Jaspreet Kaur vs State of Punjab

Nirmaljit Kaur, J.—This is a petition u/s 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner in case FIR No. 52 dated 04.02.2010 registered u/s 306 of Indian Penal Code at Police Station Kharar.

The petitioner is the step mother of the deceased. She is 39 years of age.

It is contended by the learned Counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner is a victim at the hands of in-laws of the deceased girl. The said deceased was stated to have died after about only 7-8 months of her marriage. Instead of prosecuting the real culprits i.e. in-laws of the deceased, the petitioner has been falsely implicated.

Learned Counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the marriage of deceased to Amanjit Singh was a run away marriage. On attaining the age of majority, they got married to each other against the wishes of their parents. In fact, they even filed CRM M 15688 of 2009 seeking direction for protection. However, the same was rendered infructuous as there was no threat to their life and liberty. The deceased also made a statement on 09.06.2009 to the police that she had no connection whatsoever with the present petitioner and her father -Harjit Singh. Therefore, offence u/s 306 IPC was not made out against the present petitioner. Allegations must show that the accused abettor had committed such acts which forced the person to commit suicide and the intention and mens rea must be specific. Since all the ingredients are lacking in the allegations, no offence can be said to be made out against the present petitioner. Moreover, the dying declaration was not even signed by the deceased. The same cannot be taken against the petitioner. The said dying declaration was on account of persuasion by her in laws. She was not even in a fit condition to make her statement. Thus, the same cannot be relied upon. It was further argued that the only allegation is that the petitioner did not give the certificates demanded by the deceased whereas, the certificates were already in her possession. Thus, the allegations in the FIR are not correct.

Reliance has been placed on the judgement rendered by the Hon''ble Supreme Court in the case of Sanju alias Sanjay Singh Sengar v. State of Madhya Pradesh reported as 2002(2) RCR (Criminal) 687 wherein, the FIR u/s 306 IPC was quashed on the ground that a word uttered in quarrel or in the spur of the moment cannot be taken as mens rea. It is uttered in a fit rage and emotion.

Learned Counsel for the petitioner was heard.

The present case is a case of anticipatory bail. The case is registered on the basis of the dying declaration given by deceased- Kamalpreet Kaur. The said dying declaration was recorded by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Chandigarh in the presence of the doctor. Thus, the authenticity of the same cannot be doubted at this stage. The allegations in the FIR as per translated version reads as under:

My mother Smt. Jaspreet Kaur used to beat me before marriage that you do not solemnize love marriage with Amanjit Singh. She wanted to kill me and wanted to put this blame on my in-laws. However, in order to save my in-laws, I had left my parents'' house and had married Amanjit Singh. After the marriage, I used to make phone call to my in- laws house so that they might be agreed, but they had changed their phone numbers. Yesterday, I made a phone call to my mother and asked for my certificates. However, she refused on phone and told that she would not give the same. You had gone to police station, take it from there. She abused me and thereafter switched off the phone. After being perturbed, I had consumed poisonous medicine.

There is specific allegation of beating and hatred towards the deceased girl.

The last straw was when the deceased had called her step mother to give back her certificates. Instead of giving back the certificates, she was abused. The behaviour and attitude of the present petitioner hurt and perturbed her. This has been specifically stated in her dying declaration given before the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Chandigarh.

When daughters get married and are residing with her husband or in-laws, they look for sympathy, love, affection and emotional support in the hour of need and trying times which they normally get from their parents. The deceased, instead of getting the same from her step mother, was rebuffed, abused and humiliated by her.

In the present case, dying declaration making specific allegation against the petitioner has been recorded by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class in the presence of the doctor.

The concession of anticipatory bail cannot be extended to the present petitioner in the given circumstances.

Dismissed.