STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. TANAJI SHAMRAO SHALKE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS appeal takes exception to the judgment and order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Sangli, dated January 21, 1987 in Sessions Case No. 26 of 1986, whereby the respondent-original accused was acquitted of the charge of having committed offence punishable under sections 498-A and 306 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the prosecution case is that the respondent treated his wife deceased-Kamal with cruelty, who committed suicide within 3 years from the marriage thereby induced, abetted and facilitated her to commit suicide on 20th November, 1985 at village Tambhave Dhandbag, Taluka Islampur, District Sangli. The accused is resident of village Tambhave Dhandbag in Taluka Islampur and is an agriculturist by occupation. The deceased Kamal hailed from Bombay and was the daughter of P. W. 2 Shakuntla. The incident in question occurred on 20th November, 1985 within around 2/3 years of the marriage between accused-Tanaji and deceased-Kamal. The charge framed against the accused reads thus:

(3.) THE prosecution examined P. W. 1 Taluka Executive Magistrate, who had recorded the statement of the deceased-Kamal on 20-11-1985, when she was admitted to hospital after the attempt of committing suicide. This statement has been proved by P. W. 1 and is brought on record as Exhibit 11. Besides, the prosecution examined P. W. 2 Shakuntla, the mother of the deceased-Kamal. The case as unfolded on the basis of the statement. Exhibit 11 recorded by P. W. 1 is that the deceased-Kamal made grievance that 2/3 days prior to the date of incident her husband had pressed her throat and slapped her because she did not remove grass from firewood. The deceased further stated before him that on 20th November, 1985, accused threatened her that he would cut her neck by knife as she failed to cover the pot containing cow milk and on account of which some ash had fallen in the milk. It is further stated that on account of the said threat given by the accused she became crazy and attempted to end her life by pouring kerosene on her body and setting herself on fire in the sugar cane crop in the nearby land. In the process she suffered 54% burn injuries. In her statement she revealed that on account of torture and torment meted out to her due to her inefficiency in performing agricultural work she decided to end her life. On the basis of said statement, P. W. 3 registered the offence on the same day. On the next day, i. e. on 21st November, 1985 P. W. 3 visited the scene of offence and attached article such as kerosene bottle, burned saree, burned petticoat and sickle from the spot, for which panchanama was drawn at Exhibit 6. It has come in evidence that deceased-Kamal succumbed to the injuries on 30th November, 1985. It is only thereafter, P. W. 3 the Investigating Officer proceeded to record the statements of the father, mother and maternal cousin of the deceased on December 3, 1985. As seen from the complaint Exhibit 14, he has recorded statements of persons who were stated to be on the scene of offence, namely, Akkatai Bhagwan Lokhande and Hirabai Shamrao Fasale as well as brother in law and sister in law, namely, Bhimrao Shamrao Shalke and Chandra Shalke. However, those persons have not been examined during the trial. No reason is forthcoming for their non-examination. The prosecution, as aforesaid, has examined P. W. 1 Taluka Executive Magistrate who has deposed the fact that he had recorded the statement of the deceased-Kamal on 20th November, 1985 as per the information given by her to him in the presence of Medical Officer Yadav. For establishing the allegation of cruelty, the prosecution has relied on the evidence of P. W. 2, who is the mother of the deceased. In her examination-in-chief she alleges that till one year after the marriage the couple had cordial relations, but after one year accused started beating his wife and started tormenting her. She has further deposed that the deceased used to tell her about the treatment meted out to her by the accused and also told her not to disclose the said fact. She has further deposed that 6 months prior to the death of Kamal, the accused was demanding money and valuable securities such as clothes. She further deposed that the accused was ill-treating her wife and she had noticed wheel marks on the back of the deceased 6 months prior to her death. The accused had denied the charge and claimed to be tried. At the conclusion of the trial, the Sessions Court by judgment dated January 21, 1987 recorded the order of acquittal in favour of the accused on both the counts, holding that the prosecution had failed to bring home the guilt. The trial Court has mainly discarded the evidence of P. W. 2 as in its view the same was "hearsay" evidence and, therefore, inadmissible in law. In so far the statement recorded by P. W. 1 purported to be the dying declaration, Exhibit 11, the Court has observed that the question regarding the cause of death was not in issue and, therefore, the said statement would be inadmissible, having regard to the provisions of section 32 of the Evidence Act. Having discarded the said statement as well as the evidence of P. W. 2 as hearsay, the trial Court found that there was no other legal evidence to record the finding of guilt against the accused of the alleged offence. Accordingly, the trial Court proceeded to record acquittal in favour of the accused, which decision is the subject matter of the challenge in the present appeal.