Vidya Devi vs State of Haryana and anr.

J.B. Garg. J.

Vidya Devi, the mother, has moved the present petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of a writ directing the Senior Superintendent of Police, Karnal and S. H. O. of Police Station, Sadar, Karnal to register a case under Section 302/201/120B 148/149 IPC in respect of the murder of her son Vijay Kumar on the intervening night of 13/1491992 at the premises of his inlaws at Kunjpura, Karnal.

Vidya Devi is a widow and belongs to village Randoli Tehsil and District Karnal. Malti d/o Ram Chand Kanwal of village Kunjpura (Karnal) was married to his son Vijay Kumar recently on 11121991. Prior to the aforesaid marriage Ram Chand Kanwal, the father, had made an enquiry that Vijay Kumar besides a residential house also owned a few killas of agricultural land and possessed about two lacs of rupees in cash. Vijay Kumar spent considerable cash which he possessed, in improvements of the residential house and on his marriage. When Malti came to know that the deceased had not sufficient money with him then she, her father and other members of her family started disliking Vijay Kumar who told that he was not in a position to sell the agricultural land or to desert his widowed mother. On 691991 Deepak Kumar a brother of Malti allegedly threatened that his sister Malti may seek a divorce shortly unless the agricultural land was not sold by Vijay Kumar; that on 1391992 Deepak Kumar tookaway his sister Malti from the premises of her husband; on 1391992 Vijay Kumar the husband had gone to premises of his inlaws at 6.00 P.M. with the object of bringing his wife Malti back to his house. However, he did not return and on 1491992 Vijay Kumar was found dead in a school building of his fatherinlaw Ram Chand. The dead body of Vijay Kumar was taken to Civil Hospital, Karnal where postmortem examination was conducted. From the information furnished by the police, it was found that death was on account of hanging. However, the Medical officer sent the viscera from chemical examination. The local police however was of the view that Vijay Kumar died on account of excessive drinking.

The plea of the mother from the beginning had been that death had been caused by Ram Chand Kanwal, Deepak Kumar his son, Ashok Kumar son of Bishan Dass. Rajinder Kumar son of Ram Lal, Kaura Ram son of Ram Lal and that an FIR should be registered against the persons named by the petitioner; that the respondents have considerable influence and they have succeeded in getting the matter pending and want that it should be hushed up.

Where the wife is a graduate and the husband is far less educated and not even a Matriculate and his death had taken place within the premises of his inlaws and undisputably on account of strangulation, the plea of a widowed mother that a case should be registered against the accused named by her has great justification.

The learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to Tulsi Ram v. State of M. P. and others 1993 Cr.L.J. 1165 and has argued that where allegations made in a report lodged with the police constitute cognizable offence there shall be no justification in varying the report exparte where the marriage of Vijay Kumar was performed on 11121991 and he had died on the intervening night of 13/14992 in less than one year of the marriage the widowed mother is entitled to registration of the case and for fair investigation. The mere plea that one or two police officers have made inquiries and that they found that the death took place on account of alleged excessive drinking shall not be a justification for ignoring the plea of the widowed mother.

Here, attention has been invited to State of Haryana and others v. Ch. Bhajan Lal and others 1992 Cr.L.J. 527 and it has been stressed by the learned counsel for the petitioner that if there is information disclosing a cognizable offence the officer incharge of the Police Station has no other expect to enter the substance thereof in the prescribed from or in other words to register a case on the basis of such information.

The learned counsel for the respondents has referred to a report of the S. H. O. of Police Station, Sadar Karnal who summarily believed that death of Vijay Kumar had occurred on account of hanging after consuming liquor and it was a case of suicide simpliciter.

In view of the reasons recorded above it is held that the present petition succeeds and it is ordered that a case be registered by respondents No. 2 and 3 as described by Vidya Wati for the first time on 1691992, Annexure P2, within a period of 15 days and the police shall proceed to investigate it. It is also observed that the investigation shall be carried out by a Deputy Superintendent of Police.