STATE OF GUJARAT Vs. ANIL KESHAVJI RAVANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present Appeal has been preferred by the appellant ­ State of Gujarat, being aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 24-10-1997, rendered by the learned 2nd Extra Assistant Sessions Judge, Jamnagar, in Sessions Case No.19 of 1994,whereby the respondent (original accused) has been acquitted of the offence under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated,the facts giving rise to the case of the prosecution, based upon the complaint dated 17- 7-1992 (Exh.41) filed by P.W.2 Jethalal Mulji, father of the deceased, are that his daughter Malaben (the deceased) was married to the accused about nine years before the incident. She had two children from the said wedlock. In the afternoon of 16-7-1992 the deceased made a telephone call from Jamnagar to the shop of the complainant asking him to call her brother Ajit (PW 4) and tell him that her husband (the accused) beats and tortures her. The deceased further told the complainant that she is sending her son Nirav in the State Transport Bus from Jamnagar, with the conductor. However, Nirav, the grandson of the complainant, did not arrive in the said bus. The case of the prosecution is that the accused used to frequently harass the deceased and beat her. He also accused her of being characterless. About fifteen days before the filing of the complaint, the deceased had spoken to the complainant that she had been thrown out of the house by the accused. The accused is stated to have said that the children would be kept by him and if the deceased did not go away to the house of her parents, then she should "go and die". It is further stated that at 11.30 PM on 16-7-1992, the husband of the complainant's wife's sister, made a telephone call to the complainant, informing him that the deceased was serious and they should come immediately to Jamnagar. The complainant, accompanied by his wife Jayaben and his son Ajit, went to Jamnagar where they were informed that their daughter Malaben had consumed poison and had died during the treatment. It is further the case of the prosecution that the accused used to inflict physical torture on the deceased and even previously, the matter had been settled about four to five times. The accused had assured the complainant that he would not harass the deceased in future. The crux of the case of the prosecution is that the deceased had been left with no option but to commit suicide by consuming a poisonous substance, due to the mental torture inflicted by the accused by calling her 'characterless', and also due to the physical torture meted out to her,by him.

(3.) IN support of its case, the prosecution has examined thirteen witnesses and produced documentary evidence. After the recording of the evidence of the prosecution witnesses was over, the Trial Court explained to the accused, the statements appearing against him in such evidence. The defence of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973, was that of denial. The accused specifically denied that he had ever made any accusation against the deceased regarding her character or that he had beaten the deceased. The accused further denied that the letters at Exhs.34 to 37 and Exh.39, produced by the complainant, were written by her. He has further stated that he was not present in the house when the incident occurred, and came to know of it on returning home. Thereafter, he went to the Hospital and took custody of the body of the deceased and performed her last rites.