ORAL JUDGMENT

This is a successive bail application preferred by the applicant for regular bail under Section 439 CrPC in connection with I-C.R No. 98 of 2012 registered with Amraiwadi Police Station, Ahmedabad for the offences punishable under sections 498 (A), 306, 114 IPC read with Sections 3 & 7 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

2. Brief facts, necessary for determining the controversy, are as follow :-

2.1 Marriage of the deceased-Rekha was solemnized with the applicant- Vishal on 28th January 2008 in accordance with the customs and rituals. Due to persistent demand of dowry by the parents of the present applicant and the applicant himself allegedly physical and mental harassment appears to have been perpetrated, as a result of which, she chose to hang herself on 20th May

2012, resulting into her death.

2.2 A complaint in this regard came to be filed by the mother of the deceased viz., Vidyadevi Brijmohan Sharma with Amraivadi Police Station for the aforementioned offences on 22nd May 2012. The applicant-accused was arrested on 7th July 2012 and on due investigation, chargesheet came to be filed on 3rd August 2012. Regular bail application, moved before the Sessions Court by the petitioner herein, being Criminal Misc. Application No. 3511 of 2012, prior to filing of the chargesheet, came to be rejected on 25th July 2012. And therefore, applicant preferred regular bail application before this Court, being Criminal Misc. Application No. 14939 of 2012. Such application came to be withdrawn on 30th October 2012. However, the applicant was permitted to prefer a fresh application on expiry of six months period, if the trial does not proceed substantially by then, therefore, this application of successive bail.

2.3 Learned advocate Mr. Modi appearing for the applicant has urged that the parents of the present applicant have been alleged of perpetrating cruelty, on account of demand of dowry, however, they both have been given anticipatory bail by the Court. He further urged that in absence of any direct or indirect connection of the present applicant with the crime in question, he is required to be granted regular bail. He further urged that at the time and place of incident, the applicant was not present, and he has been falsely implicated and unless a proximate cause is provided for the committal of the suicide, the applicant cannot be charged of abating commission of the suicide. He further urged that soon before the incident in question, wife had requested for food from-outside and instead of brining the food of her choice, the applicant had brought popular snacks of the State viz., “Fafra” & “Jalabi” and that possibly has irked her, resulting into her taking the extreme step. He further urged that before the Court at Aligadh [State of Gujarat], the report submitted by the police is indicative of the fact that the deceased was not inclined to stay with her husband and she refused to join her matrimonial home. It is also urged that the contents of the complaint are contrary to the documentary evidence in as much as post-morten report does not indicate anywhere marks of external injuries on the person of the deceased, although, it had been emphasized in the complaint that she was severely beaten up by the applicant and her in-laws, before her commission of suicide. He also urged that a daughter is begotten out of her wedlock and she is now required to be looked-after by the present applicant.

2.4 Apart from the merit of this case, a major emphasis on the part of the learned advocate urging for the prayer of bail is to allow this on account of non-committal of the case by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate to the Court of Session. He urged that despite specific provisions made in the Criminal Manual for such committal proceedings to be over sooner as possible, one finds that in the instant case, though the chargesheet had been laid on 3rd August 2012, till the date, committal proceedings are not done. He also further urged that there