High Court

Legal Reasoning

321-06-CRIAPEAL-1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAYBENCH AT AURANGABADCRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 321 OF 2006The State of Maharashtra… AppellantVersus1.Dnyaneshwar S/o. Jalindar TonduleAge : 24 years.2.Jamunabai W/o. Jalindar TonduleAge : 45 years.3.Subhash S/o. Shriram TekadeAge : 32 years.All residents of Nutan Wasahat,Jalna.… Respondents (Orig Accused)…..Mr. N. D. Batule, APP for Appellant – StateMr. Sudarshan J. Salunke, Advocate for Respondents No.1 to 3….. CORAM :ABHAY S. WAGHWASE, J. Reserved on: 25 JULY, 2025Pronounced on: 07 AUGUST, 2025JUDGMENT : 1.The instant appeal has been filed on behalf of the State againstthe judgment and order dated 19.01.2006, passed by the learned 1stAd-hoc Additional Sessions Judge, Jalna, thereby acquitting thepresent respondent from charges under Sections 498-A and 306 readwith Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code [IPC]. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-2- FACTS LEADING TO PROSECUTION’S CASE ARE AS UNDER2.Deceased Indubai, daughter of PW-2 was married to respondentNo.1 Dnyaneshwar in March 2001. Few days after the marriage,accused/husband and in-laws started taunting Indubai on herinability to cook properly. There was taunting on her complexion andshe was abused and given beating. Deceased Indubai reported theincidents to her brother and parents. The case of prosecution is that,due to persistent maltreatment mentioned above, deceased Indubaijumped into a well and committed suicide. A report to that effect waslodged by Ramprasad (PW1), i.e. brother of the deceased, on thestrength of which, investigation was carried out. 3.After gathering sufficient evidence, accused werechargesheeted. Before the trial Court, the prosecution, apart from thedocumentary evidence, adduced evidence of brother and parents.4.After recording the statement of the accused under Section 313of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the arguments of both sides wereheard by the learned trial Judge, and by judgment and order dated19.01.2006, the accused were acquitted of both the charges.Feeling aggrieved by the same, the State has preferred theinstant appeal. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-3- SUBMISSIONSOn behalf of the appellant - State:5.The learned APP submitted that there was cogent, convincing,reliable and trustworthy evidence on record. That, immediately aftermarriage, the husband and in-laws subjected deceased Indubai tomaltreatment. That, she was continuously abused and beaten for notpreparing food properly. That, there was continuous taunting to heron her complexion and thereby Indubai was subjected to both,physical and mental cruelty. Learned APP pointed out that, marriagewas of March 2001. That, apparently after few years i.e. in January2004, Indubai committed suicide while she was in the custody ofhusband and in-laws. That, there is convincing and consistentevidence of brother and parents of deceased Indubai. That, there wasno other reason for her to end up her life. Therefore, on both countsi.e. cruelty and abetment to commit suicide, it is submitted that, fullproof case for conviction was made out. That, evidence was notproperly appreciated by the learned trial Judge and hence, he urgesfor interference by allowing the appeal. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-4- On behalf of Respondents :6.In answer to above, learned counsel for the respondentspointed out that, prosecution has miserably failed to establish thecharges. According to him, there was no mental or physical cruelty asalleged. He submitted that the brother, who stayed with the deceased,did not make any complaint. That, parents have hearsay information.That, allegations are general and omnibus in nature. He furthersubmitted that, the incidents were not spelt out clearly. There is apossibility that the deceased met with an accidental death and,according to him, there is no evidence to show that the deceased fellinto the well on the fateful day. That, there was no physical or mentalmaltreatment so as to connect the accused persons to the same.Therefore, he supports the impugned judgment of acquittal and praysdismissal of the appeal for want of merits. EVIDENCE BEFORE THE TRIAL COURT7.In support of its case, prosecution has adduced evidence of inall four witnesses. Their role and status is as under : PW1 Ramprasad is the brother of deceased Indubai. He deposed atExhibit 25 as under: 321-06-CRIAPEAL-5- “1. Deceased Indubai was my sister. The incident of Indubaiwas occurred before two years. Before 2½ or three yearsbefore incident marriage of Indubai was performed withaccused Dnyaneshwar. I identify accused 1 to 3 present in thedock of the court. 2.On 11th March, 2001, marriage of Indubai wasperformed and then for one month there was nicecohabitation. Then there was my examination at Jalna, so Istayed for 2 or 3 months at Jalna. At that time I stayed at thematrimonial house of Indubai. At that time ill-treatment toIndubai was going on. All accused were giving abuses to her,beating to her. They used to say that she was cooking moreand making it waste. There were quarrels between Indubaiand her husband of trifle grounds. As I was there so I used togive understanding that such things happen and not to take itseriously.3.Then my examination was over, so I returned to myvillage. Then I informed to my parents that Indubai washarassed. Then my father and maternal uncle came to meetIndubai at Jalna. Then they inquired with Indubai. ThenIndubai informed to them that she was beaten daily. Then myfather and maternal uncle had given understanding toIndubai as well as to accused Dnyaneshwar and to her mothernot to beat her. Then they returned to the village. I used tomeet Indubai at the intervals of 8 or 15 days by visiting to herhouse. Further during festivals I used to bring her at myhouse. Some times during festivals accused were not sending 321-06-CRIAPEAL-6- to Indubai at my house and if they would send then theywere compelling me to send Indubai on the next day and totake her to her house. When I used to meet her then she wasinforming to me that she was harassed by accused. Then Iinformed these incidents to my elder maternal uncle. Then onnext day he went to Jalna. Then he had brought Indubai atmy house Then Indubai informed that Dnyaneshwar and hismother were continuously harassing to her. She had alsoinformed that accused No. 3 Subhash had an ill intentionagainst her. She had also informed that accused Subhashintending to keep physical relations with her. On her refusal,for such relations, accused Subhash was creatingmisunderstanding in the mind of accused no. 1 and 2 againstIndubai was also informed by her. Accused Subhash used totell to accused Dnyaneshwar that Indubai was having blackcomplexion and that he would perform marriage ofDnyaneshwar with other lady who would be more good ?than Indubai. So she was put to more harassment.4.On 9.11 when Indubai was at our house, she hadreceived one notice sent by Advocate Sanjay Gaikwad. Thenon 14.11 my mother and father had taken Indubai at villageAmba i.e. at the house of my maternal uncle. Then maternaluncle of accused Dnyaneshwar came at Amba. Thencompromise was effected between my parents, maternaluncle on one side and maternal uncle of Dnyaneshwar on theother side. Hiraman i.e. maternal uncle of Dnyaneshwarinformed to my parents to send Indubai at the house ofaccused with an assurance that she would not be ill-treated in 321-06-CRIAPEAL-7- future and to send her. So, believing in their words Indubaiwas send for cohabitation at their house.5. Then on 23.1.2004 my maternal uncle namely Sopancame at my house and informed that he had received phoneat Jalna that Indubai became dead and to visit immediately.Then myself, my mother, my cousin brother and maternaluncle and relatives came at Civil Hospital, Jalna. Then PSIinformed that in the well situated in Rohanwadi ShivarIndubai was found dead. When we went in the hospital deadbody of Indubai was lying in the mortuary of Civil Hospital,Jalna. Indubai was frustrated on account of ill-treatmentcaused by all accused and so committed suicide. After seeingthe dead body I went at police station and lodged complaint.Now I am shown FIR from the court file. On perusing it I statethat it bears my signature at the foot of the contents. Ongoing through the contents I state that contents therein arecorrect. FIR is now marked at Ex. 26. 6. Then we had taken dead body of Indubai at our villageand performed funeral there.”PW2 Babarao is the father of deceased Indubai. At Exhibit 27, hedeposed as under:“1.Indubai was my daughter. The incident of Indubaioccurred before 15 year from today. Before 2 years beforeincident Indubai was married with accused Dnyaneshwar. Iidentify accused 1 to 3 sitting in the dock of the court. Forone month after marriage there was nice cohabitation. Then 321-06-CRIAPEAL-8- my son namely Prasad P.W.1 stayed at Jalna for one monthfor his examination purpose. When Prasad returned to villagethen informed to me that all accused were ill-treating andbeating to Indubai Indubai. Then T I came to Jalna and hadgiven understanding to accused not to ill-treat and beatIndubai but try to understand. My son Prasad used to visit toIndubai at the intervals of 8 or 15 days. Then I was seekinginformation from him about Indubai. Prasad was informingto me that ill-treatment to Indubai was continuing. 2. Then myself and maternal uncle of Indu namelyGopinath went to the house of accused at Jalna. AccusedJamnabai and Dnyaneshwar were beating to Indubai. When Iwent to their house they told to me that Indubai waspreparing more food and wasting it.3.Thereafter two years myself and maternal uncle ofIndubai namely Gopianth again went to the house ofaccused. Then we have given understanding, then accuseddemanded Rs. 10,000/- for ve taking bore in the field.However, I informed to them that I was not having Rs.10,000/- but if I receive from somebody, I will pay it. 4. Then in the year 2003 I again went to meet Indubai at herhouse. Then accused Dnyaneshwar and Jamnabai asked meas to what happen about amount demanded by them. Iinformed to them that I was unable to satisfy their demandas I am not having that much amount. At that time accusedhad given abuses to me. Then 1 returned to my village. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-9- 5.Then at the time of marriage of my son Prasad, Indubaiwas brought at my house. At that time Indubai furtherinformed about oc ill-treatment and informed that accusedSubhash had an ill eye against her and that they were tellingabout her black complexion. At that time she informed thatshe was not ready for cohabitation. Then accused Jamnabaiand Dnyaneshwar sent notice to Indubai for restitution ofconjugal rights. After receiving notice myself, my wifeRukman went at the house of maternal uncle of Indubai atvillage Amba. Maternal uncle of accused Dnyaneshwar,namely, Hiraman came at Amba to take Indubai at his house.Then the relatives had given understanding, accused hadgiven assurance not to ill-treat and in order to avoiddestruction of marriage of Indubai and Dnyaneshwar,Indubai was sent back for cohabitation.6. When I was at Pune, then I had received phone of my sonthat Alndubai died, at 12 noon time. Then when I madecommunication to my family members, then they told methat they were taking dead body to Zari so to come at Zari.So, I went at Zari. I reached there by 4 a.m., by that timefuneral was performed. On next day, i.e. On 24th January,my statement came to be recorded by police at policestation.”PW3 Sopan is the maternal uncle of deceased Indubai. He deposed atExhibit 28 as under: 321-06-CRIAPEAL-10- “1. Indubai was daughter of my sister. On 11th March, 2001Indubai was married to accused Dnyaneshwar. I identifyaccused 1 to 3 sitting in the dock of court hall. 2.After one month of marriage Indubai was ill-treated byaccused. My sister Rukmanbai informed to me about it.Equally, Indubai also informed to me about it. When duringDiwali festival and summer season I was visiting at the houseof Rukmanbai then she was informing about ill-treatmentcaused to Indubai by accused. 3. On one day I received phone from Jalna and it wascommunicated that Indubai died. Then I went at Zari. Thenalongwith the parental family members of Indubai, I came atJalna at Civil Hospital. Then I have seen dead body ofIndubai. Then FIR was lodged and dead body of Indubai wastaken to Zari. Funeral was performed at Zari. On 23.01.2004police recorded my statement.”PW4 Shivaji Budhwant, P.S.I was the Investigating officer.8.Appellants were made to face trial on charge under Sections498-A and 306 of IPC.9.Before adverting to the evidence of the prosecution witnesseson the point of cruelty as well as abetment to commit suicide ascontemplated under Sections 498-A and 306 of the IPC, it would bejust and proper to set out the relevant judicial precedents forattracting the charges. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-11- LEGAL POSITION10.Law is fairly settled that, for attracting the charges underSection 498A of IPC, prosecution is duty bound to prove followingessential ingredients :- “(1)A woman was married; (2)She was subjected to cruelty; (3)Such cruelty consisted in - (i)any lawful conduct as was likely to drive suchwoman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury ordanger to her life, limb or health whether mental orphysical; (ii)harm to such woman with a view to coercing herto meet unlawful demand for property or valuablesecurity or on account of failure of such woman or any ofher relations to meet the lawful demand ; (iii)the woman was subjected to such cruelty by herhusband or any relation of her husband.”11. Section 306 of the IPC deals with abetment to commit suicide.Ingredients of this section are as under :(1) There was suicide of a person;(2) It was committed in consequence of abetment of the accused. In order to attract the charge of section 306 of IPC, it isincumbent upon prosecution to establish incitement, instigation, 321-06-CRIAPEAL-12- aiding or abetment to commit suicide. Law to this extent has beenfairly settled in series of cases. Scope of Sections 107 and 306 IPC hasbeen time and again decided by the Hon’ble Apex Court in the casesviz; State of West Bengal v. Orilal Jaiswal (1994) 1 SCC 73; RameshKumar v. State of Chhatisgarh reported in(2001) 9 SCC 618; Sanju @Sanjay Singh Sengar v. State of M.P. reported in(2002) 5 SCC 371;Chitresh Kumar Chopra v. State (2009) 16 SCC 605; Amalendu Palalias Jhantu v. State of West Bengal (2010) 1 SCC 707; State of WestBengal v. Indrajit Kundu and others (2019) 10 SCC 188; Rajesh v.State of Haryana (2020) 15 SCC 359; V.P.Singh etc. v. State ofPunjab and others 2022 SCC Online SC 1999 and very recently in thecase of Kumar @ Shiva Kumar v. State of Karnataka [Criminal AppealNo. 1427 of 2011 decided on 01.03.2024], In above series of cases, it has been held and reiterated thatcourt should be extremely careful in assessing the facts andcircumstances of each case as well as the evidence adduced in thetrial for the purpose of finding whether the cruelty meted out to thevictim had in fact induced her to end her life by committing suicide.Principle that is culled out is that accused persons should specificallyintent that deceased should end up her life. With that sole object inmind, they must have deliberately created circumstances, which are 321-06-CRIAPEAL-13- of such nature, that deceased is left with no other alternative but toend up her life. Only in such circumstances charge of abetment tocommit suicide can be said to be successfully brought home. Keeping above legal position in mind, evidence of prosecutionis to be scrutinized.ANALYSIS12.Here, crucial evidence is of brother and parents. On re-analysisand re-appreciation of the evidence, it is seen that, according to PW-1Ramprasad, the informant and brother of the deceased, his sister wasmarried to accused Dnyaneshwar two years back. He stated that, forabout one month, there was proper cohabitation. He claims that,during his examination period, he had stayed with his sister for 2 to 3months at Jalna, i.e. at her matrimonial house. He deposed thatduring that time, he noticed ill-treatment committed against his sister.He stated that, the accused repeatedly abused her saying that she wascooking too much and wasting food. He also stated that there werequarrels between his sister and her husband/accused on variouscounts. He claims that, when he returned home, he informed hisparents and maternal uncle and as such, they went to giveunderstanding to the accused. He claims that, after intervals of 8 to 321-06-CRIAPEAL-14- 15 days, he used to visit his sister and that, accused was not sendinghis sister for festivals. He stated that, whenever he met his sister, shecomplained of harassment. He claims to have informed the same tohis maternal uncle and on next day, maternal uncle went to Jalna andbrought her back to her parental home. At that time also, sheinformed that accused no.3 had evil eye on her. That, accused no.3Subhash had comment on her complexion. He further deposed thatwhile his sister was at their house, a legal notice was served on her;consequently, she was taken back to the accused and a compromisewas effected, during which the accused assured that she would not beill-treated. On 23.01.2004, he received news that his sister had falleninto well, and therefore, he lodged the report.While under cross, he admitted that his sister was wellacquainted with household work and also did agricultural work. Hedenied about knowing whether at the time of death of his sister, workof digging the well was going on, but he admitted that, field ofDnyaneshwar is adjacent to the well. He admitted in paragraph 9that, since two months prior to the receipt of notice to his sister, shewas at their house. He admitted that, when his father and uncle wentto the house of accused, he did not accompany them. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-15- 13.PW-2, father Baburao stated that for one month after themarriage, there was proper cohabitation. However, thereafter his sonPrashad (PW-1) stayed at his sister’s place at Jalna for one month.When Prasad (PW-1) returned home, he informed them that all theaccused were ill-treating and beating Indubai and so he gaveunderstanding to accused not to ill treat and beat Indubai. He claimsto be seeking information from his son whenever he visited his sister.He has stated about demand of Rs.10,000/- by accused for takingbore well (However, brother has not uttered or disclosed anythingabout such demand). He stated that his daughter Indubai informedhim that accused Subhash had an evil eye on her and that all theaccused were taunting on her dark complexion. He admitted aboutreceipt of notice to Indubai for restitution of conjugal rights. While under cross, he answered that till today he had notinformed his son Prasad about demand of Rs.10,000/- by accused.14.PW-3 Sopan, the maternal uncle of deceased Indubai, statedthat during Diwali and summer, when he visited the house of hissister Rukmanbai, he learnt about the ill-treatment to Indubai.In cross, he admitted that, he received information about illtreatment to Indubai from his sister Rukmanbai. 321-06-CRIAPEAL-16- 15.Therefore, on re-appreciation of the evidence, it is emergingthat the marriage took place in 2001, death of Indubai occurredbetween 11.00 a.m. of 22.01.2004 to 8.30 a.m. of 23.01.2004 and thedead body was found on 23.01.2004. However, what actuallyhappened on during the said period is a mystery.16.On re-analysis of the evidence, particularly the evidence of thebrother, father, and uncle, it is seen that the allegations are generaland omnibus in nature. The brother, who had stayed at his sister’splace, has levelled general allegations regarding taunting on accountof cooking food and on her complexion. He did not depose about thealleged demand of Rs. 10,000/- for taking a bore well. Likewise, eventhe father and uncle seem to have hearsay information. Theirevidence is also non specific, and, moreover, is not consistent withthat of PW-1 brother. Therefore, there is little or no substantiveevidence on the point of cruelty to attract the provisions of Section498-A of the IPC.17.Here, there is also charge of 306 of the IPC. The prosecutionstory is that, because of cruelty meted out by accused persons,deceased Indubai jumped in the well and committed suicide. Thealleged incident is of 22.01.2004 to 23.01.2004. However, what 321-06-CRIAPEAL-17- exactly happened in proximity to above dates is not getting clear.There is no iota of evidence to show that, in proximity to allegedsuicide by jumping in the well, there was consistent harassment or illtreatment which compelled deceased to take extreme step of endingup her life. Necessary ingredients like abetment to commit suicide arepatently missing from the prosecution evidence. For all above reasons,no fault can be found in the order of acquittal passed by the learned1st Adhoc Additional Sessions Judge, Jalna. No case being made outon merits, appeal deserves to be dismissed. Accordingly, I proceed topass the following order :ORDER The Criminal Appeal is dismissed. ABHAY S. WAGHWASE, JUDGES.P. Rane