AMRUT SADASHIO HULGUNDE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) HEARD Mr. Daga, Counsel for the appellant and Mr. Loney, A. P. P. the respondent-State.

(2.) THE appellant-Amrut Sadashio Hulgunde is challenging the judgment and order dated 15-12-1995, passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Chandrapur. In Session Trial No. 36 of 1995, under which the appellant-accused has been found guilty of having committed murder of his wife Mahananda by pouring kerosene and by setting her on fire by burning stick from hearth, and so also for subjecting her to cruelty with a view to satisfy his illegal demand of money from her parents, and thereby came to be convicted under section 302 I. P. C. and sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/-, in default to suffer R. I. for three months. No substantive sentence is imposed for having committed offence under section 498-A of I. P. C.

(3.) IT is the prosecution case that the appellant-accused was married to Mahananda about 8 years prior to the date of incident and that they had three sons and a daughter born out of the wedlock. Initially, the couple was residing at Latur. Then they came to Gadchandur for work. After four years, they again returned to Latur. Thereafter they again came back to Gadchandur after about two years. They started living at village Shengaon. According to the prosecution, the mother of the appellant-accused insisted upon the appellant-accused to send his wife Mahananda to her father with a demand for money and as Mahananda refused to oblige, she was beaten by the accused and was sent to her parents place. Once Mahananda visited her parents along with her mother-in-law and then returned to her husband. At this time, Mahananda had told her father Ram Bala Musale (P. W. 1) that she was not allowed to come back in the house for two days as she had not pressed for demand of money. It is in this background, the appellant-accused did not send Mahananda to her parents place for a year or two and he used to beat Mahananda under influence of liquor as she did not put any demand for money. It is the prosecution case that a day prior to the incident, Mahananda has been to the Court in order to attend the case relating to her employment and from there she went to her parents house at Gadchandur and stayed over night and returned to her husbands place on the next day, i. e. on 8-11-1994, in the morning, because of which her husband questioned her as to why she did not return on the day she had been to the Court, on which the deceased Mahananda told him that as it was getting dark she stayed at her parents house because of which her husband attempted to assault her, and as she asked him not to beat her unnecessarily, he spared her and thereafter asked her to prepare tea. In order to prepare tea, she went out to get fuel, and when she came back in the house, appellant-accused poured kerosene on her person and set her on fire. On this, deceased Mahananda rushed out of the house shouting "firefire". Neighbours extinguished her fire by pouring water and she was taken to hospital. Ram Bala Musale (P. W. 1), Father of Mahananda got the information about the incident on 8-11-1994 at about 9. 30 a. m. that Mahananda had received burn injuries and she was taken to hospital at Gadchandur. On this, he went to Gadchandur and came to know that Mahananda had been shifted to Chandrapur General Hospital. On meeting his daughter, he was informed that the appellant-accused had set her on fire for money and stated that her father had married her to butcher. According to the prosecution, on 11-11-1994. Head Constable Kumbhare (P. W. 5) visited the hospital and recorded statement of Mahananda after obtaining certificate from the Medical Officer that the patient was fit to give statement. In her statement, Mahananda told that her husband had poured kerosine on her person and had set her ablaze with the help of stick from hearth. After recording statement of Mahananda. Head Constable Kumbhare got an endorsement from the doctor that the patient was conscious. Thereafter he prepared his report and submitted it to the Police Station, Chandrapur City with Police Constable Shailesh. The Police Constable Shailesh lodged First Information Report on behalf of Sau. Mahananda Amrut Hulgunde, which came to be registered vide Crime No. 0/1994 at 20. 20 hours. On 11-11-1994, an offence under sections 498-A and 307 I. P. C. by the police against the appellant-accused. After registering the First Information Report, the Police requisitioned Tahsildar, Chandrapur, to record dying declaration of Mahananda. Therefore, Shri Vishwanath Bagde (P. W. 9), Tahsildar, visited General Hospital, Chandrapur, and after obtaining certificate from Medical Officer recorded her dying declaration Exh. 20. After the dying declaration came to be recorded by the Tahsildar, Chandrapur, the case was transferred to Police Station, Gadchandur on 12-11-1994 at 11. 10 a. m. and a fresh Crime No. 113 of 1994 came to be registered against the appellant-accused having committed offence under section 498-A and section 307 I. P. C. , vide F. I. R. Exh. 24. On 13-11-1994, P. S. I. Vilas Narnavar (P. W. 11) who was attached to Police Station, Chandrapur City, received a memo Exh. 33 to the effect that patient Mahananda has died. Therefore, on 14-11-1994, he went to hospital, examined the dead body of Mahananda and prepared inquest panchanama Exh. 34. He then sent the dead body for postmortem examination.