STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. AMAR DEV

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal filed by the State of H.P. under Section 378 Cr.P.C. against the judgment of the Court of learned Sessions Judge, Bilaspur, dated 19.2.2003, vide which he acquitted the respondents of the charges framed against them under Sections 306, 498 -A read with Section 34 I.P.C.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated, the facts of the case are that on 23.4.1997, a statement under Section 154 Cr.P.C. was made by PW -4 Jagdish Lal, father of deceased Kusam Lata, in which, he alleged that he had performed the marriage of his daughter in the month of October, 1994, with respondent No. 1 Amar Dev, who was serving in Telephone Department at Shimla. He alleged that at that time Kusam Lata was living with her in -laws in their house and at sometime she was staying with her husband. It was alleged that when ever he or any other family members wanted to call Kusam Lata, in -laws of the deceased were not sending her and used to ill -treat her. On 21.4.1997, he had gone to the house of Kusam Lata to call her, but the other respondents refused to send her and respondent No. 1 was not in his house and he came back on 22.4.1997. At 9.15 P.M., he got a telephonic message that his daughter Kusam Lata was seriously ill and had been admitted in Bilaspur Hospital. He alongwith other persons went there and found that Kusam Lata had died because of taking of some poisonous medicines. It was alleged that the respondents who are husband, mother -in -law, father -in -law and sister -in -law of the deceased, used to maltreat her and resultantly the deceased took the step. On this report, a case was registered and after investigation, the challan was filed in the Court of learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bilaspur, who committed the case to the Court of learned Sessions Judge, Bilaspur, who tried the respondents as detailed above, leading to their acquittal.

(3.) ON appraisal of the statement of Medical Officer PW -3 Dr. N.K. Sankhyan, who conducted the postmortem on the body of the deceased. It is clear that the deceased had no injury marks on her body and the cause of death was opined as cardio respiratory failure as a result of consumption of some poison. After seeing the Chemical Examiner opinion, the Medical Officer opined that she died due to consumption of aluminium phosphide poisoning.