JAWAHAR LAL Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The first appellant, Jawahar Lal, his parents and two sisters were tried by the Court of Session, Gwalior, for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 120-B, 149 read with Section 34, IPC. All the five persons were found guilty of the offences charged against them and they were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life. While undergoing sentence of imprisonment, the first appellant's parents died and the remaining accused filed the present appeal challenging their conviction and sentence. The allegations against the appellants is that they caused the death of Narayanibai, the wife of the first appellant, Jawahar Lal.

(2.) The prosecution case is that the five accused persons hatched a conspiracy to cause the death of Narayanibai and they doused her in kerosene and set her ablaze in between 11 AM and 2 PM on 18-11-1980. The first appellant, Jawahar Lal and his father Shreeram were having a cloth shop and all the accused persons were residing on the first floor of a double storey building on rental basis. The marriage between the deceased, Narayanibai and the first appellant Jawahar Lal took place in February, 1975 and they had three children. During the relevant time, the eldest daughter Pinki was about 5 years of age and the youngest son, Dhiraj was 1 year old. The first appellant, Jawahar Lal went to the Police Station and gave a statement to PW-8 at about 3.00 PM, wherein he stated that his sister Madhu had come to his shop and told him that his wife Narayanibai had set fire to herself after closing the door of the room and that his sister tried to open the door but she could not open it. He stated that on hearing this, he came running to the house and pushed the door open and found his wife's dead body. PW-10, Asstt. Sub-Inspector, recorded the information of the incident at about 4.00 P.M. and he reached the place of occurrence and held an inquest of the dead body. In the inquest report itself, he mentioned that the dead body was lying on the floor and the mouth of the deceased was found open and a piece of burnt cloth was visible in her mouth. It was also noticed that the hair and torso part of the dead body, which was touching the floor of the room, were not burnt. The body was sent for post-mortem and PW-4 and PW-9 conducted the post-mortem examination. In the post-mortem report also, it was stated that the nose of the deceased was bleeding and her mouth was open, in which a bluish cloth was found stuffed. The outer portion of the cloth was burnt a little and on taking out the cloth from the mouth, the tongue was found to have been pressed inwardly. The cloth stuffed in the mouth of the deceased had completely blocked her trachea and the piece of cloth taken out from her mouth was found emitting the smell of kerosene. The Doctor opined that the victim Narayanibai had died of asphyxia. He also was of the view that the death was homicidal in nature.

(3.) The appellants set up the plea of alibi. The first appellant stated that he was at the cloth-shop and his sister, Madhu had come there and told him that his wife had committed suicide. The appellants 2 and 3 also denied their complicity in the crime. The learned Sessions Judge fund that these appellants, along with their parents, must have caused the death of the deceased by forcibly setting her on fire after having poured kerosene on her. The learned Sessions Judge was of the view that the deceased Narayanibai was aged 27 years at the time of the incident and all the appellants must have been instrumental in causing the death of the deceased.