Yadvendra Gupta And Others vs State Of Madhya Pradesh

Heard on I.A.No.8137/2020, an application for suspension of sentence and grant of bail to appellant No. 1/accused- Yadvendra Gupta.

The appeal has been preferred by the appellant against judgment dated 25.02.2020 passed by learned III Additional Sessions Judge, Satna, District-Satna in Session Trial No.600358/2012.

Appellant-Yadvendra Gupta stands convicted for an offence punishable under Section 304-B of the IPC and has been sentenced to undergo RI for 10 years and under Section 3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act and has been sentenced to undergo RI for 5 years with fine of Rs.15,000/-with default stipulations.

A s per prosecution case, marriage of the deceased-Sangeeta and appellant-Yadvendra Gupta was solemnized on 27.06.2007 and the deceased-Sangeeta committed suicide by hanging herself on 30.09.2012 in her matrimonial house.. It is found that after marriage, present appellant and other co-accused persons raised demand of four wheeler and Rs. 50,000/- as dowry and due to non-fulfillment of the said demand they tortured and humiliated her. Thereafter, a case was registered against the present appellant and other co-accused persons.

Learned counsel for the appellant submits that the appellant is in jail s inc e 20.02.2020 he remained in jail during trial from 02.10.2012 to 05.10.2012 and 16.10.2012 to 05.04.2014. So he has served almost two years of jail sentence. Appellant-accused has one girl child of 10 years. Present appellant has been falsely implicated in this case. Appellant-accused and co-accused did not demand any dowry and in this regard they did not tortured and humiliated her. Alokdas (PW-2) who is the father of the deceased, admitted this fact in his cross-examination that no demand of dowry is made out at the time of marriage or before the marriage. So it is not reliable that appellant-accused and co-accused demanded dowry after the marriage. There are many contradictions, omissions and improvements in the version of the prosecution witnesses in regards demand of dowry and cruelty. Actually at the time of incident, appellant-accused is not present in his house. His parents were also did not present in his house. Deceased beaten her daughter so appellant-accused obturated her and he came to Rewa, so she committed suicide when appellant-accused and other family members were not present. No complaint was lodged by the complainant before this incident. Appellant-accused produced Gayatri Gupta DW-1, Anjana Gupta DW-2 and Firoz Khan DW-3 as defence witnesses. Learned trial court did not appreciate the evidence of defence in perspective way. There is general allegation about demand of dowry and cruelty, no specific allegation attributed to the appellant-accused. Final hearing of this appeal will take time. Execution of jail sentence of other co-accused persons have already been suspended and released on bail by this Court vide orders dated 20.05.2020 and 05.06.2020. This appeal is of year 2020 and appeal will take time to conclude due to COVID-19, and social distancing is required, There are fair chance to succeed in the appeal. Under the circumstances, if the sentence of the appellant is not suspended, his right to file appeal will be futile. Hence, prayer is made for suspension of their jail sentence and grant of bail.

Learned P.L. has opposed the application.

Considering the contention of both the parties, and the facts that Alokdas (PW-2) who is the father of the deceased, admitted this fact in his cross-examination that no demand of dowry is made out at the time of marriage or before the marriage, appellant is in jail since 20.02.2020 he remained in jail during trial from 02.10.2012 to 05.10.2012 and 16.10.2012 to 05.04.2014, so he has served almost two years of jail sentence. Appellant-accused has one girl child of 10 years, there is general allegation is of demand of dowry, no specific allegations available on record about torture and humiliation of the deceased in relation to demand of dowry, there is no previous complaint regarding demand of dowry, this appeal is of year 2020, final hearing of this appeal will take time and also this fact that other co-accused persons have already been released on bail by this Court vide orders dated 20.05.2020 & 05.06.2020, but without commenting anything on the merit of the case, the said I.A. No.8137/2020 is allowed.

It is ordered that subject to payment of fine amount, if not already deposited, the execution of jail sentence of the appellant- Yadvendra Gupta shall remain suspended during the pendency of this appeal and he be released on bail on his furnishing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/-(Rupees Fifty Thousand Only) with one solvent surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial Court for his appearance before the trial court on 16.12.2020 and thereafter on all other such subsequent dates, as may be fixed by the trial court in this regard.

I n view of the outbreak of 'Corona Virus disease (COVID-19)' the appellant shall also comply with the rules and norms of social distancing. Further, in view of the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in suo moto W.P.No.1/2020, it would be appropriate to issue the following direction to the jail authority :-

The Jail Authority shall ensure the medical examination of the appellant by the jail doctor before his release.

2 . The appellant shall not be released if he is suffering from 'Corona Virus disease'. For this purpose appropriate tests will be carried out.

3 . If it is found that the appellant is suffering from 'Corona Virus disease', necessary steps will be taken by the concerned authority by placing him in appropriate quarantine facility.

List this matter for final hearing in due course.

C.C. as per rules.