TMI Blog1989 (9) TMI 385X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat she died of second to third degree burns on the body, and there was sprawling (sic) of kerosene oil on her body and the body was burnt by fire. Accused 3 - Smt. Kanwaldeep Kaur, the mother-in-law of the deceased and the mother of the accused Satpal Singh, stated in her statement under Section 313 CrPC that she was lying in her house at that time and the deceased was cooking food on a kerosene stave, and as such the deceased caught fire accidentally. 2. Learned Additional Sessions Judge held that there was absence of burn injuries on the fingertips of the mother-in-law and other members of the family. As mentioned before, the deceased was married in November 1982. After marriage, she used to say in the house of her in-laws at Raja Sansi. The deceased used to visit the house of her parents at Amritsar occasionally, as noted before. During these visits she used to tell them that her in-laws were not happy with the dowry given to the latter. It is further on evidence that she complained that her in-laws used to taunt her and insisted her to bring more dowry. It is stated that she complained that the in-laws taunted her that at the time of the marriage, her parents did not serve ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... got burns in not informing the parents and not taking prompt steps to take her to hospital for giving medical assistance' corroborate the inference that there accused connived and abetted the crime. Criminal charges must be brought home and proved beyond all reasonable doubt. While civil case may be proved by mere preponderance of evidence, in criminal cases the prosecution must prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt. See Mancini v. Director of Public Prosecutions (1942 AC 1 (1941) 3 All ER 272), Woolmington v. Director of Public Prosecutions (1935 AC 462 1935 All ER 1). It is true even today, as much as it was before. There must not be any 'reasonable doubt' about the guilt of the accused in respect of the particular offence charged. The courts must strictly be satisfied that no innocent person, innocent in the sense of not being guilty of the offence of which he is charged, is convicted, even at the risk of letting off some guilty persons. Even after the introduction of Section 498-A of the IPC and Section 113-A of the Indian Evidence Act, the proof must be beyond any shadow of reasonable doubt. There is a higher standard of proof in criminal cases than in civil ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ssed by the Additional Sessions Judge on August 9, 1984 convicting and sentencing all the accused. The appeal was allowed on holding that there was no evidence on record that the accused at the time of commission of suicide by Ravinder Kaur, in any way instigated or abetted her to commit suicide and as such the prosecution failed to establish the charge against the accused and their conviction consequently cannot be sustained. 9. The prosecution case is that the deceased, Ravinder Kaur, daughter of Gurbachan Singh, the complainant was married to Satpal Singh in November 1982. After marriage Ravinder Kaur started living in the house of her in-laws at Raja Sansi. She used to visit the house of her parents at Amritsar occasionally and during these visits, she used to tell them that her in-laws were not happy with the dowry given to her and they used to taunt her and insisted her to bring more dowry and that they even used to taunt her that her parents at the time of the marriage did not serve them with proper meals. The accused also used to tell her that they were being offered fridge etc. by the other parties in the marriage of accused Satpal Singh and that she has not brought the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed to them about the torture as well as cruel behaviour of her in-laws, as before and they have not stopped maltreating her and torturing her and she was not happy there. On June 25, 1983 at about 6.30 p.m., Mohinder Singh, maternal uncle of Satpal Singh came to the shop of Gurbachan Singh at Amritsar and informed him that his daughter committed suicide by sprinkling kerosene oil on her body and then setting herself on fire and that the she was lying at SGTB hospital, Amritsar. Gurbachan Singh immediately went to the hospital and found the dead body of his daughter lying in the mortuary. It has been alleged that Ravinder Kaur committed suicide on June 25, 1983 at 2.30 p.m. having become fed up with the cruel behaviour of her in-laws. The appellant along with the members of his family stayed in the hospital. On June 26, 1983, Gurmeet Singh, ASI Police Station, Ajnala came to the mortuary at Amritsar at about 5 p.m. and examined the dead body of Ravinder Kaur. He recorded the statements of Gurbachan Singh, Ved Prakash and Ramesh Kumar. 12. The statement of Gurbachan Singh was reproduced in the Roznamcha, and the statements of Gurbachan Singh and Ved Prakash, President of the Mohal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ge against the accused persons. Hence this appeal by special leave has been filed by the complainant. 18. It has been contended by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant that the cruel behaviour, maltreatment and taunts for not bringing sufficient dowry have been made to the deceased, Ravinder Kaur, soon after her coming to the house of her in-laws. It has also been urged that in November 1982 she complained of her in-laws' ill-treatment and taunts to her father and her father took her to his house. It has also been urged that the accused Satpal Singh and his father accused Harbhajan Singh and other relatives of the accused met the deceased father at his house and requested him to send his daughter to the house of her in-laws and assured them that they would not maltreat her to taunt her or torture her for not bringing sufficient dowry. These assurances were given in the presence of Ved Prakash, the President of the Mohalla Sudhar Committee, and Raj Kumari, a social worker and one Ramesh Kumar. Gurbachan Singh, father of the deceased on these assurances given by the accused and their relations sent his daughter, Ravinder Kaur to her in-laws' house. It h ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . The next submission made is that the evidences produced on behalf of the prosecution are meagre and do not prove that the accused had abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased Ravinder Kaur. The prosecution did not prove that there was any instigation by the accused persons charged with the offence in this case. The High Court has rightly held that the prosecution failed to prove the ingredients of Section 306 of the IPC and acquitted the accused of the charge under Section 306. This order of acquittal should not be interfered with by this Court in this appeal. It has been lastly contended that if two reasonable views could be taken of evidences, one in favour of the accused and the other against them the appellate court should not interfere in such case and set aside the order of acquittal. 20. As regards the first submission that the case of suicide has not been proved, it is relevant to mention that in the FIR (Ex. PF) lodged by the complainant it has been specifically stated that due to constant harassment of Ravinder Kaur by the accused persons for having brought less dowry in her marriage as well as due to constant taunts and also torture, the deceased committed ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ght to the hospital in the evening and the doctor, PW 1 immediately examined her and declared that she was already dead. Another most pertinent question which has decided by the trial court is that the defence story as stated by her mother-in-law, Kanwaldeep Kaur in her examination under Section 313 CrPC that it was a case of accidental fire and not a case of suicide, was falsified by the absence of burn injuries on the fingertips of the mother-in-law or other members of the family. The trial court rightly held that the intending circumstances show that she was not allowed to move till the process of burning had become irrecoverable and till she succumbed to her injuries. 22. We do not find any infirmity in this finding and we also hold on consideration and appraisement of the evidences as well as the circumstances set out hereinbefore that it was not a case of accidental fire but a case of suicide committed by the deceased Ravinder Kaur being constantly abused, taunted for bringing less dowry and also being defamed for carrying an illegitimate child. It is pertinent to mention that in the appeal before the High Court it was not urged on behalf of the accused that the case of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t of the witness has not been completely shaken, he may, after reading and considering the evidence of the witness, as a whole, with due caution and care, accept, in the light part of the other evidence on the record, that part of his testimony which he finds to be creditworthy and act upon it. 26. We have already referred to the material portions of the FIR as well as all the statements made by PW 4 in his evidence as well as his statement under Section 161 CrPC as well as the evidence of PW 7 and her statement under Section 161 CrPC. On a plain reading of these statements it will be crystal clear that the accused persons since the date when the deceased, Ravinder Kaur went to her in-laws' house after the marriage, was maltreated and was constantly taunted, harassed and tortured for not bringing sufficient dowry from her father and she was taunted for carrying an illegitimate child. The appellant some time in November 1982 went to her in-laws' house. His daughter, Ravinder Kaur complained to him about this torture and constant taunts for not bringing sufficient dowry. On hearing this, her father brought her to his house and after eight days the accused persons, Satpal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d that the respondents maltreated Ravinder Kaur for bringing less dowry and they even tortured for carrying an illegitimate child. The said witnesses testified to the greedy and lustful nature of the respondents that they were persistently demanding more money. It has also been held that the worst part of the cruelty was that she was even taunted for carrying an illegitimate child. The trial court also held that a respectable lady cannot bear this kind of false allegation levelled against her and this must have mentally tortured her. Thus the persistent demands of the accused for more money, their tortures and taunts amounted to instigation and abetment that compelled her to do away with her life. 28. This finding was arrived at by the learned Sessions Judge on a proper appreciation of the evidences adduced by the prosecution. The High Court without properly considering and weighing the evidences of the prosecution witnesses and on a wrong appreciation of the evidences found that the prosecution failed to prove the ingredients of Section 306 of IPC. It was also held that there was no evidence on record that the accused at the time of commission of suicide by Ravinder Kaur, decea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d weighing the entire evidences are unexceptional. The findings arrived at by the High Court without considering properly the circumstantial evidence as well as the evidences of the prosecution witnesses cannot be sustained. As such the findings of the High Court are liable to be reversed and set aside. 32. The High Court drew an inference from the conduct of Gurbachan Singh, PW 4 in making a delay of 24 hours after receipt of the information regarding her daughter's death to make a statement to the police about the incident with lodging the FIR on the same date, i.e. June 25, 1983 or on the following morning. The High Court, therefore, held that all these circumstances would raise considerable doubt regarding the veracity of the evidence of these two witnesses (PW 4 and PW 7) and point an infirmity in their evidence as would render it unsafe to base the conviction of the accused. 33. It is in evidence of PW 4 that he was intimated about the death of his daughter by committing suicide, by the maternal uncle of Satpal Singh, son-in-law on June 25, 1983 at about 5.30 p.m. He immediately rushed to the hospital with members of his family where his daughter was brought. It is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uch suicide had been abetted by the husband and his relations. Therefore, the findings arrived at by the Additional Sessions Judge are quite in accordance with the provisions of this section and the finding of the High Court that the accused persons could not be held to have instigated or abetted the commission of offence, is not sustainable in law. 36. It has been contended on behalf of the accused-respondents that Section 113-A of the Indian Evidence Act was inserted in the statute book by Act 46 of 1983 whereas the offence under Section 306, IPC was committed on June 23, 1983 i.e. prior to the insertion of the said provision in the Indian Evidence Act. It has, therefore, been submitted by the learned counsel for the respondents that the provisions of this section cannot be taken recourse to while coming to a finding regarding the presumption as to abetment of suicide committed by a married woman, against the accused persons. 37. The provisions of the said section do not create any new offence and as such it does not create any substantial right but it is merely a matter of procedure of evidence and as such it is retrospective and will be applicable to this case. It is prof ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the resumption of cohabitation in the present case did not amount, by reason of Section 2(1), to condonation. 41. On a conspectus of these decisions, this argument on behalf of the appellant fails and as such the presumption arising under Section 113-A of the Evidence Act has been rightly taken into consideration by the trial court. 42. It has been urged by referring to the decision in Brij Lal v. Prem Chand (1989 Supp (2) SCC 680 JT 1989 (3) SC 1 that where two views could reasonably be taken the appellate court should not interfere with the order of acquittal made by the trial court. 43. In the instant case on a proper consideration and weighing of the evidences the only reasonable view that can be taken in that the cruel behaviour and constant taunts and harassment caused by the accused persons while Ravinder Kaur, deceased was in her in-laws house instigated her to commit suicide and in our considered opinion no other reasonable view follows from a proper consideration and appraisement of the evidences on record. As such the decision cited above is not applicable to the facts and circumstances of the instant case. 44. For the reasons aforesaid we set aside the judgm ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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