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The witness has further deposed that on the date of incident, a man came from village Palshi on motorcycle and informed that he should immediately go there as Bhimabai was not well FAC
He then went to village Palshi along with other persons of his family where he reached after sun set FAC
He saw that Bhimabai was lying dead and froth was coming out of her mouth which was smelling of Thimet (insecticide FAC
In his cross- examination he has admitted that his statement that he had given Rs.20,000 in dowry at the time of marriage was incorrect and in fact he had given Rs FAC
5,000 as dowry and the total expenses incurred in the marriage was about Rs FAC
20,000 FAC
He has also deposed that it was after about 1-1/2 years of marriage that Bhimabai first complained to him about the harassment being caused to her FAC
There used to be some bickering in the marital life of Bhimabai and her husband on trifling matters FAC
He has admitted that it was appellant no FAC
1 who had sent a person on motorcycle who had given information regarding Bhimabai being unwell and that both the appellants were present at the time of her funeral FAC
PW.2 Babaji is real brother of father-in-law of PW.1 Tukaram FAC
He has deposed that on an earlier occasion he had gone along with PW.1 and some others to the house of appellant no.1 to persuade him not to harass Bhimabai and to treat her well FAC
In his cross- examination he has admitted that when he had gone to village Palshi to talk with the appellants regarding the ill-treatment being meted out to Bhimabai, there was no talk regarding monetary giving and taking FAC
He also admitted that he had not gone to attend that funeral of Bhimabai FAC
PW.5 Sumanbai is the mother of the deceased Bhimabai FAC
She has stated in her examination-in-chief that Bhimabai was being ill-treated by the appellants and the reason for ill-treatment was that they were demanding money to be brought from her parental home FAC
The last time Bhimabai visited her parental home was on the occasion of the festival of Nag Panchami and she had complained that she was being ill-treated and was sometimes given beating for bringing money from her parents FAC
She has specifically stated that for a period of six months after the marriage, Bhimabai was treated well and thereafter she had started complaining about the harassment being caused to her FAC
In her cross-examination, PW.5 Sumanbai has stated that after news about the condition of Bhimabai was given by a man from village Palshi, she along with her husband and some other relations went there and noticed that Bhimabai was lying dead in the house and froth was coming out of her mouth FAC
She has further stated that she did not make any enquiry as to how Bhimabai had died FAC
In her statement under Section 161 Cr FAC
P.C. which was recorded very next day of the incident i.e. on 16 September 1991 she did not state that cause of ill-treatment was "a demand for money and a consequent beating FAC
When confronted with her aforesaid statement under Section 161 Cr FAC
P.C Ratio
she replied that she did not know why there was no mention in the said statement that the cause for ill-treatment was "a demand for money and a consequent beating FAC
She further stated that it will be correct to say that her daughter was receiving ill-treatment as a result of "domestic cause FAC
The learned trial Judge then sought clarification from the witnesses by putting the following question FAC
Que FAC
What do you mean by "domestic cause FAC
Ans FAC
What I meant was that there was demand for money for defraying expenses of manure etc FAC
and that was the cause FAC
In the very next paragraph she stated as under :- "It is not true to suggest that in my statement before the police I never said that ill-treatment was as a result of demand for money from us and its fulfillment FAC
I cannot assign any reason why police did not write about it in my statement FAC
3 Sandu, Police Patil of village Palshi has deposed that at about 4.20 p.m. on 15 September 1991, Narayan who is uncle of appellant no.1, Appasaheb, informed him that the wife of Appasaheb had expired FAC
He then went to the house of the appellant and saw Bhimabai lying with froth coming out of her mouth FAC
Thereafter, he gave a report about the incident in writing at the police station FAC
In his cross-examination, he admitted that he did not make detailed enquiries as to what was the cause of death and where the incident had taken place FAC
He has further deposed that Bhimabai had come to his house about six months earlier and had said all was not well between her and her husband, but she had not given any specific details FAC
The main witnesses regarding the alleged demand of money and also harassment and beating to Bhimabai are her father and mother, viz Ratio
PW.1 Tukaram and PW.5 Sumanbai Ratio
In his examination-in-chief PW.1 has said that whenever his daughter came to her parental home, she used to complain that she was being subjected to harassment by the appellants on account of some "domestic reasons" and further that her husband (appellant no.1) had told her that while coming back from her parental home...
1,000-1,200 for expenses and for manure as he had no sufficient money Ratio
PW.5 Sumanbai has deposed that Bhimabai was receiving ill-treatment as a result of "domestic cause" and to a specific question put by the Court as to what she meant by "domestic cause" she gave a reply that there was a demand for money for defraying expenses of manure etc Ratio
It is important to note that in her statement under Section 161 Cr Ratio
P.C. which was recorded on the very next day of the death of Bhimabai, this witness did not state that the cause for ill-treatment was "a demand for money and a consequent beating Ratio
The evidence on record does not indicate that the police had any reason to favour the accused and deliberately omitted to mention about the alleged demand of money while recording the statement of PW.5 Sumanbai under Section 161 Cr Ratio
The evidence shows that the accused come from very humble background and they could not have exerted any kind of influence, financial or otherwise, upon the police so as to manage a statement favourable to them when in the course of investigation the statements of witnesses were being recorded under Section 161 Cr Rati...
Accepting the statements of father and mother on their face value that utmost which can be held is that the appellant no.1 had asked his wife Bhimabai to bring money for meeting domestic expenses and for purchasing manure Ratio
Two essential ingredient of Section 304-B IPC, apart from others, are (i) death of women is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances, and (ii) women is subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand ...
The explanation appended to sub-section (1) of Section 304-B IPC says that "dowry" shall have the same meaning as in Section 2 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 STA
Section 2 of Dowry Prohibition Act reads as under :- "2. Definition of "dowry" - In this Act "dowry" means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly- (a) by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or (b) by the parent of either party to a marriage or...
In view of the aforesaid definition of the word "dowry" any property or valuable security should be given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly at or before or any time after the marriage and in connection with the marriage of the said parties Ratio
Therefore, the giving or taking of property or valuable security must have some connection with the marriage of the parties and a correlation between the giving or taking of property or valuable security with the marriage of the parties is essential Ratio
Being a penal provision it has to be strictly construed Ratio
Dowry is a fairly well known social custom or practice in India Ratio
It is well settled principle of interpretation of Statute that if the Act is passed with reference to a particular trade, business or transaction and words are used which everybody conversant with that trade, business or transaction knows or understands to have a particular meaning in it, then the words are to be const...
See Union of India v. Garware Nylons Ltd., AIR (1996 Ratio
SC 3509 1996 Indlaw SC 2404 and Chemicals and Fibres of India v. Union of India, AIR (1997 Ratio
SC 558 1991 Indlaw SC 861 Ratio
A demand for money on account of some financial stringency or for meeting some urgent domestic expenses of for purchasing manure cannot be termed as a demand for dowry as the said word is normally understood Ratio
The evidence adduced by the prosecution does not, therefore, show that any demand for "dowry" as defined in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act was made by the appellants as what was allegedly asked for was some money for meeting domestic expenses and for purchasing manure Ratio
Since an essential ingredient of Section 304-B IPC viz Ratio
demand for dowry is not established, the conviction of the appellants cannot be sustained Ratio
Learned counsel for the appellants has also submitted that there is absolutely no evidence either direct or circumstantial to show that Bhimabai committed suicide ARG
He has submitted that the insecticide Thimet is extensively used by the farmers for preservation of crop and is kept stored in their houses and it could be a case where Thimet accidentally got mixed with some food item and was consumed by Bhaimabai ARG
It has thus been submitted that no offence under Section 306 IPC is made out against the appellants ARG
We do not consider it necessary to examine this question Ratio
As already stated, the appellants were also charged under Sections 498-A and 306 read with Section 34 IPC but were acquitted of the said charges by the learned Sessions Judge, which order has attained finality for the reason that the State did not prefer appeal against the same Ratio
The appeal before the High Court and also in this Court has been preferred by the appellants challenging their conviction under section 304-B read with section 34 IPC Ratio
It has been held in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Thadi Narayan, AIR (1962 PRE
SC 240 1961 Indlaw SC 171 that Section 423(1)(b)(i) of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (which corresponds to Section 386(b)(i) of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973) is clearly confined to cases of appeals preferred against orders of conviction and sentence, the powers conferred by this clause cannot be exercised for th...
Therefore, we have refrained from expressing any opinion as to whether the appellants could be held guilty of having committed the offence under Section 498-A or 306 IPC on the basis of evidence available on record as their acquittal under the aforesaid charges has attained finality and cannot be reversed in the appeal...
In view of the discussion made above, the appeal is allowed RPC
The judgment and order dated 23 February 2005 of the High Court and the judgment and order dated 04 January 1993 of the learned Sessions Judge convicting the appellants under Section 304-B IPC are set aside and the appellants are acquitted of the said charge RPC
The appellant no.1 is in custody RPC
He shall be released forthwith unless wanted in some other case RPC
The appellant no. 2 is on bail RPC
The sureties and bail bonds furnished by her are discharged RPC
Appeal allowed RPC
The State of Manipur is in appeal before us questioning the judgment and order dated 29.07.2005 passed by a Division Bench of the Guwahati High Court in WA Nos.61,78,79,95 and 100 of 1999 upholding a judgment and order of a learned Single Judge of the said Court dated 19.02.1999 in C.R.Nos.324,1012,568,1022 and 1023 of...
One Shri A.J.Tayeng was the Revenue Commissioner of Government of Manipur FAC
The State of Manipur had not framed any recruitment rules for appointment inter alia in the Revenue Department and in particular the field staff thereof FAC
The Commissioner of Revenue Department was conferred with a power of being the cadre controlling authority for non-ministerial post of the Revenue Department FAC
He was also to be the Chairman of the Departmental Promotion Committee for non-ministerial post of the Revenue Department FAC
The Commissioner allegedly made certain appointments in the posts of Mandols,Process-Servers and Zilladars which was not within the knowledge of the State FAC
The said appointments were made on temporary basis FAC
Appointments were made on 11.09.1997,22.11.1997 and 5.12.1997.A sample copy of the offer of appointment reads as under: "No.1/14/97 Com (Rev): On the recommendation of D.P.C.and under the directives issued by the Hon'ble Gauhati High Court,the following persons are hereby appointed as Mandols on temporary basis in the ...
2.Further,they are posted at the places indicate against their names:- 3.The expenditure is debitable under Appropriate Heads of Accounts of the Departments/ Offices concerned FAC
No record in regard to the said recruitments was maintained FAC
An inquiry was,therefore,made to find out the authority which had issued the said offers of appointments FAC
Shri Tayeng by a UO Note dated 12.01.1998 denied to have made such an appointment stating: "CONFIDENTIAL U.O.No.2/15/93-Com (R) Pt FAC
Imphal,the 12th Jan.,1998 Sub: Submission of report FAC
With reference to the U.O.letter No.2/15/93 Com(R FAC
Pt FAC
Dated 6th January,1998 regarding the alleged appointment of ad-hoc/ regular appointment to the post of Lambus/ Mandols FAC
etc.of FAC
the Hon'ble Minister (Revenue),I am to say that I am not all aware of such appointments made by me except for 3 Lambus who were kept in panel for appointment,and accordingly the S.O.(Revenue FAC
Shri Robert Shaiza was instructed to take care FAC
I,therefore,deny making of such appointments FAC