NARESHBHAI KALUBHAI MEDA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal has been filed by the appellant accused under Section 374 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, against the judgment and order dated 22.02.2019 passed by learned 7th Additional Sessions Judge, Vadodara in Sessions Case No.37 of 2018, whereby the appellant-accused was convicted for the offence under Sections 306 and 498(A) of the Indian Penal Code (herein after referred to as IPC for short). By the impugned judgment, under Section 306 of the IPC, the appellant was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of five years and ordered to pay Rs.10,000/- fine and in default of payment of fine, simple imprisonment for a period of eight months was imposed and under Section 498(A)of the IPC, the appellant was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of two years and ordered to pay Rs.3,000/- fine and in default of payment of fine, simple imprisonment for a period of six months. Both the sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

(2.) The case of the prosecution in short is that on 30.12.2017 at around 7:30 p.m., brother of the deceased namely Sanjesh received a phone call from his sister-deceased informing him that her husband, for no reason, keeping suspicion over her is indulging into quarrels and is assaulting her, so therefore, he was asked to take her back or else her husband will kill her and the said information was passed on to other family members of the deceased and pursuant thereto, in spite of repeated phone calls made upon the mobile phone of the present appellant-accused, it was found switched off. On 31.12.2017 at around 3:30 a.m. again there was a phone call received by family members of the deceased from one Rupabhai informing them that he received a phone call from the husband of the deceased informing him that both of them had a quarrel on account of which deceased is now under treatment at Sayaji Hospital, Vadodara. The family members of the deceased rushed to Sayaji Hospital and having reached there, inquiry was made from the husband of the deceased and they came to know that there was a quarrel between the husband and wife leading to the deceased, at around 1:30 a.m., inside a bathroom of Agora Mall and with the help of thin wire, she attempted to commit suicide and later on, passed away, for which an FIR was eventually lodged with Sama Police Station, Vadodara.

(3.) While considering application for suspension of sentence, learned advocate Mr. Pratik Barot submitted that this is a very short issue and he also supplied the papers in form of paper book to learned APP as well as to this Court indicating that provision of Section 306 read with Section 107 of the IPC is not at all attracted in the facts and circumstances of the case and the present appellant-accused has already undergone sentence for about 1 year and 4 months. In that view of the matter, he would not dispute as regards to conviction of the appellant-accused under Section 498(A) of the IPC, if this Court takes up this appeal for final hearing at this stage.