RAMJAN ABBAS MOMIN Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellants convicted for the offences under section 302 read with section 34 and under section 498-A read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code in Sessions Case No. 190 of 1993 have preferred this appeal against the order of their conviction and sentence.

(2.) THE facts leading to the conviction of the appellants are as follows: The appellant no.1 is the father of the appellant nos.2, 3 and 4, they being his sons and daughter. They were prosecuted for the murder of Noorjahan, wife of Rafique Momin, the appellant no.2 herein, by burning on 26th August 1993 between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. The appellants along with the deceased Noorjahan, the wife of the appellant no.2, were residents of Pirjade plots in Shastrinagar, Miraj, in district Sangli. Deceased Noorjahan was married to the appellant on 9th May 1993. For both the appellant no.2 and the deceased, this was their second marriage. Both of them had obtained divorce from their first marriage. The incident had taken place on 26th August 1993 between 11.00 and 11.30 a.m. in the aforesaid residence which was in occupation of the appellant nos.1, 2, 3 and the deceased. The appellant no.4 Bismillah is the married daughter of the appellant no.1 and was staying with her husband and children in the neighbourhood of the aforesaid residence of her father and brother. Though she was separately residing with her husband and children in the neighbourhood, most of the time she used to be in the house of her father. After her marriage in May, 1993, the appellants used to demand from the deceased bed, cushion and other articles and as she was unable to meet those demands, she was beaten up and subjected to physical and mental torture by all the appellants. The appellants used to quarrel with her very often of this score and on the date of the incident, the appellants poured kerosene on her person and the appellant no.2, her husband, set her on fire with a match-stick while she was busy cooking in the kitchen room. As a result of it, she got completely burnt. The people from the neighbourhood collected. Thereafter, she was taken to Sangli Civil Hospital where her two statements were recorded one by the Special Executive Magistrate and another by police head constable. On the basis of her statement, the offence was registered under C.R. No. 150 of 1993 at Miraj city police station for offences under section 498-A and 307 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Thereafter, investigation commenced, panchanama of the scene of offence was prepared; the appellants were arrested, statements of the witnesses were recorded; and the clothes of the appellants and the deceased were attached under panchanama. As Noorjahan died, the offence under section 307 was converted to one under section 302 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The statements of the witnesses were recorded. Postmortem was conducted on the dead body of the deceased. The clothes of the appellants and the deceased and the articles attached under spot panchanama were sent to the Chemical Analyser for chemical analysis. After the investigation was over, charge-sheet was filed in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Miraj, who committed the case to the Court of Sessions, Sangli, on 22.11.1993.

(3.) APART from the aforesaid oral testimony, the prosecution has brought on record the police station diary entries (exh. 9), spot panchanama (exh.10), arrest panchanama (exh.11), inquest panchanama (exh.14), postmortem notes (exh.15), letter of the deceased (Exh.25), Chemical Analyser's report (exh. 18) and the two written dying declarations. The defence of the appellants was of total denial. Their case was that they were falsely implicated at the instance of the brother and the parents of the deceased. The appellant no.1 was not in the house when the incident occurred. So also the appellant no.4 was in her own house at the time of the incident. The appellant nos. 2 and 3 were in the house when the deceased caught fire while cooking the food and shouted for help. They then rushed to the kitchen and extinguished the fire. Thereafter, they called the appellant no.4 Bismillah and then Noorjahan was taken to the Civil Hospital.