SHASHI PAL MALHOTRA AND OTHERS Vs. STATE (DELHI ADMINISTRATION)

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against an order of the learned Additional Sessions Judge dated 17th Oct., 1987 convicting the appellants for an offence under Sec. 306/34 of the Indian Penal Code and sentencing them to various terms of imprisonment. The appellant Shashi Pal Malhotra and Smt. Raj Rani were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and also to the payment of fine of Rs. 4,000.00, in default of payment of which they were directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year. The third appellant Smt. Ram Piari was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for two years and to the payment of fine of Rs. 2,000.00, in default of payment of which she was sentenced to further rigorous imprisonment for six months.

(2.) The incident in this case is of 17th of June, 1984 and the place of the incident is house No. 46, Kalyanvas, Delhi. The deceased Smt. Veena Malhotra was found burnt in the bath-room of the aforesaid house. On the said date she was living separately from her mother-in-law along with her husband Shashi Pal Malhotra in this house. Her mother-in-law was living in house No. G-61, Malka Ganj on the date of incident and at the time of the incident Shashi Pal Malhotra was also in the company of his mother at Malka Ganj along with his sister Raj Rani. Admitted case of the parties is that the deceased had for the first time seen appellant Raj Rani in the house of her mother-in-law in the past six years as she was not on good terms with her brothers and parents. Accused Shashi Pal Malhotra two nights before had gone to see his mother at Malka Ganj and on the early morning of the date of incident the deceased had gone to see him. It appears from the evidence in the case that something had happened there as a result of which the deceased returned to her house at Kalyanvas and after writing a suicide note she committed suicide.

(3.) I will come to these details again, but before I do so I would like to state that information regarding the incident was given by one Shri J.P. Barela, a resident of house No. 82, Kalyanvas at about 5.10 p.m. and he is stated to have told the police that house No. 46 Kalyanvas was lying closed and smoke was emitting therefrom. That set the police in motion and on reaching the spot they forced the door open and found the dead body of the deceased Smt. Veena Malhotra lying in burnt condition in the bath-room. They further, apart from other things, recovered a diary Ex. P-6 containing the suicide note marked Ex. PW 3/A which contains a number of facts.