Ajay Kumar Verma vs State of Chhattisgarh

Mr. Pritinker Diwaker, J.—As both these cases arise out of a common judgment dated 25-1-2003 passed by First Additional Sessions Judge, Surguja (Ambikapur) in ST No. 191/ 2001, they are being disposed of by this common judgment.

By the said judgment, the appellant herein has been convicted under Sections 498A and 306/34 of IPC and sentenced to undergo RI for 3 years, fine of Rs. 1000/- and RI for 10 years, fine of Rs. 5000/- with default stipulations respectively.

In the present case, name of the deceased is Usha Verma, wife of appellant Ajay Kumar Verma in Cr. A. No. 149/03, their marriage, which is said to be love marriage, was solemnized on 29-6-1993 and out of their wedlock two children, one male and another female, were born. acquit accused Smt. Laxmi Verma is mother-in-law of the deceased whereas another acquit accused Smt. Kiran Sinha is her sister-in-law (Nanand). On 29-4-2001 at the instance of P.W. 1 Vinod Kumar Verma, brother of the deceased, merg intimation Ex.P/1 was recorded. Inquest over the dead body was prepared vide Ex.P/4 on 29-4-2001 and the body was sent for post-mortem which was conducted on 30-4-2001 by P.W. 9 Dr. J. K. Relwani along with Dr. Smt. S.L. Kujur vide Ex.P/8 who opined that the cause of death was asphyxia due to suspected poisoning. However, for confirmation of poison viscera were preserved and sent for bio-chemical analysis and histopathological examination. After merg enquiry, FIR (Ex.P/15) was registered on 5-5-2001 against the appellant Ajay Kumar Verma, acquit accused Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Sinha for the offence under Section 306/34 of IPC. After investigation charge-sheet was filed against the accused persons under Section 306/34 of IPC. However, while framing charge, the trial Judge framed charges under Sections 498A and 306/ 34 of IPC against the accused persons.

So as to hold the accused persons guilty, the prosecution examined as many as 16 witnesses. Statements of the accused persons were also recorded under Section 313, of Cr. PC. in which they denied the circumstances appearing against them in the prosecution case, pleaded innocence and false implication. In their defence, they examined six witnesses.

The trial Court after hearing counsel for the respective parties and considering the material available on record, by the impugned judgment while acquitting accused Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Sinha of all the charges, convicted and sentenced the appellant as mention in para 1 of this judgment.

Cr. A. No. 149/2003 has been preferred by appellant Ajay Kumar against his conviction whereas Cr. Rev. No. 160/2003 has been preferred by complainant Vinod Kumar Verma against acquit of accused Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Sinha.

Counsel for appellant Ajay Kumar and non-applicants Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Verma, submits as under :

that in the suicidal letter Article Hit has been categorically mention by the deceased that she is committing suicide on her own and no one should be held responsible for the same. In this letter, no allegation has been made by the deceased against the accused persons.

that the letters of the deceased seized by the police i.e. Articles C, E & F, make it clear that no allegation whatsoever is there against the accused persons regarding subjecting the deceased to cruelty in connection with dowry.

that marriage of the deceased with appellant Ajay Kumar performed on 29-6-1993 was a love marriage, they had two issues out of their wedlock, were living a happy married life and during the lifetime of the deceased she did not make any complaint against the accused persons.

even assuming that the deceased was not happy in her matrimonial house being a joint family, that itself is not sufficient to constitute offence under Sections 498A and 306/ 34 of IPC against the accused persons, especially when the basic ingredients of Section 306 of IPC are completely missing in the present case.

that there is absolutely no evidence against acquit accused Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Sinha and thus, after considering and appreciating the entire evidence on record, the trial Court has acquit them of all the charges. It is a settled principle of law, when two views are possible on the given set of evidence, one favouring the accused should be adopted and further, the order of acquittal should not be interfered with in a routine mnner until and unless there are compelling reasons to do so.

On the other hand, State counsel supporting the impugned judgment submits that the trial Court after proper appreciation of the entire evidence on record was rightly convicted and sentenced the appellant under Sections 498A and 306/34 of IPC and further, keeping in view the nature and quality of evidence, was also justified in acquitting accused Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Singh. He submits that even though the appellant and the deceased had a love marriage, as she was not kept well by the appellant she took the extreme step of putting an end to her life and therefore, the appellant has rightly been held guilty by the trial Court.

Smt. Indira Tripathi, counsel appearing for complainant Vinod Kumar Verma in Cr. Rev. No. 160/2003, submits as under :

considering the evidence available on record, at least all the accused persons are liable to be convicted under Section 498A of IPC.

even if in the letters it has not been stated by the deceased that she was subjected to cruelty by the accused persons, from the oral evidence of the witnesses it is apparent that she was subjected to cruelty by all of them and as such, they all are liable to be convicted under Section 498A of IPC.

Heard learned counsel for the respective parties and perused the material on record.

P.W. 1 Vinod Kumar Verma, brother of the deceased, has stated that marriage of the deceased was solemnized with the appellant Ajay Kumar in June, 1993 and on 29-4-2001 he received information from brother-in-law of the deceased Manoj Kumar that the deceased has consumed some poisonous substance and has been taken to Mission Hospital. When he reached the hospital, he found her dead body and thereafter, lodged merg intimation Ex.P/1. He has stated that the deceased used to visit his house 4-5 times in a year and make complaint about the cruelty being meted out to her by the accused persons. He admits that as the appellant and the deceased had a love marriage and her mother-in-law and sister-in-law used to harass her. In cross-examination he has stated that marriage of his sister/deceased was solemnized in the temple and was not attended by his family members. After marriage he had told the deceased to go and live with her husband/ appellant and thereafter, he was not aware as to where they had gone. He admits that since 1995 the deceased has not written any letter to him nor has there been any postal correspondence with her. He further admits that acquit accused Smt. Kiran was living separately with her husband, he never made complaint to anyone about the cruelty being meted out to his sister/deceased, the deceased used to visit his house during day time only and then go back either with her husband or her brother-in-law. He has stated that from 1986 till 1995 the deceased worked as a clerk on daily wages. He admits that seizure Ex.P/7 was made in his presence, by which letters written by the deceased (Articles A to F) were seized. He also admits that letter Article H too was written by the deceased. However, he stated that Article H appears to have been written by the deceased under some pressure. In para 36 he again admits that Article H is in the handwriting of the deceased and it is incorrect to say that he is making false statement that the said letter was written by the deceased under some pressure. He has further clarified that the said letter was seized by the police from the bedroom of the deceased and it was shown to him also.

P.W. 2 Smt. Vimla Verma, mother of the deceased, has made general allegations against the accused persons as to ill-treatment meted out to the deceased. There are material contradictions in her Court statement from her case diary statement Ex.D/1. It appears that she has improved while deposing in the Court. She admits that as she had lost her daughter, she was sentimentally against the accused persons and further stated that if someone�s daughter dies, the same feeling would be there. P.W. 3 Smt. Kiran Mehta, younger sister of the deceased, has not supported the prosecution case and has been declared hostile. She admits that after marriage, the deceased and the appellant had come to her house and that behaviour of the appellant was normal. P.W. 4 Aran Kumar Verma is a witness of inquest Ex.P/4 and seizure Ex.P/5 by which certain articles were seized from the place of occurrence.

P.W. 5 Smt. Meera Verma, wife of P.W. 1, has made general allegations of cruelty against the accused persons as has been made by P.W. 1. In para 12 she has stated that the deceased had told her that she does not want to live in her matrimonial house and that she used to feel like committing suicide or to kill someone. There appears to be material improvement in her Court statement from her case diary statement Ex. D/2.

P.W. 6 Smt. Madhuri Khare, elder sister of the deceased, has also made general and omnibus allegations regarding cruelty allegedly meted out to the deceased by the accused persons. She has stated that the accused/appellant Ajay Kumar had asked the deceased to leave her job. She has stated that in 1994 also the deceased was beaten and ill-treated by her in-laws, for which she was hospitalized. However, this allegations is not there in her diary statement Ex.D/3. From cross-examination of this witness it is apparent that she has made a lot of improvement while deposing in the Court. She admits that letters Articles A, C, D & E were written by the deceased, however, in respect of letter Article H she states that the same might have been written by the deceased against her wishes as it has not been addressed to anyone.

P.W. 7 Vaidehi Sharan, brother-in-law of the deceased, has made general allegations against the accused persons regarding cruelty. He has also admitted the letters written by the deceased, however, in respect of letter Article H he states that though the same is in the handwriting of the deceased but he doubts that it was written by the deceased under some pressure. He has stated that appellant Ajay Kumar was a good man and that he had liking for him. P.W. 8 Saket Bihari Khare, brother of P.W. 7, has also made general allegations against the accused persons.

P.W. 9 Dr. J. K. Relwani conducted post-mortem on-the body of the deceased along with Dr. Smt. S. L. Kujur on 30-4-2001 vide Ex. P/8 and opined that the cause of death was asphyxia due to suspected poisoning. However, for confirmation of poison viscera were preserved and sent for bio-chemical analysis and histopathological examination. P.W. 10 Manoj Kumar Verma, brother-in-law of the deceased, has stated that after the incident he had taken the deceased to hospital where she was declared dead. He has stated that the deceased and her husband/appellant were living a happy married life and the deceased never had any complaint against anyone. P.W. 11 Arvind Tiwari, a witness to seizure Exs. P/10 and P/ll, has though turned hostile but admitted his signature on the documents. P.W. 12 Banwari, Village Kotwar, is a witness of seizure memo Ex. P/ 12, P.W. 13 Lallan Singh, investigating officer, and P.W. 14 Hemant Khare, who did part of investigation, have supported the prosecution case. P.W. 15 Ramdev Yadav, Patwari, prepared the spot map Ex.P/9. P.W. 16 I. Tirkey, Sub-Inspector, recorded merg intimation.

D.W. 1 Siddhnath Tiwari and D.W. 2 Kamlesh Kumar Rai, neighbours of appellant Ajay Kumar, have stated that acquit accused Smt. Kiran was living along with her husband in a separate town and that the deceased was living happily in her matrimonial house. D.W. 3 Ramesh Singh has stated that after death of deceased he went to her house. He has further stated that the deceased was living happily in her matrimonial house, she was interested to live separately, however, her husband/appellant used to think about his other family members. He has also stated that acquit accused Smt. Kiran was living separately along with her husband. D.W. 5 Kalindi Tiwari has stated that acquit accused Smt. Kiran Singh was residing at Balrampur. D.W. 6 Genesh Prasad Shukla who was working with appellant Ajay Kumar has stated that on the date of incident the appellant was on routine patrolling duty.

During investigation, number of letters written by the deceased have been seized by the police. These letters appear to be general in nature where comforts and discomforts as also concern about her children have been mention by the deceased. However, in none of the letters it has been mention that she was subjected to cruelty to such an extent by the accused persons that she was left with no other option but to commit suicide. Rather in the undated letter Article H, which has been admitted by her relative to have been written by the deceased, which can be treated as her suicide note, she has stated about commission of suicide of her own and further stated that no one should be held responsible for this.

As regards offence under Section 306 of IPC, in order to hold a person guilty of the said offence, it is to be seen whether commission of suicide was the direct result of the instigation or abetment by the person charged with the said offence. Section 107 of IPC defines abetment to mean that a person abets the doing of a thing if he firstly, instigates any person to do that thing; or secondly, engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or illegal omission takes palce in pursuance of that conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or thirdly, intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that thing. Abetment thus involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained.

In the present case, on close scrutiny of the evidence it is apparent that the basic ingredients for attracting the offence under Section 306 of IPC are completely missing. The prosecution witnesses have made only general and omnibus allegations against the accused persons regarding cruelty. It is an admitted position that the deceased has a love marriage with appellant Ajay Kumar on 29- 6-1993, out of their wedlock two children were bom and it has also come in the evidence that before the unfortunate incident of suicide, no complaint whatsoever was made by the deceased to any of his relatives regarding harassment or ill-treatment by the accused persons. Though some of the prosecution witnesses have stated that when the deceased would come to their house, she used to tell them about ill-treatment by her in-laws, if the evidence of these witnesses is compared with their case diary statements, it is apparent that they have improved a lot while deposing in the Court on material points, which are not part of their diary statements.

It has come in the evidence of D.W. 3 Ramesh Singh that the deceased did not want to live in joint family and she wanted to live separately with her husband. In cross-examination, this witness remained firm and reiterated this fact. This fact further stands fortified from the letter Article H, admittedly written by the deceased, wherein she has expressed her frustration over denial of her husband/appellant for not living separately. Thus, if the deceased committed suicide as she was not happy in her matrimonial house for some reasons, that alone is not sufficient to hold appellant Ajay Kumar guilty under Section 306 of IPC.

So far as conviction under Section 498A of IPC is concerned, as already discussed above, though some of the prosecution witnesses have stated that the deceased was subjected to cruelty for demand of dowry by the accused persons, if their Court statements are compared with their diary statements, there appears to be material improvement and exaggeration in the Court statement, which makes their statements doubtful and shaky. Moreover, P.W. 2 Smt. Vimla Verma, mother of the deceased, has admitted the fact that she made allegations against the accused persons as after death of her daughter she was sentimentally annoyed with them. Therefore, considering the nature and quality of evidence, it would not be safe to hold appellant Ajay Kumar guilty even under Section 498A of IPC.

As for acquittal of accused Smt. Laxmi Verma and Smt. Kiran Singh, it is a settled principle of law that order of acquittal shall not be ordinarily interfered with because presumption of innocence of accused is further strengthened by acquittal. The golden thread which runs through the web of administration of justice in criminal cases is that if two views are possible on evidence adduced in case, one pointing to guilt of accused and other to his innocence, view which is favourable to accused should be adopted. The paramount consideration of Court is to ensure that miscarriage of justice is prevented. A miscarriage of justice that may arise from acquittal of guilty is no less than from conviction of an innocent. In a case where admissible evidence is ignored, a duty is cast upon appellate Court to re-appreciate evidence where accused has been acquitted, for the purpose of ascertaining as to whether any of accused really committed any offence or not. If there are two views from same set of evidence possible, view taken by trial Court in favour of accused cannot be reversed by Appellate Court merely because other view is possible. What the appellate Court has to see is whether the reasonings of the trial Court are well founded and acceptable with sound reasoning, if it is so, then the question of reversing the finding of the trial Court does not arise. It is only in case, if the evidence on record has not been properly appreciated by ignoring the material facts, it is open to the appellate Court to interfere with such judgment of the trial Court.

In the case in hand, the witnesses have admitted the fact that Smt. Kiran Sinha was residing separately along with her husband. Though the witnesses have also stated that at times she used to visit the house of her parents and take part in harassing the deceased, but merely on such general allegations she cannot be said to have committed the offence punishable under Section 498A or 306 of IPC. Similarly, there is no cogent and reliable evidence against acquit accused Smt. Laxmi Bai to show that she ever made any demand of dowry from the deceased or her parents or abetted commission of suicide in any manner. Thus, having examined the entire evidence in light of the aforesaid principle of law, this Court is of the opinion that the findings recorded by trial Court for acquitting these accused person are not perverse or contrary to material on record.

In the result:

� the appeal (Cr.A. No. 149/2003) preferred by appellant Ajay Kumar Verma is allowed and he is acquit of both the charges under Sections 498A and 306/34 of IPC.

� the revision (Cr. Rev. No. 160/2003) being without any substance is hereby dismissed.