- (1.) PRAFULLA C. Pant, J. This appeal, preferred under Section 374 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred as Cr. PC.), is directed against the judgment and order dated 28-01-1992, passed by the then learned Sessions Judge, Tehri Garhwal, in Sessions trial No. 02 of 1991, whereby accused / appellants namely Bhagwati Prasad, Deveshwar Prasad, Sampati Devi and Shiv Prasad have been convicted un der Section 498-A and Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred as I. P. C. ). Each one of the con victs has been sentenced to undergo im prisonment for life under Section
(2.) B of I. P. C. and rigorous imprisonment for a pe riod of two years under Section 498-A of I. P. C. Heard learned counsel for the par ties and perused the lower court record. Prosecution story, in brief, is that Smt. Jasoda (deceased), daughter of Pitambar Datt (P. W. 1) was married to ac cused / appellant Bhagwati Prasad. Ac cused / appellant Deveshwar Prasad is fa ther-in- law, and accused / appellant Sampati Devi is mother-in-law of the de ceased. Accused /appellant Shiv Prasad is brother-in-law of the deceased. Prosecu tion case is that the deceased was ill-treated for non- fulfillment of demand of dowry before her death. About five months before the incident, Pitamber Datt (P. W. 1) father of the deceased, along with Govind Ram (P. W. 4) and Jasoda Devi went to the house of Bhagwati Prasad and asked him to keep his wife (Jasoda) with him and there should be no com plaint of harassment against her. On 23-08-1990, there was a marriage of elder brother of the deceased in her parents house and Jagdamba Prasad (P. W. 5), younger brother of the deceased, went on 21-08-1990 to invite his sister Jasoda and her husband to participate in the marriage. However, Bhagwati Prasad refused to at tend the marriage and he did not allow Jasoda to go and attend the marriage. It is also alleged by the complainant (Pitambar Dart) that Bhagwati Prasad, his parents and brother demanded Rs. 2,000/ - for completing construction of their house, which could not be paid by the parents of the deceased. On 23-08-1990, at about 04:00 P. M. , Rajendra Singh (P. W. 3) received information that Jasoda Devi has died by hanging in her in-laws place. When Pitamber Datt re ceived this information he proceeded to the village of Bhagwati Prasad. But, since he could not reach by 04:00 RM. on 23-08-1990, Pareshwar Prasad Joshi (P. W. 5) Patwari, to whom Bhagwati Prasad (husband of the deceased) in formed about the death of his wife, took the dead body in his possession and pre pared the inquest report and other nec essary papers. He also prepared site plan. On 24-08-1990, Pitambar Datt (P. W. I) lodged the first information re port (Ext. A-l), on the basis of which Patwari prepared the check report (Ext. A-3) and made entry in the general di ary, extract of which is Ext. A-ll. The investigation, on application of Pitambar Datt was transferred by the Naib Tehsildar by his order (Ext. A-4) to Chandi Prasad Semwal (P. W. 6 ). (In the interior hills (of Uttarakhand), certain Revenue Officials are given police pow ers, under U. P Government Notification No. 494 VIII-418 -16 dated 7th March 1916 ). On 24-08-1990, at about 04:00 RM. , postmortem examination was con ducted by Dr. R. K. Pant (P. W. 7), who found a ligature mark on the dead body. After postmortem examination, the Medical Officer opined that Jasoda has died of Asphyxia, due to hanging. Chandi Prasad Semwal (P. W. 6) after in terrogating the witnesses and collecting the evidence submitted charge sheet (Ext. A-6) against all the four accused/ appellants.
(3.) THE Magistrate, on receipt of charge sheet, after giving necessary cop ies to the accused, as required under Sec tion 207 of Cr. P. C. , appears to have com mitted the case to the court of Sessions, for trial. Learned Sessions Judge after hearing the parties, on 13-03-1991, framed charge of offences punishable under Section 498-A and 304-B of I. P. C. against all the four accused namely Bhagwati Prasad, Deveshwar Prasad, Sampati Devi and Shiv Prasad. In alter native, he also framed charge of offence punishable under Section 306 of I. P. C. All the four accused / appellants pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. On this, prosecution got examined P. W. 1 Pitambar Datt (father of the deceased); P. W. 2 Jagat Singh; P. W. 3 Rajendra Singh; P. W. 4 Govind Ram (uncle of the deceased); P. W. 5 Jagdamba Prasad (brother of the deceased); P. W. 6 Chandi Prasad Semwal (Investigating Officer); P. W. 7 Dr. R. K. Pant (who conducted the postmortem examina tion on the dead body of the deceased and prepared the autopsy report Ext. A-7) and P. W. 8 Pareshwar Prasad Joshi (who prepared the inquest report ). THE oral and documentary evidence was put to the accused under Section 313 of Cr. P. C. , in reply to which they stated that the evi dence adduced against them was false and it is further stated by them that Jasoda Devi committed suicide. However, no evidence in defence was adduced on behalf of the accused / appellants. After hearing the parties, the trial court found all the four accused guilty of the offences punishable under Section 498-A and 304-B of I. P. C. After hearing the parties on sentence, learned trial court sentenced each one of the convicts to undergo im prisonment for life under Section 304-B of I. P. C. and rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years under Section 498-A of I. P. C. Aggrieved by said judgment and order dated 28-01-1992, passed by the Sessions Judge, Tehri Garhwal, in Sessions Trial No. 02 of 1991, this appeal was pre ferred by the convicts before the Allahabad High Court on 12-02-1992, where it was admitted on 14-02-1992. THE appeal is re ceived by transfer to this Court under Section 35 of the U. P Re-organization Act, 2000, for its disposal. Before further discussion, it is per tinent to mention here, the ante mortem injuries found on the person of the de ceased by Dr. R. K. Pant (PW. 7), who pre pared the postmortem examination report (Ext. A-7 ). The ante mortem injuries are being reproduced, as under : i) "litigature mark 17 cm x 3. 5 cm situated between the larynx and the chin, direction obliquely up wards following the line of man dible, is a groove, the base pale, hard, leathery and parchment like and margins red and congested. Subcutaneous tissue under the mark is dry, white and glistening. ii) Two abrasion marks over the right foot dorsum over an area of 4 cm x 3. 5 cm, size varying from 2 cms x 1/10 cm to 4 cm x 3/10 cm. iii) Two abrasions over the left foot dorsum over an area 4 cm x 2 cm, size 3cm x 1/10 to 4cm x 4/ 10cm; and 5cm x 4cm size vary ing from 1. 5 cm x 1/10 cm to 5 cm to 2/10 cm. ";