- (1.) Special leave granted.
(2.) Vinod Bhalla and his mother Smt Sarojini were charged under Section 302 read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code or alternatively under Section 306 read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code by the Sessions Judge, Rewa in Sessions Trial No. 75 of 1983 for causing the death of or abetment to cause suicide by Smt Rajini Bhalla, aged 22 years. Rajini was married to Vinod on 3/02/1982 and three months thereafter her dead body in a charred and unrecognisable condition was found on the first floor of the matrimonial home at Rewa on 27/05/1982. The trial court convicted both the accused under Section 302 read with Section 34 and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life. On appeal, the High court by its judgment dated 23/11/1991 acquitted them of the offence under Section 302 read with Section 34, but convicted Smt Sarojini under Section 201 Indian Penal Code and sentenced her to undergo R11 for five years. These appeals are by Sarojini and the State respectively.
(3.) The facts lie in a short compass. Public Witness 1, Pashupathinath Tandon and Public Witness 2, Vimla, are parents, Public Witness 3, Kailash Nath and Public Witness 4, Shiv Charan Lal, are brothers of Rajini. The prosecution case is that Sarojini wrote Exs. P-4 to 6, pre-marital letters, to Public Witness 1 demanding Scooter, Tape Recorder and Tullu Pump (motor for pumping water to upper storey) , but the same could not be immediately given at marriage. It is the prosecution case that it is a case of dowry death. The case of the accused is one of suicide. The case hinges upon circumstantial evidence. At about 8. 00 a. m. , on 27/05/1982, Public Witness 8, the Sub-Inspector of Rewa Police Station, received a message of the house burning which was transmitted to Public Witness 10, Mahipal Singh, the Inspector. When Public Witness 10 went to the scene of occurrence, Public Witness 8 was at the scene. He conducted a panchanama of the scene of offence on the first floor of the house of the accused. Rajini's. dead body in charred and unrecognisable condition was found with the tongue protruding. Blood was oozing from the mouth, the limbs were spread on the upper side in retracted position and the deceased was lyingnaked on the back in the supine condition. The dead body was sent for post-mortem and Dr Moghe, Public Witness 9 conducted the post-mortem. According to him he could not give the cause of death, but he noted that the lungs were congested and oedematous; both the chambers of heart were empty and he found semi-digested food in the stomach of the deceased. The entire material was transmitted to Public Witness 11, Harish Chandra, the Director, (Medicine). On minute and detailed examination of the materials furnished to him, Public Witness 11 opined that the death was due to asphyxia and that the deceased died after two or three hours of her last meal. The death could not have been in the morning between 8. 00 or 8.30 a. m. He also found that the body of the deceased continued to be burnt even after death resulting in heat cracks and cracks in the limbs. Vinod was working as a Cashier-cum-Clerk in the State Bank at Sidhi, 90 km. from Rewa, well connected with thorough traffic and it takes two hours to reach Rewa or to go back to Sidhi. The deceased and Sarojini were staying in their house at Rewa.;