deceased Usha took place in the year 1992, whereafter the deceased started residing with the appellant. She died on 27-11-1993.

3. The prosecution case stated in brief is that the accused/appellant demanded one tola of gold and Rs. 5,000/- to be given to him as dowry. Ravinandan Prasad Pandey (P.W.I) father of deceased Usha being a person of modest means was unable to fulfil the demand. The accused/appellant and his parents as well as brother and sister-in-law used to harass and torture the deceased. Deceased Usha committed suicide, as a result of cruelty meted out by the appellant and his family members. The report of incident (Ex.P-13) dt. 4-12-1993 was lodged in writing by the father of deceased Ravinandan Prasad Pandey (P.W.I). Offence was registered. Some letters written by accused/appellant were seized on being produced by Ravinandan Prasad Pandey (P.W.I). After concluding investigation, chargesheet was filed against the appellant as well as his parents Jagannath Prasad and Butabai.

4. The learned trial Court framed charge under Section 306 of Indian Penal Code against all the accused/persons. They abjured guilt. The defence of accused/appellant was that he never demanded any dowry and did not torture the deceased. He had advanced Rs. 10,000/- to his father-in-law Ravinandan Prasad Pandey (P.W.I). He had orally demanded that amount from him and also wrote letters in that regard to him. The deceased was ailing and was also having pregnancy of eight months, at the time of incident. She was being treated by Dr. Dharmesh Dwivedi (D.W.2). The deceased was being taken to the hospital for treatment but she died on the way.

5. The learned trial Court by the impugned judgment found that it is not proved from the evidence on record that deceased Usha committed suicide. It has also been held that there is no evidence that the deceased committed suicide or that she died otherwise than in normal circumstances. It was also held by the learned trial Court that there was no reliable evidence of cruelty against the accused/appellants Jagannath prasad and Butabai. Therefore, they were acquitted. The learned trial Court though acquitted the accused/appellant under Section 306 of Indian Penal Code for abetting his wife-the deceased Usha to commit suicide, however, mainly relying upon the letters (Ex.P-3) to (Ex.P-11) written by the accused/appellant held that the appellant mentally tortured and thus subjected the deceased to cruelty and he was held guilty for offence punishable under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code, and was accordingly convicted and sentenced as mentioned earlier.

6. Learned counsel for appellant has urged that it is not established that the accused/appellant harassed the deceased or subjected her to cruelty within the meaning of Section 498A of Indian Penal Code. It has been pointed out that the letter (Ex.P-1) was not written by the appellant. It has also been submitted that the letters (Ex.P-3 to Ex.P-11) were written by the appellant before the 'Gauna' ceremony of his wife, the deceased had taken place. It has also been contended that the said letters did not contain any material to give rise to an inference of mental torture to the deceased; much less of such a nature and gravity so as to drive the deceased to commit suicide. Learned counsel for respondent/State has however supported the conviction and sentence of the accused/appellant.

7. It may be noticed that the parents of deceased, Ravinandan Prasad Pandey (P.W.I) and Rajkumari (P.W.2) have given oral evidence regarding cruelty meted out by the