G.N.RAY, J. - (1.) THIS appeal has been preferred by the State of West Bengal against the judgment of acquittal dated May 14, 1990 passed by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 195 of 1990. By the aforesaid judgment, the conviction and sentences against the accused, Sri Orilal Jaiswal and his mother, Smt. Gujarati Debi Jaiswal, passed by the learned Sessions Judge, 12th Bench of the City Sessions Court, Calcutta on February 29, 1990 in Sessions Trials No. 1 of 1990 was set aside by the High Court and the accused were acquitted of the conviction under Section 306 read with Section 34, Indian Penal Code and sentence of 5 years' rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs. 1000/ - in default simple imprisonment for 3 months and conviction under Section 489A read with Section 34, Indian Penal Code and sentence of one year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1000/ - in default to suffer simple imprisonment for three months. The prosecution case in short is that Usha Jaiswal had committed suicide by hanging on April 19, 1986 in the house of her husband and the in -laws within a year from the date of marriage which was solemnised between Usha Jaiswal and the accused No. 1, Orilal Jaiswal on May 31, 1985. It is the case of the prosecution that it was a negotiated marriage and according to the demand of the accused persons and other members of the family of in -laws sufficient dowry including colour T.V., motor cycle, gold ornaments etc. had been given at the time of marriage. The prosecution case is that the deceased, Usha Jaiswal, who was only 20 years old had been treated cruelly and had been tortured both mentally and physically by the accused. It has been alleged that within a few days after the marriage, the father -in -law of the accused No. 2 had died and the accused No. 2 had treated the deceased cruelly by telling her that she was a woman of evil luck (alakshmi) and because of her evil luck, the father -in -law had died shortly after the marriage. It has also been alleged that after the marriage, the deceased, Usha Jaiswal had conceived but there had been an abortion after being admitted in the hospital. The accused No. 2 the mother -in -law of the Usha Jaiswal caused severe mental pain by telling her in the hospital itself that she was a woman of evil luck and that she had swallowed her baby and she should commit suicide. It has also been alleged that the accused No. 1 the husband of the deceased often used to come home drunk and physically assault the deceased. Both husband and his mother had also caused severe mental torture to the deceased by telling that she had brought bridal presents of sub -standard quality and such articles should be taken back and dowry gifts of good quality should be brought. It has been alleged by the prosecution that as a result of such physical and mental torture by the accused persons, the deceased became unhappy and on several occasions when she had come to her father's house, she complained that she had been maltreated and tortured both physically and mentally with cruelty by the husband and mother -in -law in the manner aforesaid. It has also been alleged that even on the day when the deceased had committed suicide, namely, on April 19, 1986, the accused No. 1, Orilal Jaiswal, came to the parental house of the deceased at about 10.00 a.m. and informed the mother of the deceased that his wife and mother had been quarrelling and she should got to his house for settlement but the mother of the deceased then informed the accused No. 1 that she would send her son the next day to the house of the accused persons but shortly thereafter, a brother of the deceased came to the house and informed the other brother and the mother that something had happened to his elder sister, namely, the deceased and she had been taken to the hospital. The elder brother and thereafter parents and other relations of the deceased rushed to the hospital when they were informed that the deceased Usha Jaiswal had committed suicide.
(2.) THE brother of the deceased, Om Parkash, however, made a statement in the police station that his sister had been murdered but his statement was not treated as FIR. The next day, namely, on April 20, 1986, the mother of the deceased made a statement before the police which was recorded and treated as FIR.
(3.) IT transpires from the post -mortem report that signs of death by hanging were present and according to the doctor conducting the post -mortem examination the deceased had died due to hanging. The doctor also noted a few marks of abrasions on the cheek and also on the other parts of the body which according to the doctor were ante mortem in nature. On being questioned at the time of deposition the doctor had also stated that the mark of injury on the cheek of the deceased was likely to be caused by a slap and other injuries were also likely to be caused by fist and blows. The doctor, however, stated on being cross -examined that such injuries could also be caused if the deceased has dashed against a hard substance and the injury on the neck could be caused by the friction of the nylon rope. After considering the evidences adduced in the case and other materials on record the learned Sessions Judge held that the case was not properly investigated by police officer in charge and there were lapses on the part of the Investigating Officer and witnesses for prosecution has not been examined by the Police at an early date. The learned Sessions Judge commented on the performance of P.W. 14 Sri Bimal Chander Biswas, a Sub -Inspector of Calcutta Police who was the Investigating Officer in the case. The learned Sessions Judge observed that the Investigating Officer had deviated from his normal duties of investigation in a serious case and most of his statement which was given out at the time of cross -examination could not be treated as a substantive statement either for the prosecution or for the defence. P.W. 2, Kamla Jaiswal, the mother of the deceased, stated that on May 31, 1985, the deceased was given in marriage with the accused No. 1, Orilal Jaiswal and sufficient dowry had been given at the time of marriage as per demands of the parents of Orilal. P.W. 2 further stated in her deposition that after one month of the marriage, the deceased, Usha Jaiswal, came to their residence but she had noticed her daughter in anxiety and she had been crying all the time. She had enquired about the reason and then she was told by the deceased that since the father -in -law of her mother -in -law had died after three -four days of the marriage the mother -in -law had abused her by telling that she was 'alakshmi' and brought misfortune. On other occasions also the deceased had stated that her husband used to come drunk and abuse her and he had maltreated her and even assaulted her physically and had been telling her to take back all the bridal presents as the same were of inferior quality and bring goods of better quality. P.W. 2 Kamla had also stated that her youngest daughter used to visit the matrimonial home of the deceased and having come to learn from her that the deceased had not been keeping well, she was brought to their house and thereafter she was admitted to the hospital where she had delivered a dead child. The mother -in -law of the deceased came to the hospital to see the deceased and she told the deceased that she was a woman of bad omen and vile even to the extent of swallowing her baby. The mother -in -law had also told to her daughter that he should commit suicide. In her deposition, the mother of the deceased also stated that the in -laws also demanded fresh dowries of articles such as Fridge etc. She also stated that a few days before the occurrence, the deceased had come to her residence and was telling that she would not go to her husband's place since the husband and mother -in - law had been treating her cruelly. She also stated that on the day of committing suicide the accused, Orilal Jaiswal, came to her house at about 10.00 a.m. and told her to go to their house since her daughter had been quarrelling with his mother. When she requested Orilal Jaiswal to convince her mother Orilal replied that he was unable to say anything to her (his) mother. P.W. 2 Kamla told Orilal Jaiswal that on the next day she would send her son to their house. Shortly thereafter, in between 12.00 to 1.00 p.m., she had received the information that there had been something with her daughter who had been taken to the hospital. Immediately his son, Om Parkash, went to the hospital and thereafter she and other members of the family went to the hospital where she was told that her daughter had killed herself by hanging. She stated in her deposition that she became shocked on hearing the news of death of her daughter and was not in a position to make any statement. She was taken home and she also became unconscious. Next day, she requested her husband to take her to the police station to make a statement. Accordingly on the next day she had been taken to the police station and she made a statement which was written in Bengali and such statement was treated as FIR by the police.;