Tangna Koka vs The State of Bihar (Now Jharkhand)

Heard learned counsel for the appellants and the learned counsel for the

State, on the Interlocutory Applications filed by the appellants for granting bail

during the pendency of these appeals.

The appellants are the husband and the parents-in-law of the deceased

and they have been convicted and sentenced for the offence under Sections

498-A, 302 / 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

There is allegation against the husband and the in-laws to have

subjected the deceased to cruelty and torture for demand of dowry and to

have burnt her to death in about two months from the date of her marriage.

Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that the informant,

who is the father of the deceased, as also the mother of the deceased have

turned hostile and have not supported the case of demand of dowry. The two

co-accused persons, who were the brothers-in-law of the deceased, have

been granted bail by this Court and accordingly, these appellants be also

released on bail.

The impugned Judgement shows that the prosecution case of demand

of dowry and subjecting the deceased to cruelty and torture for the said

demand, is fully supported by the brother of the deceased. In their statements

recorded under 313 of the Cr.P.C ., the mother-in-law had stated that the

deceased had died while cooking, and the husband had stated that the

deceased had committed suicide. The evidence of the I.O. showed that the

smell of kerosene oil was coming from the bathroom.

It is thus, apparent that the deceased was burnt in the house of these

appellants soon after her marriage, due to which, she subsequently died.

In the facts of this case, we are not inclined to release the appellants,

Birendra Kumar Barnwal, Radhey Shyam Barnwal and Asha Devi, on bail.

Accordingly, their prayers for bail, are hereby, rejected.

Both the aforesaid interlocutory applications stand dismissed.