M. CHANDRASHEKAR v. STATE OF KARNATAKA — 1987 DIGILAW 295 (KAR)

KULKAMI, J. ( 1 ) THIS is an appeal by the accused against the judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 23rd June, 1987 passed by the additional Sessions Judge, Bangalore Rural district, Bangalore in S. C. 45/83 convicting the accused of the offence under Section 302 i. P. C. and sentencing him to undergo imprisonment for life. ( 2 ) THE material facts are as under: the deceased Parijatha was the daughter of complainant Narasimha Murthy- P. W. 1. She was married to the accused on 7-5-81. According to the prosecution, the accused had demanded dowry and the dowry was settled at Rs. 50,000/ -. Out of 50,000/-, Rs. 20,000/- was given to the accused prior to the marriage. The remaining Rs. 30,000/- was promised to be paid after the marriage. The accused was demanding the remaining part of the dowry. The accused started suspecting the fidelity of the deceased and sent her to the house of her parents. Parijatha had during her stay of 5 to 6 months with accused conceived and was pregnant. She delivered a female child, named later on as Reshma, in a Nursing home on 8-4-82. The accused, according to the prosecution, did not even go to the nursing Home to see the child. The accused did not take his wife to his house even after delivery of the child. He did not even attend the naming ceremony of the child. Later on at the intervention of close relatives, the deceased Parijatha and Reshma were sent to the house of the accused. While sending parijatha to the house of the accused, P. W. I claimed to have sold his two cows for Rs. 9,500/- to P. W. 4 and gave Rs. 10,000/- to the deceased Parijatha. According to the prosecution, the accused was not even satisfied with that. Thereafter the child rashma died on 8-4-83 under suspicious circumstances. According to the prosecution the accused did not even attend the burial ceremony of the child. The parents of parijatha and the parents of the accused and other relatives attended the burial. According to the prosecution, the complainant and his family members halted in the house of the accused on that night. At about 11 p. m. when Parijatha tried to sleep with her mother, the accused Chandrashekar forced her to go to his bed room. The parents of parijatha and the parents of the accused and other relatives attended the burial. According to the prosecution, the complainant and his family members halted in the house of the accused on that night. At about 11 p. m. when Parijatha tried to sleep with her mother, the accused Chandrashekar forced her to go to his bed room. According to the prosecution, Parijatha went to the accused's bed room. At about 4 a. m. in the morning the accused's mother called the accused as chandra, Chandra and at that time the accused came out of the room in a hurry, wearing only a banian and underwear. The accused is alleged to have gone out of the house. It is further alleged that accused's mother called the deceased by taking her name but did not get any response from the deceased. Then the mother of the accused went inside the bed room and found parijatha dead. It is further urged that the mother of the accused informed about the death of Parijatha to the parents of Parijatha. Then P. W. I sent intimation to Venkate gowda by phoning him up. That Venkate gowda is the chairman of the village. Thereafter P. W. I informed the police at about 11 a. m. on 9-4-83. The police came and the P. S. I. asked P. W. I to give a complaint. According to P. S. I, P. W. I told him that he would file a complaint a little while later. People had gathered outside the house of the accused. There was tense atmosphere. P. W. 19 advised the people who had gathered there to go. At about 1 p. m. the deceased's father filed the complaint Ex. P1. Some investigation was led into the case by regular police. Thereafter the investigation was handed over to the C. O. D. and the C. O. D. after the investigation lead a charge sheet against the accused for the offences under Section 302 regarding the alleged murder of Rashma and Parijatha and also' under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry prohibition Act. ( 3 ) AS required by Section 173 Cr. P. C. the copies of the police papers were supplied to the accused. ( 4 ) THE Magistrate committed the case to the Court of Sessions, Bangalore Rural district. ( 3 ) AS required by Section 173 Cr. P. C. the copies of the police papers were supplied to the accused. ( 4 ) THE Magistrate committed the case to the Court of Sessions, Bangalore Rural district. ( 5 ) THE Sessions Judge framed a charge for the offence under Section 302 regarding the murder of Rashma and also under Section 302 regarding the murder of Parijatha and also for the offences under Section 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. He read it out and explained it to the accused. The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed to be tried. ( 6 ) THE prosecution in support of its case examined P. ws. 1 to 22 and marked Exs. P1 to P 40 and marked M. Os 1 to 13 and closed its case. ( 7 ) THE accused claimed to be innocent. He did not lead any evidence on his behalf and he produced Es. D1 along with his statement. ( 8 ) THE Sessions Judge, on circumspection of the material, acquitted the accused of the offence regarding the alleged murder of rashma and acquitted the accused also in respect of the offences under the Dowry prohibition Act. However, he found the accused guilty of the offence of murder of the deceased Parijatha and convicted him for the said offence and proceeded to impose the sentence of imprisonment for life on the accused. ( 9 ) THE accused, being aggrieved by the said order of conviction and sentence, has come up with the appeal. ( 10 ) IT is undisputed that the deceased parijatha was the daughter of P. W. I. It is undisputed that the marriage negotiations relating to the marriage of the deceased with the accused took place some few days prior to the celebration of the marriage. It is also undisputed that the deceased Parijatha was married to the accused on 7-5-81. It is also undisputed that the deceased after marriage went and stayed with the accused for 4 to 6 months. It is also undisputed that during this period she conceived and became pregnant. It is also undisputed that Parijatha, who had become pregnant, was taken by the parents of the accused and she ultimately delivered a female child named subsequently as Rashma. It is also undisputed that the child is no longer alive now. It is also undisputed that during this period she conceived and became pregnant. It is also undisputed that Parijatha, who had become pregnant, was taken by the parents of the accused and she ultimately delivered a female child named subsequently as Rashma. It is also undisputed that the child is no longer alive now. It is also undisputed that rashma died on 8-4-1983. ( 11 ) THE oral evidence of C. Narasimhamurthy p. W. I, T. K. Muniyappa- P. W. 2, munianjappa-P. W. 3 and Puttanarasappap. W. 4 shows that the relations between the accused and the deceased had become strained. According to the prosecution, the reason for the strained relationship between the accused and the deceased was that p. W. I, though he had promised to pay a dowry of Rs. 50,000/-, had paid only rs. 20,000/- before marriage and was avoiding to pay the remaining amount as required by the accused. It is further alleged by the prosecution that the accused started suspecting the fidelity of his wife and started saying that the child was born not to him but to somebody else. Thus the prosecution alleged that on account of these incidents, the relations between the deceased and the accused were strained. ( 12 ) P. W. 1 has stated in his evidence as ex. P2 is a letter written by the deceased as well as the accused, in two parts. Ex. P2 (b) is the part written by the accused. This portion goes to show that the accused somehow or the other entertained a feeling that he was deceived by his father-in-law. The letter Ex. P4 which does not bear any date goes to show that the deceased was being told by the accused that she became pregnant through some one else. Ex. P1, the complaint is also to the same effect. Ex. Dl also gives an indication that the accused was suspecting the character or fidelity of the deceased. Thus, it becomes clear that the relations between the accused and the deceased were strained a few months before the incident and were not at all cordial. ( 13 ) SRI. Ex. P1, the complaint is also to the same effect. Ex. Dl also gives an indication that the accused was suspecting the character or fidelity of the deceased. Thus, it becomes clear that the relations between the accused and the deceased were strained a few months before the incident and were not at all cordial. ( 13 ) SRI. Narasimhamurthy P. W. 1 stated that on 8-4-83 the child Rashma died in the house of the accused and that on getting the information about the death of Rashma, he along with his wife and other relatives came to the house of the accused in the afternoon. He claims to have found that the body of the child had become pale and he claims to have suspected that the child had died an unnatural death. He stated that he did not lodge a complaint regarding it as he thought that the lodging of the compliant would affect the future life of his daughter parijatha. he stated that the accused did not attend the burial ceremony of the child. He stated that after burying the child he and his wife along with some relatives came to the house of the accused and stayed there for the night. According to him, the deceased Parijatha wanted to sleep with her own mother outside in the verandah but she was taken by the accused to the bed room and that at about 4 a. m. the mother of the accused called out the accused by taking his name as 'chandra' 'chandra' and that the accused went out of the room wearing a banian and underwear. and the mother of the accused went inside the room and called out the deceased. According to him, the accused's mother found parijatha dead. According to him, he also went inside and found that Parijatha was lying dead on the bed. He says he found three types of tablets, one glass and a spoon. They were all beside the bed itself. Later on he contacted the police at Devanahalli Taluk on phone and thereafter the police came and the CPI also came and thereafter he lodged the complaint. According to him before phoning the police he had phoned to venkate Gowda and informed him about the incident. They were all beside the bed itself. Later on he contacted the police at Devanahalli Taluk on phone and thereafter the police came and the CPI also came and thereafter he lodged the complaint. According to him before phoning the police he had phoned to venkate Gowda and informed him about the incident. He has stated at the fag end of his deposition as: this admission of his would clearly go to show that he was not at all in the house of the accused when Rashmi is alleged to have died and also at night when Parijatha is said to have died in the house of the accused. Further the i. O. Abdul Majid P. W. 20 has stated as: ( 14 ) SRI. B. R. Nanjundiah, learned Public prosecutor, submitted that this piece of evidence was inadmissible in evidence. According to Mr. Devaraj, as the witnesses who had been cited as necessary witnesses in the charge sheet, had not been examined he had to put that question to the Investigation officer. Therefore it cannot be said that this evidence spoken to by P. W. 20 is inadmissible in evidence. Thus if the evidence of p. W. 1, referred to above, is read along with this evidence of P. W. 20, it only follows that p. W. 1 was not at all in the house of the accused on the night of 9-4-83, and was sleeping in the house of someone else at the most. Therefore the evidence of P. W. 1 that the deceased Parijatha wanted to sleep with her mother in the verandah and the accused took her to the bed room at about 11 a. m. and that at 4 a. m. the mother of the accused went near the bed room and called out the accused by taking his name 'chandra' 'chandra' and that accused came out wearing a banian and underwear and went away and that accused's mother went inside and found that Parijatha was dead and ultimately she told him and his wife about the death of parijatha, cannot be easily believed at all. This amounts, at the most to hear say piece of evidence. The mother of the accused who told P. W. 1 about the death of Parijatha has not been examined. This amounts, at the most to hear say piece of evidence. The mother of the accused who told P. W. 1 about the death of Parijatha has not been examined. His evidence that the mother of the accused told him, cannot be accepted at all because he was not at all present there. There is no material to show that the accused was in his own house on that night. Even according to P. W. 1, his wife and other relatives were sleeping in the house of the accused on that night. P. W. l's wife and other relatives who were sleeping in the house of the accused, have not been examined at all. No explanation much less plausible, for the non-examination of the wife of P. W. 1 and other relatives had been tendered by the prosecution. Therefore, their non- examination demands of this court to draw an adverse inference that had they been examined they would have clearly told that P. W. 1 was not at all in the house of the accused, and that the incidents such as the mother of the accused calling out the accused by taking his name and he walking away with his banian and underwear and then her calling Parijatha and entering the bed- room and finding her dead and later informing P. W. 1 and his wife and they going inside the bed room and finding her daughter dead, as spoken to by P. W. 1 did not in fact take place. Therefore, the evidence of P. W. I in this connection is highly incredible, untrustworthy, discrepant and unreliable. P. W. I has clearly stated in his evidence that when he phoned up Venkate gowda to inform him about the death of parijatha, he did not inform him the circumstances under which Parijatha was found dead. Therefore, this is an additional circumstance to show positively that he was not at all in the house of the accused on the night of the offence. (Had he been present there on the night of the offence he would not have failed to inform Venkate Gowda that parijatha had died of poisoning. ( 15 ) ACCORDING to the prosecution, some tablets known as 'quick phos' and some poisonous powder and one glass with spoon were found by the bed side of Parijatha. (Had he been present there on the night of the offence he would not have failed to inform Venkate Gowda that parijatha had died of poisoning. ( 15 ) ACCORDING to the prosecution, some tablets known as 'quick phos' and some poisonous powder and one glass with spoon were found by the bed side of Parijatha. If the accused really wanted to administer those tablets and poisonous powder to the deceased, he would not have ventured to keep those on tablets and create evidence against himself. The prosecution sought to examine P. W. 8- Ananda Kumar, the owner of the shop, in its attempt to show that the accused had purchased the said bottles and poisonous powder from P. W. 8. P. W. 8 has stabbed the prosecution at its back. This attempt by the prosecution to show that the accused had purchased the said tablets and powder from P. W. 8, has failed miserably. ( 16 ) IF the'mother of the accused had really entered the bed room and found deceased lying dead, as spoken to P. W. 1, she would not have failed to observe the tablets, glass and spoon beside the bed of Parijatha and if she had noticed them she would not have failed to inform P. W. 1 about it while she informed him that she found Parijatha dead. This also would go to confirm our conclusion that P. W. 1 was not at all in the house of the accused at about 1 or 4 a. m. on 9-4-83. ( 17 ) EVEN according to P. W. 1 and other witnesses, the accused was having grudge against the deceased's father - P. W. 1, because of non-payment of entire dowry amount as promised by P. W. 1. According to the prosecution and the version of P. W. 1, the accused had started suspecting the fidelity of his wife and had even gone to the extent of suspecting that the child, Rashma was not born to him at all and deceased had become pregnant through some illicit connection. Letters Exs. P2, P3, P4, P5 and Ex d1 would also go to show that the accused was entertaining doubts about the fidelity of his wife whether they are well-founded or not. As can be seen from the material the deceased belonged to a family of landed gentry. Letters Exs. P2, P3, P4, P5 and Ex d1 would also go to show that the accused was entertaining doubts about the fidelity of his wife whether they are well-founded or not. As can be seen from the material the deceased belonged to a family of landed gentry. The accused also belonged to a family of landed gentry. Parijatha has studied upto S. S. L. C. She was about 20 years old when she died. When the accused unnecessarily started suspecting the fidelity of the deceased and even went to the extent of imputing that she had become pregnant by illicit connection, it is but natural that parijatha who comes from well-to-do and respectable family became dejected and disappointed in life. When a husband suspect the fidelity of his own wife, particularly so when the wife happens to be a chaste woman, it is bound to cause dejection in life and depression of mind to be a chaste Ex. D1, as admitted by P. W. 1, is in the hand-writing of the deceased. We would like to reproduce the entire letter (Ex. D1) as it throws a good deal of light over the matter. It read: this letter is a clear indication that the deceased wanted to prove to her husband that she was a chaste woman and that the suspicions entertained by her husband about her fidelity were absolutely unfounded. In a way she wanted to punish her husband by her own death. Whether she was justified in doing so or not, is not a matter which is under consideration at this stage. But, true to Indian Culture, she wanted to reveal to her husband that she was a chaste woman and having failed to dispel his suspicions through other means, chose death as the ultimate means. Why an Indian woman should behave in this fashion needs no explanation. Instances are not lacking in our country where women have committed suicide only to prove to the world or their husbands that they are of clean character. It is possible that the deceased belongs to that class of women in our country. The sentence, in Ex. D1 goes to show that she was deeply disappointed and distressed on account of the unfounded allegations of infidelity levelled against her by her husband. It is possible that the deceased belongs to that class of women in our country. The sentence, in Ex. D1 goes to show that she was deeply disappointed and distressed on account of the unfounded allegations of infidelity levelled against her by her husband. Not only that she further clearly states in her letter that she wants to leave this world on her own accord and that nobody is responsible for it. Not only that she even stated that her death would cause immense sorrow to the parents of the accused them- selves. This would go to show that with what great affection and love she was held by the parents of the accused. ( 18 ) THEREFORE, the contents of Ex. D1 leave no room for doubt that the deceased was highly depressed, disenchanted and dissatisfied with the conduct of the accused. Learned Public Prosecutor Sri. B. R. Nanjundiah submitted that Ex. Dl seems to have been written to the dictate of the accused, it is definitely the following would not have found a place in the letter. Therefore, the said argument of Sri. B. R. Nanjundiah only merits to be rejected. ( 19 ) LEARNED Public Prosecutor urged that (Ex. D1) the said letter does not come within the ambit of Section 32 of the Indian evidence Act. It is not only Section 32 that would be applicable to the facts of the case. Section 11 of the Indian Evidence Act is also applicable. It reads:"11. Facts not otherwise relevant are relevant (1)if they are inconsistent with any fact in issue or relevant fact; (2) if by themselves or in connection with other facts they make the existence or non-existence of any fact in issue or relevant fact highly probable or improbable. "the fact in issue in this case is the administration of poison by the accused to parijatha, the deceased. Ex. Dl which is available on record makes the fact in issue, i. e. the accused poisoning the deceased, highly improbable and thus it is relevant and hence it is admissible in evidence. The supreme Court also in SHARAD v STATE of MAHARASTRA, A. I. R 1984 , S. C. 1622 held that such a letter is admissible in evidence. Therefore, the said argument of sri. Nanjundiah, learned Public Prosecutor, that Ex. Dl is in admissible in evidence, is rejected. The supreme Court also in SHARAD v STATE of MAHARASTRA, A. I. R 1984 , S. C. 1622 held that such a letter is admissible in evidence. Therefore, the said argument of sri. Nanjundiah, learned Public Prosecutor, that Ex. Dl is in admissible in evidence, is rejected. ( 20 ) IT has been clearly held in SHARAD v STATE OF MAHARASTRA, AIR 1984, s. C. 1622 as: "40. Thus, from the recitals in the letters we can safely hold that there was a clear possibility and a tendency on her part to commit suicide due to desperation and frustration. She seems to be tired of her married life, but she still hoped against hope that things might improve. At any rate, the fact that she may have committed suicide cannot be safely excluded or eliminated. It may be that her husband may have murdered her but when two views are reasonably possible the benefit must go to the accused. In order to buttress our opinion, we would h'ke to cite some passages of an eminent psychiatrist, Robert J. Kastenbaum where in his book 'death, Society and Human experience' he analyses the causes, the circumstances, the moods and emotions which may drive a person to commit suicide. The learned author has written that a person who is psychotic in nature and suffers from depression and frustration is more prone to commit suicide than any other person. In support of our view, we extract certain passages from his book: the fact is that some people who commit suicide can be classified as psychotic or severely disturbed. If we are concerned with the probability of suicide in very large population, then mental and emotional disorder is a relevant variable to consider. And it is only through a gross distortion of the actual circumstances that one could claim all suicides are enacted in a spell of madness. Seen in these terms, suicide is simply one of the ways in which a relatively weak member of society loses out in the jungle like struggle. The individual does not destroy himself in hope of thereby achieving a noble post-mortem reputation or a place among the eternally blessed. Instead he wishes to subtract himself from a life whose quality seems a worse evil than death. The individual does not destroy himself in hope of thereby achieving a noble post-mortem reputation or a place among the eternally blessed. Instead he wishes to subtract himself from a life whose quality seems a worse evil than death. The newly awakened spirit of hope and progress soon became shadowed by a sense of disappointment and resignation that, it sometimes seemed, only death could swallow. Revenge fantasies and their association with suicide are well known to people who give ear to those in emotional distress. People who attempt suicide for reasons other than revenge may also act on the assumption that, in a sense, they will survive the death to benefit by its effect. The victim of suicide may also be the victim of self-expectations that have not been fulfilled. The sense of disappointment and frustration may have much in common with that experienced by the person who seeks revenge through suicide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . However, for some people a critical moment arrives when the discrepancy is experienced as too glaring the painful to be tolerated. If something has to go it may be the person himself, not the perhaps excessively high standard by which the judgment has been made. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warren Breed and his colleagues found that a sense of failure is prominent among many people who take their own lives. " as already indicated above by us, Parijatha was much frustrated, depressed and agonised and was driven to extreme desperation and soon became shadowed by a sense of disappointment and resignation that only death could swallow. Therefore as a self-respecting lady accustomed to Indian culture, she wished to subtract herself from the life whose quality seemed a worse evil than death. ( 21 ) SUPREME Court has further said in para 43 as: "such persons possess a peculiar psychology which instils extreme love and devotion but when they are faced with disappointment or find their environment unhealthy or unhappy, they seem to loose all the charms of life. The authors while describing these sentiments observe thus: 'hopelessness', '. despair', 'lousy' and 'miserable' draw attention to the relationship of the depressed person to his environment. The authors while describing these sentiments observe thus: 'hopelessness', '. despair', 'lousy' and 'miserable' draw attention to the relationship of the depressed person to his environment. The articulate depressed person will often also struggle to put into words the facts that not only does there appear to be no way forward and thus no point to life - but that the world actually looks different. " in para 44 of the said decision, the Supreme court extracted the following portion from coleridges's 'ode to Dejection':"i see them all so excellently fair i see, not feel, how beautiful they are. " in para 45 we find the conclusion arrived at by authors Hinchliffe Hooper and John that ruptured personal relationships play a major part in the clinical picture and in this connection they observed as: "initially we applied these ideas to study of cases of attempted suicide and although we did not assume that they were all necessarily depressed, we looked for distal and proximal causes for their behaviour and found that reptured personal relationships played a major part in clinical picture. "we would also like to refer to para 91 of the said decision which reads as:"putting all these pieces together a general picture of the whole episode that emerges is that there is a reasonable possibility of Manju having made up her mind to end her life either due to frustration or desperation or to take a revenge on her husband for shattering her dream and ill-treating her day in day out. "we would also like to refer to the observation made in paragraph 92 which reads as:"apart from the spirit of revenge which may have been working in the mind of manju, it seems to us that what may have happened is that the sum total and the cumulative effect of the circumstances may have instilled in her an aggressive impulse engendered by frustration of which there is ample evidence both in her letters and her subsequent conduct. In encyclopedia of crime and Justice (Vol. 4) by Sanford H. Kadish the author mentions thus: other psychologically oriented theories have viewed suicide as a means of handling aggressive impulses engendered by frustration. In encyclopedia of crime and Justice (Vol. 4) by Sanford H. Kadish the author mentions thus: other psychologically oriented theories have viewed suicide as a means of handling aggressive impulses engendered by frustration. "we would also like to refer paragraph 93 which reads: "another inference that follows from the evidence of the witness discussed is that the constant fact of wailing and weeping is one of the important symptoms of an intention to commit suicide as mentioned by George W. Brown and tirril Harris in their book 'social Origins of Depression' thus:"i. Symptom data depressed mood 1. crying. 2. feeling miserable/looking miserable, unable to smile or laugh. 3. feelings of hopelessness about the future 4. suicidal thoughts 5. suicidal attempts. Fears/anxity/ worry 15. Psychosomatic accompaniments 16. tenseness/anxiety 17. specific worry 18. panic attacks 19. phobias thinking. 20. feelings of self depreciation/ nihilistic delusions. 21. delusions or ideas of reverence 22. delusions of persecution/ jealousy. 23. delusions of grandeur. 24. delusions of control/influence. 25. other delusions e. g. hypochon- driacal worry 26. auditory hallucinations. 27. visual hallucinations. These above circumstances narrated by us would go to show that the deceased Parijatha had become depressed and frustrated, and so thinking that her life in this world had become miserable and that there was no point for her living in this wicked world, she might have thought it fit to leave this world once for all. ( 22 ) WE would also like to refer to paragraph 123 of the said decision. It reads:"taking an overall picture on this part of the prosecution case the position seems to be as follows: (1) If the accused wanted to give poison while Manju was wide awake, she would have put up stiffest possible resistance as any other person in her position would have done. Dr. Banerjee in his post-mortem report has not found any mark of violence or resistance. Even if she was overpowered by the appellant she would have shouted and cried and attracted persons from the neighbouring flats which would have been a great risk having regard to the fact that some of the inmates of the house had come only a short-while before the appellant. (2) Another possibility which cannot be ruled out is that potassium cvanide may have been given to Manju in a glass of water, if she happened to ask for it. (2) Another possibility which cannot be ruled out is that potassium cvanide may have been given to Manju in a glass of water, if she happened to ask for it. But if this was so, she being a chemist herself would have at once suspected some foul play and once her suspicion would have arisen it would be very difficult for the appellant to murder her. (3) The third possibility is that as manju had returned pretty late to the flat she went to sleep even before the arrival of the appellant and then he must have tried to forcibly administer the poison by the process of mechanical suffocation, in which case alone the deceased could not have been in a position to offer any resistance. But this opinion of the Doctor has not been accepted by the High court which, after a very elaborate consideration and discussion of the evidence, the circumstances and the medical authorities, found that the opinion of the doctor that Manju died by mechanical suffocation has not been proved or, at any rate, it is not safe to rely on such evidence. In this connection we might refer to the finding of falt arrived at by the High Court on this point: "in view of the above position as is available from the evidence of Dr. Banerjee and from the observations made by the medical authorities it will not be possible to say that the existence of the dark red blood in the right ventricle exclusively points out the mechanical suffocation particularly when such phenomenon is available in cases of poisoning by potassium cyanide. ""in view of this answer it will not be possible to say conclusively that this particular symptom of observation is exclusively available in case of mechanical suffocation. Thus we have discussed all the seven items on which Dr. Banerjee has relied for the purpose of giving an opinion that there was mechanical suffocation. In our view, therefore, those 7 findings would not constitute conclusive data for the purpose of holding that there was mechanical suffocation. As the 7 findings mentioned above can be available even in the case of cyanide poisoning, we think that it would not be safe to rely upon these circumstances for recording an affirmative finding that there was mechanical suffocation. As the 7 findings mentioned above can be available even in the case of cyanide poisoning, we think that it would not be safe to rely upon these circumstances for recording an affirmative finding that there was mechanical suffocation. As the 7 findings mentioned above can be available even in the case of cyanide poisoning we think that it would not be safe to rely upon these circumstances for recording an affirmative finding that there was mechanical suffocation. "in paragraph 124, the Supreme Court has stated as:"it is not necessary for us to repeat the circumstances relied upon by the High court because the finding of fact speaks for itself. This being the position, the possibility of mechanical suffocation is completely excluded. (4) The other possibility that may be thought of is that Manju died a natural death. This also is eliminated in view of the report of the Chemical Examiner as confirmed by the post-mortem that the deceased had died as a result of administration of potassium cyanide. (5) The only other reasonable possibility that remains is that as the deceased was fed up with the maltreatement by her husband, in a combined spirit of revenge and hostility after entering the flat she herself took pottasium cyanide and lay limp and lifeless. When the appellant entered the room he must have thought that as she was sleeping she need not be disturbed but when he found that there was no movement in the body after an hour or so, his suspicion was roused and therefore he called his brother from the adjacent flat to send for Dr. Lodha. We would like to refer to paragraph 164 of the said decision which reads as: "so far as this matter is concerned, in such cases the Court must carefully scan the evidence and determine the four important circumstances which alone can justify a conviction: (1) there is a clear motive for an accused to administer poison to the deceased. (2) that the deceased died of poison said to have been administered. (3) that the accused had the poison in his possession. (4) that he had an opportunity to administer the poison to the deceased. (2) that the deceased died of poison said to have been administered. (3) that the accused had the poison in his possession. (4) that he had an opportunity to administer the poison to the deceased. " ( 23 ) SO far as the motive aspects is concerned, we have already held that the relationship between the deceased and accused was strained and the conduct of the accused had driven her to frustration and desperation. That she died on account of aluminium Phosphite is proved beyond doubt by the evidence of Dr. P. W. 14-Shenoy and the Chemical Examiner's evidence (P. W. 17) and his report Ex. P31. That the deceased died on account of the said poison is proved beyond doubt and is not disputed before us at all. While discussing the evidence we have shown above that the attempt of the prosecution to show that the accused had purchased the poison from P. W. 8 has failed miserably. The prosecution has not proved that the accused was in possession or that there was the possibility of his being in possession of the person on the date of incident. The evidence adduced by the prosecution that the accused entered the bed room along with the deceased Parijatha, is not only not proved but it is highly discrepent and impossible to be acted upon. Therefore, he had no opportunity at all to administer the poison to the deceased. The letters Exs. P1 to P. 5 and Ex. D1 go to show that the deceased had become frustrated and emotionally depressed and she wanted to get away from this world in order to prove that she was chaste and to indicate that the allegation of her husband to the contrary was unjust and absolutely unfounded. The remaining tablets of 'quick paus'. poisonous powder and the glass were found by the bed side of Parijatha herself in the bed room. As already indicated above, there is no material to show that the accused had purchased those tablets or poisonous powder. There is no satisfactory evidence to show that the accused was in the bed room on that night. Therefore, viewed from this angle along with the circumstances that the deceased was in a depressed and frustrated state of mind, the deceased in all probability had committed suicide by taking the poison herself. There is no satisfactory evidence to show that the accused was in the bed room on that night. Therefore, viewed from this angle along with the circumstances that the deceased was in a depressed and frustrated state of mind, the deceased in all probability had committed suicide by taking the poison herself. ( 24 ) THUS, in the result, the prosecution in our opinion, has miserably failed to establish by satisfactory, cogent and reliable evidence beyond a pale of doubt that it is the accused and accused alone that administered the poison in question to the deceased and brought about her death. ( 25 ) THEREFORE the order of conviction and sentence imposed on the accused by the court-below is set aside and the appeal is allowed. The accused is acquitted of the offence of murder of Parijatha. He is ordered to be set at liberty forthwith. The order of disposal of the petition passed by the court-below holds good. Appeal allowed --- *** --- .