ANAND KUMAR Vs. STATE OF UTTARANCHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE instant appeal challenges the judgment and order of conviction dated 5.2.2003 rendered by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Dehradun in Sessions Trial No. 186 of 1998, State Vs. Anand Kumar and two others. The said trial pertains to crime No. 301 of 1998 at police station Doiwala, District Dehradun, wherein Anand Kumar (husband), Ratan Lai (father -in -law) and Ms. Rama Devi (mother -in -law) were tried for the offences u/s. 498 -A and 306 IPC. The trial culminated into the acquittal of Ratan Lal and Ms. Rama Devi while the appellant Anand Kumar was found guilty for both the offences, wherefor he has appropriately been sentenced by the Trial Judge. As the facts emerging out from the first information report and other material available on record, it transpires that Ms. Reshma was married on 14.6.1993 with the appellant and she committed suicide in her matrimonial house on 25.9.1998 in the evening hours. This way, the incident took place within almost five years and three months of her marriage with the appellant. She died on account of burn injuries and as per her dying declaration, recorded by PW3 Ravindra Godbole, Sub -Divisional Magistrate, Sadar Dehradun, on 26.9.1998 at 11:50 AM, she sprinkled kerosene oil upon herself and set fire thereafter. The information of her critical condition was conveyed to her parents by Shyam Sunder (PW9). Her parents then rushed and reached first to the place of occurrence and subsequently in the hospital overnight from Ambala city. PW9 is another son -in -law of PW1 Laxmi Narayan (deceased's father) who used to reside 200 yards away from the matrimonial house of victim. Struggling between the life and death, she breathed her last sometime in the intervening night of 5/6.10.1998 i.e. almost 10 days after the incident. PW1 Laxmi Narayan lodged the FIR on 26.9.1998 at 8:45 PM after running from pillar to post i.e. from police station to hospital and back therefrom. Having received the information, so extended by PW9 (his second son -in -law), PW1 came to the matrimonial house of victim in the morning and gathered information from the accused persons that his daughter had been admitted in the hospital, as she had suffered some burn injuries while boiling the milk. PW1 went to lodge the report at the police station but it could not be lodged and he was asked to see his daughter first. He, accordingly, came to the hospital and found his daughter in a serious condition. When the entire incident was disclosed to him by his daughter, he went to the police station for lodging the report and thus, remained successful in his such effort. The police then came into motion, Sub -Divisional Magistrate was called in the hospital, who, in presence of the Medical officer, recorded her dying declaration from 11:50 AM to 12:10 PM. This way the dying declaration could be recorded within 20 minutes under the certificate of the medical officer to the effect that during such recording, Ms. Reshma was conscious throughout.

(2.) TO appreciate the narration from the mouth of Ms. Reshma, it would be in the fitness of things to reproduce the English translation of the same hereinunder:

(3.) IT would be worthwhile to keep in mind the admissibility and value of dying declaration which has been propounded by Hon'ble Apex Court time and again. In the case of Bhajju @ Koran Singh v. State of Madhya Pradesh reported in : (2012) 4 SCC 327, Hon'ble Apex Court has propounded the law on the subject. It has been held in the said judgment that: -