M. Murtaza Husain, J. - (1.) THE three appellants, namely, Ashok Kumar, Rajendra Lal and Smt. Sudha have been convicted under Section 302/34 IPC on 22-12 - 1976 by the Addl. District & Sessions Judge, Lucknow. Each of them has been sentenced to undergo life imprisonment for that offence.
(2.) THE undisputed facts of the case under appeal are that J. P. Srivastava complainant (PW 2) and Rajendra Lal appellant belong to two educated and respectable Srivastava Kayastha families of Varanasi. THE complainant retired as Lecturer from the Railway College, Moghal Sarai whereas Rajendra Lal appellant retired as Head of the Economics Department of Harish Chandra Degree College, Varanasi. Sushil Kumar (PW 5) is complainant's son. Ashok appellant is the only son of Rajendra Lal appellant. At the time of occurrence he was posted as an Asstt. Engineer at Lucknow and was residing as tenant in a portion of the first floor of house no. 597/17-K in Mohalla Om Nagar. This house belongs to Prabhat Kumar and Rajendra Kumar P. Ws. Smt. Sudha appellant is the widowed daughter of Rajendra Lal appellant. She is a teacher at an Intermediate College of Varanasi. Smt. Meera deceased was the daughter of J. P. Srivastava complainant. She was a beautiful girl. On 13-5-73 she was married to Ashok appellant who was then posted at Allahabad. Meera was a student of M. A. at Varanasi University when her marriage took place. After her marriage Meera stayed with Ashok at Allahabad and also at Lucknow when he came here on transfer in the beginning of 1974. On 13-7-74 Ashok took Meera to his parents at Varanasi. He returned back to Lucknow on 18-7-74 leaving Meera at Varanasi. In the morning of 20-7-74 Meera came to Lucknow with her brother Sushil who went back to Varanasi the same day leaving Meera with her husband. At about 4.30 p.m. that day Rajendra Lal and Sudha appellants also came to Ashok's house and stayed there. In the same night (i.e., in the night of 20/21-7-74) at about 2.45 a. m. Meera, somehow or the other, received extensive burns at Ashok's house. The three appellants raised alarm whereby Prabhat Kumar (PW 1) and others were attracted and saw Meera burning. Prabhat rushed to the fire brigade station at Alambagh and brought a unit headed by Ram Raj Misra (PW 3). Meera was rushed in precarious condition to the Civil Dispensary at Hazratganj. The three appellants were accompanying her. Meera could not be admitted in that dispensary as no bed was available there. She was then taken to Balrampur Hospital where she was declared dead. Rajendra Lal appellant lodged report (Ex. kha-1) at P. S. Alambagh at 6.15 a.m. the same morning informing the Police about Meera's death through burning. It was not detailed in this report that how Meera was burnt. S. 1. Irshad Husain held inquest of Meera's dead body and sent it for post-mortem examination. Dr. R. K. Agarwal (P. W. 9) conducted autopsy at 3.10 p.m. on 22-7-74. He found second degree burns on the scalp and third degree burns all over the body of the deceased. The head of the deceased was emitting kerosene oil smell and tongue was protruded. Upon internal examination membranes, brain, pleura, larynx, both the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys were found congested. Soot particles were present in larynx, trachea and bronchi. Stomach and small intestines were empty though there was faecal matter in large intestines. The deceased was carrying a pregnancy of about six months and there were foetus of twins in her womb. Dr. Agarwal opined that Meera had died due to shock as a result of extensive burns at about 3 o'clock in the night of 20/21-7-74.
(3.) THE police did not suspect any foul play in the matter till the afternoon of 21-7-74 when J. P. Srivastava complainant, after receiving telephonic message at Varanasi about the burning of his daughter, rushed to Lucknow by a motor-taxi. He went to Ashok's residence where some persons told him that Meera was burnt to death by the appellants. THE complainant lodged a report about commission of Meera's murder by the appellants at P. S. Alambagh at 7 p. m. on 21-7-74 and on its basis a case was registered against the appellants. The prosecution case, as contained in complainant's report and elucidated at the trial, is that in the marriage of his eider daughter the complainant had spent about Rs. 10,000 on the occasion of Tilak and about Rs. 7000 or Rs. 8000 on the occasion of marriage. When Rajendra Lal negotiated Ashok's marriage with Meera no particular amount of dowry was settled but Rajendra Lal was under the impression that the complainant would spend the same amount in Tilak and marriage of Meera which was spent by him in his elder daughter's marriage. Tilak ceremony of Meera's wedding took place on 10-5-73. The complainant paid Rs. 4000 in cash and clothes worth Rs. 2000. The total expenditure incurred by him on that occasion was short by about Rs. 4000 in comparison to the amount spent by him in the Tilak of his elder daughter. Rajendra Lal bitterly felt that shortage and was even prepared to withdraw the proposal of marriage but he did not take that step as Meera was an extremely beautiful girl. When marriage of Meera took place on 13 - 5-73 the complainant gave a refrigerator worth Rs. 2800 and a radiogram worth Rs. 1500 besides incurring other routine expenditure, but Rajendra Lal could not forget the above noted deficiency of Rs. 4000. He and Sudha started taunting Meera for inadequacy of dowry and when she defended her father they began to maltreat her. They even prevailed upon Ashok to join [hands with them and he too started maltreating Meera.;