S.I.Jafri - (1.) HEARD the learned counsel for the appellant and also the learned counsel for the State at a great length. I have also gone through the statements of the witnesses produced in this case.
(2.) VINOD Kumar filed this appeal in this court with a prayer for bail against his conviction under section 302! IPC and sentence of life imprisonment recorded by Sri R. L.Soni, II Additional Sessions Judge, Saharanpur by his Judgment and order dated 5-3-86. The appeal was admitted by the High Court but the consideration of the prayer for bail was deferred till the receipt of the record from the lower court and the Hon'ble Court had summoned the record. Today, the aforesaid appeal alongwith the record of the case and also a separate bail application filed by the appellant have been listed before me for the consideration of bail. In this Case, the trial court while relying on the evidence of prosecution witnesses has held that the deceased Smt.Amita alias, Babli made an oral dying declaration before her two brothers and one Sushil Kumar and others that kerosene oil was poured on her by the appellant and she was then set on fire by him which resulted in her death subsequently. The Court has, therefore, convicted and sentenced the appellant as stated above.
(3.) IT was alleged by the prosecution that the appellant Vinod Kumar aged 25 years was married to Smt.Amita alias Babli aged about 22 years (deceased) on 9-5-83 in the Khatri Dharamshala, Mohalla Lakhigate, Saharanpur. The appellant started living in Railway Quarters, Saharanpur alongwith Smt. Amita alias Babli after his marriage and about (15-20) days prior to the present occurrence, he shifted to a rented house along with his wife in Mohalla Shoramian is the city of Saharanpur. IT was further alleged that the appellant did not treat his wife properly after the marriage and he forced her to bring Rs. 2,000/- from her father who was also living in the city of Saharanpur and, consequently, her father Shri Padam Parshad Jain met the demand of the appellant and paid him Rs. 2,000/-. IT was further alleged that the appellant continued to demand money and other articles and his father-in-law tried his best to fulfil the demands made by him. The appellant had further demanded T- V. Set which was also provided to him by his father-in-law. Even then, the accused used to torture his wife Amita alias Babli and maltreat her. She was also assaulted by the appellant for compelling her to bring more money from her father. IT was also alleged that in the last week of January 1984, the accused again beat her whereupon her father Sri Padam Parshad Jain and brothers went to the house of the accused and a compromise between the parties in the presence of Sri Om Prakash Gupta, maternal grand-father of the accused, was arrived at and the accused-appellant gave assurance by writing on a Stamp Paper of Rs. 5/- that he would neither assault nor maltreat her in future. This document Ex. Ka-1 was also signed by Sri Om Prakash Gupta, the maternal grand father of the appellant, as well as Sri Padam Parshad Jain. It was also alleged by the prosecution that on 13-5-84, the complainant Suresh Chandra Jain and Satendra Kumar Jain, the brothers of Smt. Amita alias Babli, received information at about 4 P. M. at their residence in Mohalla Lakhigate from some children that their sister Smt. Amita was burnt and on getting this information at about 4 P. M., they immediately reached the residence of Vinod Kumar appellant in Mohalla Shormian along with Ramesh Chandra Jain. It was further alleged that a number of persons of the Mohalla had already collected there by that time and they bad found that Smt. Amita was lying down in burnt condition and she was speaking. On enquiry, she told her brothers and others that her husband Vinod Kumar appellant had again asked her to bring more money from her parents and on her refusal to act accordingly, she was maltreated and the appellant by saying that he would not see her face in future had poured kerosene oil on her and set her on fire and ran away. Satendra Kumar and others took Smt. Amita to District Hospital, Saharanpur, while Suresh Chandra Jain went to the Police Station Mandi and lodged the report of the occurrence at 6.15 P. M. and consequently, a case under section 307 IPC was registered against the appellant. It was also mentioned in the report that Smt. Amita alias Babli had told him that the appellant had poured kerosene oil on her and set her on fire.;