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He confirmed the fact that Rs.15,000/was given at the time of marriage and Rs.10,000/was to be given within some time,which the father of the deceased failed to provide Ratio |
According to him,the accused persons used to harass the deceased primarily for non-payment of the amount of dowry,as a result of which,she was forced to commit suicide Ratio |
In fact,there is no dispute to the fact that the deceased died of hanging Ratio |
Dr Ratio |
M.Madhusudana Reddy,LW-13 who was the Associate Professor in Forensic Medicine at Guntur Medical College,performed the post-mortem over the body of the deceased Ratio |
In the medical report,LW13,he noticed "Oblique ligature mark of 17 x 2.5 cm present over front and left sides of neck" as well as noticed "Abrasion 1.5 x 1 cm present over lower part of middle of chin Ratio |
Injuries were found to be antemortem in nature,and the cause of death was stated to be asphyxia,as a result of hanging Ratio |
LW-14 is a witness to the seizure of the body and she noticed injuries on the body of the deceased Ratio |
From the above evidence,it is clear that the dowry demands were being raised by the accused persons persistently from the family of the deceased and for that they even harassed the deceased,by beating and abusing her Ratio |
She had informed her parents of the ill-treatment and the cruelty inflicted on her for non-giving of dowry Ratio |
The period intervening between the marriage and the death of the deceased is very small Ratio |
They were married in the year 2002 and she committed suicide by hanging on 15th Ratio |
February,2003.The witnesses,including LW-1 have stated that for the first few months they were happy,but thereafter,there were quarrels between the accused and the deceased Ratio |
Accused Pathan Hussain Basha,when he had gone to the parental house of the deceased,demanded different items like fan,ring and Rs.1,000/in cash,and the balance of the agreed dowry amount Ratio |
Since,these demands were not satisfied instantaneously,he even left the deceased at her parental house Ratio |
At this stage,it will be appropriate for us to examine as to what are the ingredients of an offence punishable under Section 304B of the IPC Ratio |
In the case of Biswajit Halder alias Babu Halder and Others v PRE |
State of W.B.[(2008) 1 SCC 202 2007 Indlaw SC 304],the Court stated the ingredients of this provision as follows: "10.The basic ingredients to attract the provisions of Section 304-B are as follows PRE |
1) the death of a woman should be caused by burns or fatal injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances; (2) such death should have occurred within seven years of her marriage; (3) she must have been subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband; and (4) such cruelty or harassm... |
11.Alongside insertion of Section 304-B in IPC,the legislature also introduced Section 113-B of the Evidence Act,which lays down when the question as to whether a person has committed the dowry death of a woman and it is shown that soon before her death such woman had been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassm... |
12.Explanation appended to Section PRE |
113-B lays down that: "For the purpose of this section,'dowry death' shall have the same meaning as in Section 304-B of Indian Penal Code PRE |
13.If PRE |
Section 304-B IPC is read together with Section 113-B of the Evidence Act,a comprehensive picture emerges that if a married woman dies in unnatural circumstances at her matrimonial home within 7 years from her marriage and there are allegations of cruelty or harassment upon such married woman for or in connection with ... |
Besides examining the ingredients of the provision,it would also be necessary for us to examine the meaning and connotation of the expressions 'dowry death','soon before her death' and 'in connection with,any demand for dowry' as appearing in the said section Ratio |
Amongst others,lapse of time between the date of marriage and the date of death is also a relevant consideration for the Court while examining whether the essential ingredients of the provision are satisfied or not in a given case Ratio |
In the case of Ashok Kumar v PRE |
State of Haryana [(2010) 12 SCC 350 2010 Indlaw SC 502],this Court explained these terms in some elucidation and the effect of the deeming fiction appearing in the section,as follows: "11.The appellant was charged with an offence under Section 304-B of the Code PRE |
This penal section clearly spells out the basic ingredients as well as the matters which are required to be construed strictly and with significance to the cases where death is caused by burns,bodily injury or the death occurring otherwise than under normal circumstances,in any manner,within seven years of a marriage P... |
It is the first criteria which the prosecution must prove PRE |
Secondly,that "soon before her death" she had been subjected to cruelty or harassment by the husband or any of the relatives of the husband for,or in connection with,any demand for dowry then such a death shall be called "dowry death" and the husband or the relative,as the case may be,will be deemed to have caused such... |
The Explanation to this section requires that the expression "dowry" shall have the same meaning as in S.2 of the Act PRE |
12.The definition of "dowry" under S.2 of the Act reads as under: "2.Definition of dowry PRE |
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 parents of either party to a marriage or by any other person,to either party to the marriage or to any other person,at o... |
Explanation II.-The expression 'valuable security' has the same meaning as in S.30 of the Penal Code (45 of 1860 PRE |
From the above definition it is clear that,"dowry" means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly by one party to another,by parents of either party to each other or any other person at,before,or at any time after the marriage and in connection with the marriage of the... |
All the expressions used under this section are of a very wide magnitude Ratio |
The expressions "or any time after marriage" and "in connection with the marriage of the said parties" were introduced by the amending Act 63 of 1984 and Act 43 of 1986 with effect from 2-101985 and 19-11-1986 respectively Ratio |
These amendments appear to have been made with the intention to cover all demands at the time,before and even after the marriage so far they were in connection with the marriage of the said parties Ratio |
This clearly shows the intent of the legislature that these expressions are of wide meaning and scope Ratio |
The expression "in connection with the marriage" cannot be given a restricted or a narrower meaning Ratio |
The expression "in connection with the marriage" even in common parlance and on its plain language has to be understood generally Ratio |
The object being that everything,which is offending at any time i.e.at,before or after the marriage,would be covered under this definition,but the demand of dowry has to be "in connection with the marriage" and not so customary that it would not attract,on the face of it,the provisions of this section Ratio |
At this stage,it will be appropriate to refer to certain examples showing what has and has not been treated by the courts as "dowry".This Court,in Ran Singh v PRE |
State of Haryana,(2008) 4 SCC 700 2008 Indlaw SC 120 held that the payments which are customary payments,for example,given at the time of birth of a child or other ceremonies as are prevalent in the society or families to the marriage,would not be covered under the expression "dowry PRE |
Again,in Satvir Singh v PRE |
State of Punjab,(2001)8 SCC 633 2001 Indlaw SC 224 PRE |
this Court held that the word "dowry" should be any property or valuable given or agreed to be given in connection with the marriage PRE |
The customary payments in connection with birth of a child or other ceremonies are not covered within the ambit of the word "dowry PRE |
This Court,in Madhu Sudan Malhotra v PRE |
Kishore Chand Bhandari,1988 Supp PRE |
SCC 424 1987 Indlaw SC 28308 held that furnishing of a list of ornaments and other household articles such as refrigerator,furniture and electrical appliances,etc.to the parents or guardians of the bride,at the time of settlement of the marriage,prima facie amounts to demand of dowry within the meaning of S.2 of the Ac... |
The definition of "dowry" is not restricted to agreement or demand for payment of dowry before and at the time of marriage but even include subsequent demands,was the dictum of this Court in State of A.P.v PRE |
Raj Gopal Asawa,(2004)4 SCC 470 2004 Indlaw SC 205 PRE |
The courts have also taken the view that where the husband had demanded a specific sum from his father-in-law and upon not being given,harassed and tortured the wife and after some days she died,such cases would clearly fall within the definition of "dowry" under the Act Ratio |
S.4 of the Act is the penal section and demanding a "dowry",as defined under S.2 of the Act,is punishable under this section Ratio |
As already noticed,we need not deliberate on this aspect,as the accused before us has neither been charged nor punished for that offence Ratio |
We have examined the provisions of S.2 of the Act in a very limited sphere to deal with the contentions raised in regard to the applicability of the provisions of Section 304-B of the Code Ratio |
We have already referred to the provisions of Section 304-B of the Code and the most significant expression used in the section is "soon before her death".In our view,the expression "soon before her death" cannot be given a restricted or a narrower meaning Ratio |
They must be understood in their plain language and with reference to their meaning in common parlance Ratio |
These are the provisions relating to human behaviour and,therefore,cannot be given such a narrower meaning,which would defeat the very purpose of the provisions of the Act Of course,these are penal provisions and must receive strict construction Ratio |
But,even the rule of strict construction requires that the provisions have to be read in conjunction with other relevant provisions and scheme of the Act Ratio |
Further,the interpretation given should be one which would avoid absurd results on the one hand and would further the object and cause of the law so enacted on the other Ratio |
We are of the considered view that the concept of reasonable time is the best criteria to be applied for appreciation and examination of such cases Ratio |
This Court in Tarsem Singh v PRE |
State of Punjab,(2008 PRE |
16 SCC 155 2008 Indlaw SC 1962 held that the legislative object in providing such a radius of time by employing the words "soon before her death" is to emphasise the idea that her death should,in all probabilities,has been the aftermath of such cruelty or harassment PRE |
In other words,there should be a reasonable,if not direct,nexus between her death and the dowryrelated cruelty or harassment inflicted on her PRE |
Similar view was expressed by this Court in Yashoda v PRE |
State of M.P,(2004)3 SCC 98 2004 Indlaw SC 132 where this Court stated that determination of the period would depend on the facts and circumstances of a given case PRE |
However,the expression would normally imply that there has to be reasonable time gap between t he cruelty inflicted and the death in question Ratio |
If this is so,the legislature in its wisdom would have specified any period which would attract the provisions of this section Ratio |
However,there must be existence of proximate link between the acts of cruelty along with the demand of dowry and the death of the victim Ratio |
For want of any specific period,the concept of reasonable period would be applicable Ratio |
Thus,the cruelty,harassment and demand of dowry should not be so ancient,whereafter,the couple and the family members have lived happily and that it would result in abuse of the said protection Ratio |
Such demand or harassment may not strictly and squarely fall within the scope of these provisions unless definite evidence was led to show to the contrary Ratio |
These matters,of course,will have to be examined on the facts and circumstances of a given case Ratio |
The cruelty and harassment by the husband or any relative could be directly relatable to or in connection with,any demand for dowry Ratio |
The expression "demand for dowry" will have to be construed ejusdem generis to the word immediately preceding this expression Ratio |
Similarly,"in connection with the marriage" is an expression which has to be given a wider connotation Ratio |
It is of some significance that these expressions should be given appropriate meaning to avoid undue harassment or advantage to either of the parties Ratio |
These are penal provisions but ultimately these are the social legislations,intended to control offences relating to the society as a whole Ratio |
Dowry is something which existed in our country for a considerable time and the legislature in its wisdom considered it appropriate to enact the law relating to dowry prohibition so as to ensure that any party to the marriage is not harassed or treated with cruelty for satisfaction of demands in consideration and for s... |
The Court cannot ignore one of the cardinal principles of criminal jurisprudence that a suspect in the Indian law is entitled to the protection of Art.20 of the Constitution of India as well as has a presumption of innocence in his favour Ratio |
In other words,the rule of law requires a person to be innocent till proved guilty Ratio |
The concept of deeming fiction is hardly applicable to the criminal jurisprudence Ratio |
In contradistinction to this aspect,the legislature has applied the concept of deeming fiction to the provisions of Section 304-B.Where other ingredients of Section 304-B are satisfied,in that event,the husband or all relatives shall be deemed to have caused her death Ratio |
In other words,the offence shall be deemed to have been committed by fiction of law Ratio |
Once the prosecution proves its case with regard to the basic ingredients of Section 304-B,the Court will presume by deemed fiction of law that the husband or the relatives complained of,has caused her death Ratio |
Such a presumption can be drawn by the Court keeping in view the evidence produced by the prosecution in support of the substantive charge under Section 304-B of the Code Ratio |
Applying these principles to the facts of the present case,it is clear that the ingredients of Section 304B read with Section 498A IPC are completely satisfied in the present case Ratio |
By a deeming fiction in law,the onus shifts on to the accused to prove as to how the deceased died Ratio |
It is for the accused to show that the death of the deceased did not result from any cruelty or demand of dowry by the accused persons Ratio |
The accused did not care to explain as to how the death of his wife occurred Ratio |
Denial cannot be treated to be the discharge of onus Ratio |
Onus has to be discharged by leading proper and cogent evidence Ratio |
It was expected of the accused to explain as to how and why his wife died,as well as his conduct immediately prior and subsequent to the death of the deceased Ratio |
Maintaining silence cannot be equated to discharge of onus by the accused Ratio |
In the present case,the prosecution by reliable and cogent evidence has established the guilt of the accused Ratio |
There being no rebuttal thereto,there is no occasion to interfere in the judgments of the courts under appeal Ratio |
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