STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Vs. ABDUL LATIF

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal by the State of Madhya Pradesh is directed against the judgment dated 14.11.2006 in Criminal Appeal No.1685 of 1998, whereby the Division Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Jabalpur, has allowed the appeal in part and altered the conviction of the respondent-accused from Section 302 IPC to Section 304 Part I of IPC. The respondent-accused was in custody for about ten years and five months as on the date of the judgment passed by the High Court. The High Court has sentenced the accused for the period which he had already undergone.

(2.) The prosecution case in brief is that Nazma Begum (hereinafter referred to as the `deceased') is the wife of the respondent-accused. They were married about eleven years back from the date of the incident. Reshma and Taufique are the daughter and son respectively of the accused and the deceased. In the intervening night of 17th and 18th June, 1996, the accused went to attend the `Milad' and came back to his house at 12 in the night. It is said that after coming to his house, some altercation took place between the deceased and the accused, as a result of which the accused gave a kick to the deceased and on receiving the blow of kick, deceased was hit by the flagstone of almirah. The accused further gave two to three pushes to the deceased, as a result whereof she received multiple injuries. Thereafter, the accused strangled the deceased by an artificial plait (chutila), as a consequence of which she died.

(3.) The incident was witnessed by the minor children namely, Reshma and Taufique. It is further averred that the accused terrorized his children and told them not to disclose the incident to anybody. It is further contended that later on the deceased went to the house of his neighbour, Sitaram Pathak and told him that after attending the `Milad', when he came back to his house, he found his wife dead. He requested Sitaram Pathak to call his parents-in-law. In the morning of next day, his father-in-law lodged a report at 5.19 hours in the concerned police station.