BHOOP SINGH Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present criminal revision petition under Section 397 read with Sections 401 and 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short the 'Code') is directed against the judgment passed by learned Sessions Judge, Sirmaur District at Nahan, on 26.08.2009 in Criminal Appeal No. 15-Cr.A/10 of 2006 whereby he dismissed the appeal filed by the petitioner and affirmed the judgment of conviction and sentence passed by learned Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Rajgarh, District Sirmaur, H.P., on 24.07.2006/26.07.2006, in Cr. Case No. 46/2 of 2005, whereby the petitioner was convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of 3 years and pay a fine of Rs.5, 000/- and in default of payment of fine to further undergo simple imprisonment for two months.

(2.) The prosecution story, in brief, is that the complainant is the wife of the petitioner, who claimed to have been treated with cruelty by the petitioner and filed a complaint against him which ultimately culminated into FIR No. 65/2005. In the complaint, it was stated that the complainant had studied up to second standard and was married to the petitioner about 8 years ago and out of the wedlock two children were born. At the time of lodging of FIR her third child about 8 months was in her womb. She complaint that during first four years of her marriage she was kept well by the husband but thereafter he started threatening her that he would re-marry to another girl and, therefore, she should leave his house and go to her parents house. At this, she told her husband that she had already given birth to a male and a female child and third child was in womb, what else he wanted from her. Besides that she was from a very poor agriculturist family and had been working at his house but the petitioner did not mend his ways. He started maltreating her by keeping her short of food and clothings and started administering beatings. Initially, she had not disclosed this fact to her parents with the hope that her husband would mend himself, but she came to know that petitioner had secret contact with some other girl. She further reported that three months ago she was given kicks and fist blow by the petitioner and then her father had taken her to his house alongwith her two minor children and thereafter she had been residing at her parents house alongwith her children for the last about five months and had given birth to the third child.

(3.) On the basis of the complaint, investigation was carried out and since prima facie case for an offence punishable under Section 498-A was made out, the petitioner was chargesheeted accordingly to which he pleaded not guilty.