RAJINDER SINGH Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners herein (hereafter referred to as the accused) are alleged to have committed the murder of one Raj Devi, wife of accused Rajinder Singh and daughter -in -law of accused Sunni Ram and to have caused dis -appearance of the evidence. They have prayed for being released on bail on the ground that they are innocent and there is no evidence connecting them with the commission of the offence alleged to have been committed by them.

(2.) I have heard the learned counsel for the accused persons and the learned Addl. Advocate General for the State and have also gone through the investigation records and the report of the police which has been placed on record.

(3.) A perusal of the record reveals that said Raj Devi went somewhere without informing her family members on 9.3.2000. When she could not be found anywhere, a report about her being missing was lodged in Police Post, Chirgaon on 11.3.2000. Search for her by the police as also by her family members did not yield any result. Ultimately, on 21.3.2000, a de -composed body of Raj Devi was found near her matrimonial house. The post mortem of the dead body of the deceased did not lead to a specific conclusion about the cause of her death except that the probable time that had elapsed between the death and post mortem was about one week. The post mortem was conducted on 25.3.2000 and, thus, as per the medical opinion, her death occurred around 18.3.2000. On the basis of the chemical analysis report, the doctor conducting the post mortem has opined on 23.5.2000 that presence of organo phosphorus compound from the body of the deceased indicated consumption of poison by the deceased during her life time. Thus, the cause of death of the deceased appears to be consumption of poison. What can be inferred is that if it was a death by poisoning, the poison was consumed around 18.3.2000 whereas the deceased was missing from her matrimonial house i.e. house of the accused persons since 9.3.2000. There is no evidence as to where the deceased remained during the period 9.3.2000 to 17/18.3.2000. What can be said on the basis of the material placed on record is that at -least she was not residing with the accused persons in her matrimonial house during this period. It is no disputed that consequent upon the report about her missing, the police had conducted the search of her matrimonial house and she was not found there. A story about her illicit intimacy, on being prompted by her mother despite her unwillingness to have extra -marital relations, also emerges in the facts and circumstances of the case. In case this version has any grain of truth in it, it can be legitimately inferred that on being persuaded by her mother to have illicit relations with others against her wishes, the deceased might have committed suicide. The material brought on record by the investigating agency is of the nature that, in my view, the bail to the accused persons should not be denied on the ground of gravity of the offence and the severely of the punishment.