JUDGMENT K. Narayan, J. - Sarnam and Ram Dass father and son were found guilty of the offence under section 302, I.P.C. read with section 34, I.P.C. and sentenced to life imprisonment by order, dated 26.9.78, passed by 4th Additional Sessions Judge, Etah, in S.T. No. 485 of 1977. Other accused in the case, namely, Smt. Draupadi, Natthoo Singh and Ram Dass were acquitted. Sarnam has already died during the pendency of the appeal and in so far as it relates to him it has abated, Smt. Narang Shree, daughter of Sri Mahendra Singh, deceased in the case was married to one Ramesh, another son of Sarnam. After the marriage Ramesh got an employment with Army. and had to live there. Smt. Narang Shree had been married for about two years. The allegations in respect of the charges as set out in the first information report, dated 25.3.77, lodged by Kitab Singh, resident of village Belamai were that in the evening of 24.3.77, around 3.00 p.m. Ram Dass sprinkled kerosene oil over Smt. Narang Shree and set her to fire in a room. In the same evening the body of said Narang Shree was put on the pyre, When Data Rain and Ran Singh came to Kitab Singh and conveyed the above said, facts. By the time they could reach back, the body had been reduced to ashes except for a bundle of flesh, which was got taken out and left under the watch of people at the, spot. Since there was some threat on the part of Ram Dass and others, he could come to lodge the F.I.R. only in the morning. The report also conveyed that Ram Dass desired to dishonour Smt. Narang Shree and she had gone to her parents house for that reason and had come back only a month and half before. 2. The report was lodged at 11.15 on 25.3.77 as usual the Investigating Officer went to the spot and made an inquest upon the part of the body said to have been taken out of the fire, which was sent for post mortem examination. The post mortem examination which was conducted by P.W. Dr. R.S. Gupta is not of much value as nothing more than the observation that it was a burnt piece of human body could be concluded. Even the sex could not be ascertained. 3. The post mortem examination which was conducted by P.W. Dr. R.S. Gupta is not of much value as nothing more than the observation that it was a burnt piece of human body could be concluded. Even the sex could not be ascertained. 3. During the investigation, it was worked out that in the evening of 29.3.77, Smt. Narang Shree had come out of the house, while her clothes were at fire or atleast in splinters. At that time according to the prosecution story Munshi Lal P.W. 2, Data Ram P.W. 3 and Ran Singh P.W. 4 were sitting at the house of Munshi Lal. Smt. Narang Shree according to these persons during the investigation cried for water, but was pushed back inside the house by Ram Dass and Sarnam, while other ladies of the family kept watching. Since Sarnam threatened these witnesses with dire consequences, they did not interfere at that time. 4. With the above basis the trial proceeded and charges were framed as already said above. Only two accused appellants were found guilty and others were acquitted by the trial court. The prosecution had examined eight witnesses in all to bring home the charge against the accused/ appellants. Out of these P.W. 1 Dr. R.S. Gupta had conducted the post mortem examination, which is not of much value as a piece of evidence against the accused persons. P.W. 7 Sukh Pal Singh was sub-inspector of police and had investigated the case. P.W. 8, constable Ram Kishore had prepared check F.I.R. on the basis of the first information report referred to above. His evidence was formal in nature. The evidence of P.W. 6 Kitab Singh who lodged the first information report was also of formal nature and his statement about the material facts was riot founded on his personal knowledge. He had put in the first information report what was told to him by-Data Ram and that part of evidence was inadmissible being hearsay. The statement that he has seen a burning pyre in user would not in any way connect the accused with the offence, nor establish any offence itself. However, his statement that he alongwith Data Ram and Ran Singh kept the said bundle of flesh till morning and did not go to the police station on account of fear is riot in consonance with the several factors which we shall consider below. However, his statement that he alongwith Data Ram and Ran Singh kept the said bundle of flesh till morning and did not go to the police station on account of fear is riot in consonance with the several factors which we shall consider below. The part of his statement that Smt. Narang Shree had gone to her parent's house because of ill-treatment and indecent behaviour of Ram Dass could neither be in his personal knowledge, nor could he bear evidence about it. One thing is certain that Kitab Singh holds influence in his village and has a party with other witnesses, while Sarnam and Ram Dass are inimical to him, atleast had proceedings under section 107, Cr.P.C. with him. 5. The statement of P.W. 2, Munshi Lal P.W. 3 Data Ram and P.W. 4 Charan Singh were accepted to connect the accused with crime. However, P.W. 2 Munshi Lal did not state on oath what he had possibly if at all told the Investigating Officer, with the result that he was declared hostile and with the leave of the court questions justified in cross-examination only were put to him. This does not do away with his evidence and the court is duty bound to examine his testimony with care and caution, more in extent then as usual in respect of person who had taken oath and was presumed only to state the truth. His statement has been to the extent that he came back from his fields where he had gone for weeding on hearing the alarm raised in the village and saw that wife of Ramesh was standing burning out of her house i.e. house of Sarnam, where she was living. He also stated that she was asking for water and thereafter Sarnam took her to Sakeet for treatment. This has never been the case before and if she was taken to Sakeet for treatment, the entire theory of the prosecution would fall to the grounds. He has denied the suggestion based upon his statement under section 161, Cr.P.C. that he was sitting at his house with his witnesses, namely, Data Ram and Ran Singh, when Smt. Narang Shree came out of her house. The cross-examination on behalf of the accused was directed to show the enmity between him and the accused persons and it has been too well made out. The cross-examination on behalf of the accused was directed to show the enmity between him and the accused persons and it has been too well made out. It was also shown in his cross-examination that there is a distance of two furlongs between abadi of Belamai and Nandpur. It may be mentioned here that though Belamai and Nandpur are mentioned as one, according to this statement the two Abadis are different though it may be that they are the hamlets of the same village. In the site plan prepared by the Investigating Officer, Belamai is the area wherein the body of Smt. Narang Shree and the Pyre was. The house of Sarnam and Ram Dass is also shown to be in village Belamai, while village Nandpur is shown to be about a kilometer towards the east from the pyre. The above said three witness Munshi Lal, Data Ram and Ran Singh are residents of village Nandpur. Wherever they may be living, we are concerned with the house of Munshi as that is the place, where the witnesses are said to have been present, when according to the prosecution Smt. Narang Shree came out in splinters. A perusal of their statement shows that the house of Munshi Lal cannot be any where in the neighbourhood of the house of Sarnam and all efforts to locate the same with the distances mentioned in the statement of these witnesses, failed during the arguments. 6. The fact that according to Munshi Lal, he was not present at the house and had come from the field on hearing the cries, denies the statement of Data Ram and Ran Singh that they were sitting at the house of Munshi Lal at the time of the occurrence. 6. The fact that according to Munshi Lal, he was not present at the house and had come from the field on hearing the cries, denies the statement of Data Ram and Ran Singh that they were sitting at the house of Munshi Lal at the time of the occurrence. Still more material part is that though Data Barn may not be the first information for the police, he was the first informant to Kitab Singh, who had lodged the first information report and it is strange that none of those aspects were mentioned to Kitab Singh, or in the first information report lodged with the police, it is not only a material omission, but it is a conduct which shows that the case has been cooked up later on, but the aspect which was missed was that there should have been some other witnesses to narrate this story and not the person who already been named in the first information report. 7. It does not need illustration or reference to statements to observe that these witnesses are of a group, which are inimical to Sarnam and Ram Dass. They have been litigating for the last several years and this factor coupled with another that no other near neighbour of Ram Dass or Sarnam was examined goes to show the hallowness of this contention. The bride burning or for that matter killing another man is a fact which would not be tolerated by any person as a silent spectator. If they had seen a lady with splinters, they could not have gone back home, simply because they were told by the father in law and brother in law to go away. May if they had so gone, they would themselves be guilty of tolerating a heinous crime and could at least be branded coward. It is a duty of every citizen to avoid a crime, if he can. It is not for the police only to prosecute the people, but prevention is also material for which every neighbour should come to help. In fact if there was an occurrence of that sort, no neighbour would spare himself from saving the lady. 8. It is a duty of every citizen to avoid a crime, if he can. It is not for the police only to prosecute the people, but prevention is also material for which every neighbour should come to help. In fact if there was an occurrence of that sort, no neighbour would spare himself from saving the lady. 8. The evidence of P.W. 6 Mahendra Singh, father of Smt. Narang Shree was to the effect that she had conveyed to him about the ill intentions of Ram Das and had come to live with only when she was promised by Ramesh that he will take her with him. On the contrary the suggestion has been that Smt. Narang Shree after having lived with her parents for some time was married to some body else and in order to avoid all difficulties this case has been concocted, the possibility cannot be denied, specially in view of the fact that there was according to the prosecution itself a complaint of ill intentions against Ram Dass and Ramesh, who was living away being in Armed Force, could not have kept Smt. Narang Shree with him while on duty. This is only a possibility with which we are concerned. His evidence with respect to the crime and in order to connect the accused with it, as already said above, is far below the standard of reliability and is based on hearsay. Getting a piece of burnt flesh from the pyre which has been abandoned is not very difficult. 9. In view of the above discussions, we are of the opinion that the conviction recorded by the learned Sessions Judge cannot be sustained. 10. The appeal is allowed. Conviction and sentence recorded by the Sessions Judge are hereby set aside. The appellants shall stand acquitted of the charges framed against them. Appellant Ram Dass is in custody and shall be set at liberty forth with unless wanted in some other case.