- (1.) The appellant herein who was the husband of the deceased was tried for an offence punishable under Sections 306 and 498A read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code along with his brother and the brother's wife. The trial court in the course of its judgment dated 17th April, 2001 convicted all the accused for the aforesaid offences and sentenced them to various terms of imprisonment through an elaborate and comprehensive judgment. An appeal was thereafter taken to the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the learned Single Judge by his judgment dated 26th May, 2003 has dismissed the appeal by observing: In this case, perusal of the evidence shows that Manjit Singh Appellant No. 3 and his wife Daljit Kaur Appellant No. 4 had been living separately in a house since 1996. So harassment could be before that as admittedly the marriage took place about 10 years prior to the date of occurrence. Even though these two accused-appellants may be residing in other house but they can come and harass the deceased by instigating their son. Amarjit Singh, appellant No. 1, the husband for demanding dowry. Moreover, learned Counsel for the appellants could not give any plausible reason to re-appreciate the evidence and, therefore, the findings recorded by the trial court need not be interfered.
(2.) This matter came up before this Court when notice was issued on 22nd September, 2003, with the following observations: The learned Counsel for the petitioners contend that the High Court sitting as the court of first appeal on facts has not at all considered the evidence independently but has made passing reference to the evidence of the trial court, which finding was challenged on substantial grounds by the petitioners. Therefore, the petitioners' right of being heard by the First Appellate Court has been denied. Issue notice indicating that why the matter be not remanded back to the High Court. Taking into consideration that the petitioner No. 2 is an elderly person and suffering from various diseases, we enlarge her on bail upon her furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs. 10,000/-(Rupees Ten thousand only) with one surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court.
(3.) It is in this situation that the matter is before us after the grant of special leave.;