Content Provider | Supreme Court of India |
---|---|
e-ISSN | 30484839 |
Language | English |
Access Restriction | NDLI |
Subject Keyword | Penal Code 1860 - s. 498A - Suicide by married woman within 3 years of marriage |
Content Type | Text |
Resource Type | Law Judgement |
Jurisdiction | India |
Case Type | Appeal |
Court | Supreme Court of India |
Disposal Nature | Appeal Allowed |
Headnote | Penal Code, 1860 - s. 498A - Suicide by married woman within 3 years of marriage - Dying declaration recorded by Executive Magistrate (PW2) with certification by attending doctor (PW5) - Conviction of husband and mother-in-law by Courts below u/s. 498A - If justified - Held: Deceased in her declaration very categorically stated that her mother-in-law used to fight with her regularly on account of demand of gold chain which her parents could not fulfill and that she had fight on the fateful day also and being tired of such regular fights she poured kerosene oil on her and set herself on fire - Clearly, immediate cause of committing suicide was regular fights with mother-in-law on account of dowry demand - Ingredients of s. 498A stand satisfied qua mother-in-law as deceased was subject to cruelty on account of unlawful demand for property viz. gold chain in the instant case and failure on her part to meet that demand - So much so, it ultimately drove the deceased to commit suicide - However, deceased in her statement did not blame her husband at all and on the contrary, categorically stated that he was innocent - No conclusive proof that there was any "cruelty" on his part - In fact, in order to please and satisfy his wife, the husband ยท was making all efforts to become something in life and was struggling for that - Husband given benefit of doubt for charge u/s. 498A and thus acquitted from that charge - Conviction of mother-in-law u/s. 498A however upheld. Penal Code, 1860 - s.304-8 - Suicide by married woman Deceased poured kerosene on her person and then put herself on fire - Dying declaration recorded by Executive Magistrate (PW2) with certification by attending doctor (PW5) - Conviction of husband and mother-in-law by Courts below u/s.3048 - If justified- Held: The death was caused by burns and occurred otherwise than under normal circumstances-- It happened within 7 years of her marriage - Further, the trigger point for committing suicide was quarrel between deceased and her mother-in-law on the fateful day - There were regular fights between deceased and her mother-in-law for dowry - Statement of the deceased made it clear that on that fateful day also mother-in-law fought with her for that reason - Therefore, commission of offence u/s. 3048 against mother-in-law conclusively proved in view of iron clad dying declaration - However, husband cannot be said to have committed any act of "cruelty" soon before her death which forced the deceased to take such a step - Deceased nowhere stated that on that date when her mother-in-law had quarreled with her, the husband was associated or even responsible for that - Husband thus acquitted of charge u/s.3048 while conviction of mother-in-law u/s.3048 upheld Sentence/Sentencing - Suicide by married woman within 3 years of marriage - Appellant no. 2 (mother-in-law) convicted by courts below u/ss.3048 and 498A and sentenced to one year RI for offence u/s.498A IPC and 10 years for offence u/s.3048/PC - On appeal, held: On facts, sentence of one year RI for offence u/s.498A IPC maintained - However, insofar as s. 304B IPC is concerned, certain extenuating and mitigating circumstances existing - First of all, even when the immediate cause to commit suicide was the fight between deceased and appellant no.2(mother-in-law), at the Same time deceased was not happy with her matrimonial fife for other reasons as well - In fact, she was not happy with the marriage at all which she stated in some of the letters to her relatives - In interests of justice, sentence in respect of offence u/s.304B IPC reduced from 10 years to 7 years RI - Penal Code, 1860 - ss.304B and 498A. Evidence Act, 1872 - s. 32 - Dying declaration - Challenge to, on ground that deceased was tutored before she made the statement - Held: Not tenable - Nothing on record indicating that deceased may have been tutored - Deceased was not happy with her matrimonial life and had expressed so on earlier occasions as well, which fact surfaced in her declaration as well - Dying declaration was natural and voluntary. Evidence Act, 1872 - s. 32 - Dying declaration - Challenge to, on ground that it was not recorded in the form of questions and answers - Held: Recording of declaration in question-answer form is more appropriate method which should generally be resorted to, however, if such declaration otherwise meets all the requirements of s.32 and is found to be worthy of credence, it is not to be rejected only on the ground that it was not recorded in the form of questions and answers. |
Judge | Hon'ble Mr. Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri |
Neutral Citation | 2014 INSC 364 |
Petitioner | Satish Chandra & Anr. |
Respondent | State Of M.p. |
SCR | [2014] 6 S.C.R. 23 |
Judgement Date | 2014-05-06 |
Case Number | 211 |
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