STATE OF J&K Vs. SHAM LAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal by the State is against the judgment of acquittal delivered by the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu in file No. 38/Sessions, which was decided on 12.03.2010. The said case arose out of FIR No. 33/2005 registered under Sections 302/452 RPC. According to the prosecution, the deceased-Pooja Devi, who was the daughter of PW-1 Kamla Devi and PW-2 Harbans Lal, was being harassed by the respondent/accused-Sham Lal. Pooja Devi was reportedly about 20 years of age and was a student of BA-I and the respondent-Sham Lal alias Pipa S/o Sarda Ram, used to allegedly harass her whenever she went to and fro her college. It appears that as per the prosecution case, the said Sham Lal proposed to Pooja Devi to enter into matrimony with him on a number of occasions which, according to the prosecution, was disclosed by her to her parents. The deceased-Pooja Devi is said to have rejected the proposal and overtures of Sham Lal on all occasions and according to the prosecution, Sham Lal told her that if she did not agree, he could go to any extent.

(2.) It is further alleged that on 31.05.2005, when PW-2 Harbans Lal (the father of the deceased) was away from his village Kullian in Tehsil R.S. Pura and her mother PW-1 Kamla Devi also had taken her cattle for the purposes of making them drink water, she had asked Pooja Devi to sit in the shop, which belonged to her father. The prosecution case further is that around 12.30 in the afternoon, when Kamla Devi was returning and was at a short distance from her shop, she saw the accused-Sham Lal coming out of her house/shop and running from the gate and she also saw smoke coming out of her shop. She ran towards the shop and found that her daughter Pooja Devi was burning. According to the prosecution, Kamla Devi asked her daughter the reason for her burns, on which Pooja Devi is alleged to have stated that Sham Lal had come to their house and poured kerosene oil on her and set her on fire. Thereafter, Kamla Devi cried for help and others came to the spot and Pooja Devi was taken to Govt. Medical College Hospital, Jammu for treatment, where she died on the same day.

(3.) It is pertinent to note that no FIR was registered on that day, i. e., 31.05.2005. According to the prosecution, this was because Kamla Devi was not in her senses and it is only eight days later that she regained her senses and made her statement on 08.06.2005, whereupon FIR No. 33/2005 was registered under Sections 302/452 RPC at Police Station, R.S. Pura. Thereafter, the usual investigative steps were undertaken by the police and on completion of the investigation the challan was filed in the Court. On 21.01.2006, the Court framed the charge against the respondent-Sham Lal for the offences punishable under Sections 302/452 RPC, to which he pleaded not guilty, and consequently, the trial ensued. In the course of the trial, the prosecution sought to produce as many as 13 witnesses. Thereafter, the statement of the accused was recorded under Section 342 Cr. P.C,, 1973 where he denied any involvement in the alleged crime. In the said statement, he also stated that he was perhaps falsely implicated because of inter-caste rivalry. The defence produced one witness, namely, Dr. Anayat Ullah Sheikh primarily to explain as to why the burn injuries suffered by the deceased-Pooja Devi would not have permitted her to make any oral statement. After examining the entire evidence on record and considering the arguments advanced on behalf of the prosecution and the defence, the trial Court held that the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the charge against the accused beyond doubt and as such, the accused was acquitted and directed to be released from custody forthwith.