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2003 DIGILAW 1096 (PNJ)

Vinod Kumar v. State of Punjab

2003-08-08

AMAR DUTT, VIRENDER SINGH

body2003
JUDGMENT Amar Dutt, J. - Vinod Kumar has filed the present appeal to challenge the conviction and sentence recorded against him under Sections 304-B and 498-A Indian Penal Code by the Sessions Judge, Rupnagar on 4.11.1995. 2. The facts of the cases, as brought out in the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution, are that the marriage of Veena Kumari with the appellant was solemnised about 2-1/2 years prior to her death. At that time, sufficient dowry was given to the accused. After about 2-1/2 months of the marriage, Vinod Kumar, his brothers Naresh Kumar and Parmod Kumar and mother Sheela Kumari had started harassing the decreased by expressing their dis- satisfaction with the quantum of dowry brought by her. Sarcastically, they used to remark about their having got into alliance with bankrupts (Bhuke Nange Admian Nal Wah Pe Gaya Hai). The four of them had been demanding more dowry and taunting Smt. Veena Kumari about her having brought less dowry but her father and other members of her family expressed the inability to accede to their demand. On 16.4.1993, Veena Kumari together with Vinod Kumar appellant had visited the house of her parents where Vinod Kumar demanded an amount of Rs. 25,000/-, which was required by him to make the good shortfall of the price of the tractor, which he wanted to purchase. Vinod Kumar also threatened his in-laws that in case the demand is not complied with, Smt. Veena Kumari would not be rehabilitated in the matrimonial home. As the demand was not acceded to, Vinod Kumar while returning from the house of his in-laws had left Smt. Veena Kumari with them. After a few days, the parents of the deceased had taken her back to the house of her in-laws and handed over a sum of Rs. 5000/- to them. She was still maltreated and a demand for a scooter was raised before her parents. 1-1/2 months prior to her death, Smt. Veena Kumari had gone to the house of her parents and again narrated her plight to her bother and indicated that in case the demand for scooter is not fulfilled, she would be killed. 5000/- to them. She was still maltreated and a demand for a scooter was raised before her parents. 1-1/2 months prior to her death, Smt. Veena Kumari had gone to the house of her parents and again narrated her plight to her bother and indicated that in case the demand for scooter is not fulfilled, she would be killed. On 14.1.1994, Ravinder Kumar and the members of his family came to know that the accused had caused the death of Smt. Veena Kumari by setting her alight after sprinkling kerosene oil on her on account of the fact that the demand for dowry had not been complied with or that she had committed suicide by pouring kerosene oil on her body on account of the harassment that she was suffering at the hands of her in-laws. 3. Soon after the incident, the deceased in a burnt condition was removed to P.G.I., Chandigarh by her husband and Naresh Kumar. Dr. Hemant Hardikar PW5 sent a ruqa Ex. PF to the Incharge, Police Post, P.G.I., Chandigarh, who in turn forwarded QST Ex. PG to Police Station, Ropar, on receipt whereof, S.I. Karnail Singh went to the P.G.I. on 15.1.1994 and recorded the statement Ex.PE of Ravinder Kumar, brother of the deceased. On the basis of this statement, formal FIR Ex. PF/1 was recorded. After the death of Smt. Veena Kumari, post mortem examination was got conducted and S.I. Karnail Singh visited the place of occurrence and took into possession a plastic can of kerosene oil and match box, prepared rough site plan of the place of occurrence and on completion of investigation, presented challan, in which Naresh Kumar, Parmod Kumar and Sheela Kumari were shown in column No. 2, against the accused-appellant for the offence under Section 304-B Indian Penal Code in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rupnagar. 4. On going through the challan and finding that the offence alleged to have been committed by the accused was exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, the case was committed to the Sessions Court for trial. 5. 4. On going through the challan and finding that the offence alleged to have been committed by the accused was exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, the case was committed to the Sessions Court for trial. 5. At the time of framing of charge, the Sessions Judge, Ropar, after taking into consideration the statement made under Section 161 Criminal Procedure Code, was prima facie of the view that Parmod Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Sheela Kumari should also be summoned to face their trial along with the appellant and, accordingly, issued process to secure their presence. After hearing arguments, the trial Court was of the view that a case under Sections 304-B and 498-A Indian Penal Code was made out against the accused and, therefore, framed the charges against them under the aforesaid Sections. Accused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. 6. To bring home the charge against the accused, the prosecution examined PW1 Dr. Deepak Bakshi, PW2 Jatinder Nath Draftsman, PW3 Ravinder Kumar complainant, PW4 Ram Piari, PW5 Dr. Hemant Hardikar, PW6 Varinder Singh S.I., PW7 Karnail Singh S.I. and PW8 Dr. Satpal. 7. Thereafter, statements of the accused were recorded under Section 313 Criminal Procedure Code for obtaining their explanation in relation to the incriminating circumstances appearing against them. All the accused admitted that factum of the marriage between Smt. Veena Kumari and Vinod Kumar as also the death of Smt. Veena Kumari. It was, however, explained that parents of the deceased were greedy persons and she herself was hot tempered. It was further submitted that the deceased used to quarrel with her husband on petty matters and used to call upon her husband to render help to her parents in financial matters, to which Vinod Kumar did not agree. On account of this grouse, she had committed suicide. In defence, the accused examined DW1 Manjit Singh and DW2 Gurdial Singh and tendered in evidence document Ex.D1. 8. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, the trial Court convicted the accused-appellant under Sections 304-B and 498-A Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/- and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo R.I. for a period of six months. 8. After hearing learned counsel for the parties, the trial Court convicted the accused-appellant under Sections 304-B and 498-A Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/- and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo R.I. for a period of six months. It also convicted Parmod Kumar and Sheela Kumari under Section 498-A Indian Penal Code and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 1-1/2 years each and to pay a fine of Rs. 2,000/- each and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo R.I. for a period of three months each. Naresh Kumar, who was aged about 18/19 years, was released on probation. 9. We have heard Mr. R.S. Cheema, Senior Advocate, appearing on behalf of the appellant and Mr. A.S. Virk, Additional Advocate General, Punjab, appearing on behalf of the State and with their help gone through the record of the case. 10. The two undisputed circumstances, which are proved on the record, are that the marriage between Veena Kumari and Vinod Kumar had taken place in middle to 1991 and that the incident, in which Smt. Veena Kumari had received burn injuries, took place on 13.1.1994. The injuries suffered by the wife were so serious that she did not recover and died on 14.1.1994 and the F.I.R. was registered in connection with her death on 15.1.1994 at 2.05 P.M. The circumstances, which are alleged to have led to the death of Veena Kumari, as also the manner in which the burn injuries were suffered by the deceased are seriously being challenged by the defence. Three incidents are alleged to have taken place between the marriage and the date on which the deceased got burnt from which the prosecution seeks to draw an inference that from the time of her marriage till the date of her death, she had been pestered with demands for dowry. The prosecution further wants us to infer that these incidents relate to a general allegation that the in-laws were not satisfied with the dowry brought by the deceased and were demanding more dowry and harassing her on that account, which demands were not acceded to by the parents of the deceased. The prosecution further wants us to infer that these incidents relate to a general allegation that the in-laws were not satisfied with the dowry brought by the deceased and were demanding more dowry and harassing her on that account, which demands were not acceded to by the parents of the deceased. A more specific demand was made on 16.4.1993 when the deceased and the appellant had gone to the house of parents of the deceased and demanded a sum of Rs. 25,000/- which, according to them, was required to make good short fall of money collected by him for purchase of a tractor. The accused had made clear that in the event of their failure to comply with the demand, the wife would be left at the house of her parents and to prove seriousness of his treat, he had left Smt. Veena Kumari at their house. In partial fulfilment of this demand, Ravinder Kumar complainant PW3 had gone with an amount of Rs. 5,000/-. After making payment, he had left Veena Kumari at the house of her in-laws. The third demand is stated to have been made prior to the incident in which Smt. Veena Kumari lost her life. This demand required the parents to give a scooter and Veena Kumari had gone to the house of her parents, 1-1/2 months before her death and apprised them that in case their demand is not fulfilled, she would be killed by her in-laws. Her fears proved to be correct when on 14.1.1994 the brother of the deceased received intimation that Smt. Veena Kumari had died due to burn injuries. 11. On behalf of the defence, it is submitted that evidence regarding these ingredients does not come up to the stringent standard of proof that are required to be adhered to in a criminal trial before any conviction can be recorded. All the three events narrated are doubtful and the time zone within which they are stated to have taken place is too broad. The fact that the threats held out did not evoke any response from the family of the deceased shows that they have been added on legal advice and cannot be held to have been proved. The fact that in place of demand for Rs. 25,000/- the appellant had accepted Rs. The fact that the threats held out did not evoke any response from the family of the deceased shows that they have been added on legal advice and cannot be held to have been proved. The fact that in place of demand for Rs. 25,000/- the appellant had accepted Rs. 5000/- shows that the same de hors any intents and was in the nature of a request for monetary help than manifestation of his desire for more dowry. In view of this, it is submitted that by giving the benefit of doubt to the appellant, he should be acquitted of the charges framed against him. 12. The prosecution on the other hand assets that the circumstances narrated hereinbefore provided sufficient evidence from which the three ingredients namely, (1) that there is a demand of dowry and harassment by the accused and that the death of a woman is either by burns or bodily injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances; (2) the death has taken place within 7 years of marriage; and (3) soon before her death the deceased had been subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or relative of her husband and such harassment or cruelty should pertain to demand for dowry, that are required to be fulfilled before a charge under Section 304-B Indian Penal Code can be held to be proved. In support of this submission, reliance is placed upon the case reported as Pawan Kumar v. State of Haryana, AIR 1998 Supreme Court 958. 13. We have given a thoughtful consideration to the rival submissions and are of the view that the three incidents highlight an inherent dis-satisfaction with the dowry, which the appellant and the members of his family got from the parents of the deceased. Initially, this satisfaction manifested itself in expression of resentment about the quantity that had been received. The demand for Rs. 25,000/- that was put forth on 16.4.1993 appears to be a way adopted by the appellants family to concretise an amount, which may have satisfied their greed. The fact that soon after the receipt of Rs. 5000/- that was handed over to satisfy the above demand, the appellant put forth a request for a scooter shows that what he and the members of his family were wanting was Rs. The fact that soon after the receipt of Rs. 5000/- that was handed over to satisfy the above demand, the appellant put forth a request for a scooter shows that what he and the members of his family were wanting was Rs. 25,000/- or more, not for taking on loan an amount for making the good shortfall to purchase a tractor but to satisfy their desire to coerce the parent of the girl into parting with substantial amounts of money from time to time in case they wanted their daughter to be happy in the matrimonial home. Seen in the light of these circumstances, we feel that the appellant and members of his family had been pestering the deceased on account of incapability of her parents to satisfy their demand and taunts held out from time to time resulted in her harassment on account of the psychological pressures that were being constantly built up against her and the members of her family by owing to their inability to satisfy the demands. 14. The defence also assails the credibility of the witnesses and the version put forth by them on the ground that the formal FIR was recorded after a considerable delay. The argument loses sight of the fact that the decreased was initially removed to the Primary Health Centre, Bharatgarh from where she was referred to P.G.I. Chandigarh. The death in this case took place on 14.1.1994 at 7.30 A.M. The persons, who had brought the deceased to the hospital were not available at the time when the officials from the Chandigarh Police reached the hospital. The F.I.R., in these circumstances, was recorded when the brother of the deceased arrived at the hospital and narrated his woeful story. In these circumstances, when the accused found it expedient to make themselves scarce after the death of Veena Kumari then for the delay in the lodging of the F.I.R. the complainant cannot be held responsible. The F.I.R., in these circumstances, was recorded when the brother of the deceased arrived at the hospital and narrated his woeful story. In these circumstances, when the accused found it expedient to make themselves scarce after the death of Veena Kumari then for the delay in the lodging of the F.I.R. the complainant cannot be held responsible. Even otherwise, the accused in this case had tried to cover up his tracks by indicating in the formation which was supplied by them to the attending doctor by alleging in Ex.PE, that the patient was alleged to have tried to burn herself by pouring kerosene oil over herself at 6.00 P.M. on 13.1.1994 as per the relatives and she was referred to PGI from Ropar Hospital and as per the past history stated by the relatives, the patient is suffering from mental illness and made two attempts previously to commit suicide. This information, which was given by the appellant and Naresh Kumar is an attempt to sidetrack the issue and no evidence has been brought on the record in support of the assertions by bringing on the file medical record regarding the mental state of the deceased on the two previous occasions when attempts are alleged to have been made by her to commit suicide. Seen in the light of this stand, which has been taken by the accursed, the plea now sought to be taken by them in their statements under Section 313 Criminal Procedure Code cannot be accepted as there is no admissible evidence on the record even to support the stand taken by the accused in Court. The trial Court, therefore, in our opinion was right when it came to conclusion that the second ingredient about the deceased having been treated with cruelty and harassed by the husband and his relatives soon before her death also have been proved. 15. The last ingredient which has to be proved is that the death took place within 7 years of the marriage. As already indicated by us, there is no dispute about the date of marriage and the date of death and, therefore, this ingredient also essential to bring home the charge against the accused is proved. 16. 15. The last ingredient which has to be proved is that the death took place within 7 years of the marriage. As already indicated by us, there is no dispute about the date of marriage and the date of death and, therefore, this ingredient also essential to bring home the charge against the accused is proved. 16. Another aspect of the case, which was thrown up, during the course of arguments, was regarding import of word "dowry" as used in Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code, in the light of the definition provided in Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, which reads as under :- "4. Penalty for demanding dowry :- If any person demands, directly or indirectly, from the parents or other relatives or guardian of a bride or bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months, but which may extend to two years and with fine which may extend to ten husband rupees : Provided that the court may, for adequate and special reasons to be mentioned in the judgment, impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than six months." 17. Our initial reaction, after analysis on the first principle, was that before the provision of Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code could be attracted, in a given case, it would be necessary for the prosecution to bring on record some evidence to infer that the parents of the girl had agreed to give any property or valuable security. On our request, the learned counsel for the parties had studied this aspect further, which had been thrown up during the course of arguments and apprised us that the aforesaid provisions of Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code can no longer be subject to judicial analysis at our level, in view of the decision of the Apex Court in Pawan Kumars case (supra). We consider it appropriate to express our gratitude for the research carried out by the counsel and especially the fair concession made by the learned counsel for the appellant to the effect that the question posed by us has already been decided in favour of the prosecution. 18. We consider it appropriate to express our gratitude for the research carried out by the counsel and especially the fair concession made by the learned counsel for the appellant to the effect that the question posed by us has already been decided in favour of the prosecution. 18. No other argument of the learned counsel for the appellant remains to be examined by us except the submission made by him to the effect that the sentence of imprisonment for life imposed by the Court below is too harsh and taking into consideration the fact that the appellant has been facing the ordeal of trial since 15.1.1994 and had already undergone about six years of sentence, the sentence imposed by the trial Court may be reduced. In support of his submissions, he relies upon the authorities of this Court in Rajinder Kumar v. State of Haryana, 1994(2) R.C.R. 321 and Ramesh v. The State of Haryana, 1997(3) C.C.Cases 93. 19. After taking into consideration all the aspects of the case, we feel that the ends of justice would be sufficiently met if the sentence of imprisonment for life is reduced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years and the sentence of fine imposed by the trial Court is enhanced from Rs. 5000/- and in default of payment of fine to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for three years. Ordered accordingly. 20. Subject to the above modification, this appeal fails and is dismissed. 21. A copy of the judgment be sent to the concerned Chief Judicial Magistrate and the appellant be taken into custody to serve the remaining part of the sentence. Appeal dismissed.