SUGHAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal has been preferred by the appellant/accused under Section 374 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against a Judgment dated 19 th August 2003 in Sessions Trial No. 128/02 by the First Additional Sessions Judge Bhind (M.P.),convicting thereby the accused for commission of offence punishable under section 302 of I.P.C. and sentencing him to suffer imprisonment for life with a fine of Rs. 1,000/- for committing murder of his wife Smt. Umadevi. He was further convicted for offence punishable under Section 498-A of I.P.C. and sentenced to suffer three years' rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs. 1,000/-. In case of default in payment of fines, additional rigorous imprisonment of 6-6 months was imposed on him, by the trial court.

(2.) The facts, in brief, just for the decision of this appeal are that on 9 th July 2001 in the morning when the complainant Shripal, father of Smt. Umadevi (deceased) received an information that his daughter was found dead in the village Sikahata under the control of Police Station Umari, he alongwith his son and brother-in-law proceeded to the village. On reaching the place, they found dead her daughter having received injuries over her feet. After sometime, their son-in-law, i.e., accused Sughar Singh appeared to them who informed that his wife died due to biting by snake. Accordingly, on that very day, the Village Chowkidar, namely, Rambharose proceeded to Police Outpost, Billav to lodge the report of the incident. During investigation, it was collected that on 13 th May 2000, Smt. Umadevi was married to appellant Sughar Singh. It was alleged that after marriage, the accused and his parents for their unlawful demands of golden chain and a Scooter harassed and tortured the deceased physically and mentally but the father of the deceased despite his sincere efforts could not save his daughter. The Marg was registered and inquiry was conducted. The dead-body of the deceased was sent for postmortem. As per the opinion of the doctor, the deceased died due to throttling. After investigation, the charge-sheet was filed in the court of Judicial Magistrate Bhind. The learned trial Court after recording the evidence and hearing the parties at length found the appellant guilty and punished him accordingly for the alleged offences, as mentioned above, hence, this appeal.

(3.) The contention of the learned counsel for the appellant is that the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by the trial Judge is against the facts and evidence on record, ignoring the law applicable to case. It is contended that the learned trial Judge fell in error in recording conviction of appellant for committing murder of his wife after placing reliance on the evidence of the relatives of the deceased-wife. It is submitted that there is no direct evidence of the incident and the case is totally based on the circumstantial evidence. All chains of circumstances do not connect the appellant with the alleged crime. It is contended that the guilt of the accused is not proved by the prosecution beyond doubts. Therefore, on the basis of the above arguments, it is prayed that by allowing the present appeal, the accused be acquitted of the alleged offences.