R.L. Anand, J.
1. State of Haryana has filed the present criminal appeal and it has been directed against the judgment dated 16.5.1992 passed by the court of Additional Sessions Judge, Ambala who acquitted the respondents of the charges framed against them under Sections 304HB, 498A and 406 of the Indian Penal Code.
2. The brief facts of the case are that respondents namely Vijay Kumar, Veeran Wali, Ashok Kumar, Harbans Lal, Suman and Sunita, were charge sheeted under Sections 304B, 498A and Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code on the allegations that on the night intervening 9th and 10th January, 1991 at House No. 242, B.C. Bazar, Ambala Cantt, the unnatural death off Smt. Rekha took place within seven years of her marriage and that prior to her death she was subjected to cruelty and harassment in connection with the demand of dowry and thereby the respondents allegedly committed an offence punishable under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code. The second charge against the respondents was that between 28.1.1989 to January 9, 1991, Shri Vijay Kumar, respondent, being the husband and other accused being the relatives of the husband, subjected Rekha alias Pinki to cruelty and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and the third charge against the respondent was that on 28.1.1989 at Delhi they were entrusted with certain movable properties such as fridge, goldring, wall clock, purse, three gold chains, gold kante etc. mentioned in the chargesheet and they criminally misappropriated those articles for their own use and thereby allegedly committed an offence punishable under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code.
3. Smt. Rekha was married on 28th January, 1989 with Vijay Kumar respondent. Other respondents are mother, brothers, and sisters of Shri Vijay Kumar. It is the case of the prosecution that shortly after the marriage, respondents started teasing Rekha on the ground that she had not brought sufficient dowry. The respondents used to compel her to bring cash from her parents. Once she brought Rs. 5000/ from her parents and gave to Vijay Kumar and Veeran Walia. Out of this wedlock a male child was born. At the time of the birth of that male child the parents of Rekha gave golden tops and golden ear rings to Smt. Veeran Wali respondent on her insistence and on the insistence of Vijay Kumar. Rekha Devi was serving as a Supervisor in the Social Welfare Department Haryana. As per the averments made in the complaint Ex.PM, she used to be treated with cruelty and she was subjected to beating by the accusedrespondents in order to compel her to meet their demand for more cash and dowry. So much so, Rekha Devi was compelled to report the matter to the police 4/5 days before her death regarding the maltreatment. A compromise took place between the accused and the deceased in pursuance of that application. On 10.1.1991, Usha Rani complainant and Achla the sisters of Rekha received a message about the death of their sister. According to the allegations of the complaint Ex.PM, Rekha Devi was allegedly murdered. On receipt of the message about the death of Rekha Devi, Usha Rani and Achla along with their husbands came to Ambala Cantt and saw the dead body of Rekha Devi lying in the Civil Hospital. Accordingly, Application Ex.PM was given by Smt. Usha Rani to the police on the basis of which the case was registered and on the completion of the investigation of the case, all the respondents were challaned in the Court of Area Magistrate who supplied the copies of the documents to the accusedrespondents and vide commitment order dated 12.4.1991, the respondents were committed to the Court of Session to face the trial Under Sections 304B, 498A and 406 of the Indian Penal Code. Vide order dated 2.5.1991, all the respondents were charge sheeted as stated above. The charges were read over and explained to the accused to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed a trial.
3. In order to prove the charges, the prosecution examined, S.I. Om Parkash PW1 who simply deposed that on 11.1.1991, on receipt of the application mark A from Smt. Usha Rani, he recorded formal FIR Ex.PA. PW2 is Udhey Bhan, Draftsman who on 25.1.1991, at the instance of Usha Rani complainant prepared scale site plan Ex.PB. PW3 is Head Constable Hari Ram who on 10.1.1991 on receipt of Memo from Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt, recorded report Ex.PC in the daily diary. Dr. Tarsem Monga PW4 whose evidence in this case is very important, on 10.1.1991, conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Rekha and gave the following observations :
"Length of the body was 5" 2". There was no legative mark around the neck. The body was of young female wearing maroon shawl, red salwar and Jarsy, light blue suit, white bannyan, badami bra, red bindi, mouth closed, eyes closed, postmortem rigidity and staining was present, scalp and vertebrae were healthy. Chest ribs and cartilages were healthy. Pleurae, larynx, trachea, right lung, left lung, heart and large vessels were healthy. Pertioneum mouth pharynx, esophagi were healthy. Stomach was healthy and containing 100 cc of contents. Small intestine was healthy with semi solid faecal matter. Large intestine was healthy with solid faecal matter. Liver, spleen, kidneys were healthy. Bladder was healthy and empty. Organs of generation were healthy.
Cause of death was not given. Cause of death was withheld till the receipt of the report of Chemical Examiner".
4. Ex.PD is the carbon copy of the postmortem report. He preserved the viscera of the deceased and it was sent to the office of Chemical Examiner for further analysis. His statement was recorded in the trial court on 24.7.1991 and he stated in the crossexamination as follows :
"Till date, I have not given any opinion about the cause of death nor the police has sought any opinion regarding cause of death".
5. PW5 is constable Chattar Singh whose evidence is of formal nature and he further deposed in the crossexamination that viscera was not taken from the dead body by the doctor in his presence and that the doctor did not put the seals on the parcels in his presence.
6. Smt. Usha Rani complainant is real sister of the deceased and she appeared as PW6. Her statement is also corroborated by the statement of Smt. Achla another sister of the deceased. ASI Phool Singh is the Investigating Officer who on 10.1.1991 went to the Hospital on coming to know about the death of Smt. Rekha and prepared inquest report Ex.PN under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. After the postmortem examination he handed over the dead body of Rekha to Usha Rani, Achla Rani and their husbands. He also visited the place of occurrence and prepared the rough site plan. He also took into possession the dowry articles of the deceased on 13.1.1991 vide memo Ex.PB. Supplementary statement of the witnesses were also recorded. The Thanedar also took into possession photo copies of the letters Ex.PG to PK vide memo Ex.PQ and after arrest of the respondents he challaned them in the Court of area Magistrate. PW9 is S.I. Sumer Singh who simply deposed that on 7.1.1991 he was posted as Duty Officer at Policestation Ambala Cantt and on that day, Rekha submitted application Ex.PE before him and on the basis of the application he called Shri Vijay Kumar and his family members to the Police station and a compromise Ex.PF took place between the parties. On 25.1.1991 he handed over the application Ex.PE as well as the compromise Ex.PF to ASI Phool Singh. After tendering in to evidence the report of the Director, Forensic Science Laboratory and formal witnesses the prosecution closed the case.
7. The statements of the accused were recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and all the incriminating circumstances appearing in the prosecution evidence were put to the accusedrespondents and they denied those circumstances and he defence of Shri Vijay Kumar respondents was as follows :
"It is a false case brought by the relations of the deceased in connivance with the police to blackmail us. There was no demand of dowry at any stage from the deceased or her relation. Nor any amount was received in pursuance of any such demand. Rekha died a natural death. I file my written statement in support of my statement which may by read as a part of my statement."
8. Smt. Veeran Wali respondent took the following plea before the learned trial court :
"I am innocent. I am employed as Auxiliary Nurse midwife in Military Hospital, Ambala Cantt for the last 20 years. I never harassed my daughterinlaw Rekha Rani for bringing insufficient dowry. All my family members are educated and well established and in Government service. The complaint has been lodged against us to effect our service and mar our future career."
9. Ashok Kumar respondent came out with the following defence :
"I am innocent. I am employed as a plate market (maker ?) in the Haryana Government Printing Press at Panchkula for the last about 7 or 8 years. I am living separately from my brothers and sisters. I reside in Mani Majra, with a separate gas connection and separate ration card. On hearing the news of death of my Bhabhi, I came from Mani Majra on the next day of the occurrence".
10. The plea of Shri Harbans Lal respondent is as follows :
"I am a student of B.A. partI studying in G.M.N. College, Ambala Cantt. I have been falsely roped in this case to spoil my education career. I am innocent".
11. The stand of Smt. Suman respondent can be stated in the following words :
"I am employed in the Life Insurance Ambala City for the last more than two years. I come to join my duty in the morning at Ambala City and leave in the evening. I never taunted or harassed my sisterinlaw Rekha Rani. After attending my duty, I do tuition work as a tutor. I am innocent".
"I am appearing in B.A. PartI examination from Punjab University through correspondence course. I neither harassed my sisterinlaw Rekha. I am also looking after the infant child of the deceased who cannot live without me. I am innocent."
12. When called upon to enter into their defence, accusedrespondents tendered into evidence three letters Exs.DE, DF and DG and photo copies of the GPF statements of Rekha Rani Ex.DH, DJ, DK and DL besides the photo copy of letter mark 2 and closed the case.
13. The learned trial court for the reasons given in paras No. 10 to 15 of the impugned judgment acquitted the respondents :
"10. The counsel assisting the prosecution, however, argued that since the death of Rekha took place at the house of the accused the cause of her death could be within the knowledge of the accused and it was their duty to prove that Rekha died under natural circumstances. In support of his arguments the counsel place reliance upon Amarjit Singh and ors. v. State of Punjab, 1989(1) Recent Criminal Reporters 18 . It was laid down therein that the person in whose trust the bride was be required to give an account of how the bride turned into corpse as that fact would be especially within his knowledge. There is no dispute about the proposition of law laid down in the above authority. But it is not applicable to the facts of the present case. In the said case there was medical evidence disclosing the case of poisoning and homicide by violence. There was also evidence that the deceased was last seen in the company of the accused or was expected to be in his company. In the present case, however, there is no medical evidence on record as to what was the cause of death of Rekha. All her organs were found to be healthy at the time of post mortem examination. No common poison was detected in the viscera. So when the cause of death has not been known till date, how can the death of Rekha can be termed as unnatural.
11. Now coming to the demand of dowry the prosecution has placed a great reliance upon the letters Ex.PG to PK. In the letters Ex.PI and PJ there is no allegation of harassment against any of the accused nor there is any allegation of the demand of dowry. So far as the letters Ex.PK is concerned, there is no allegation by Rekha against the behaviour of any of the accused. She did not write in this letter that the accused were maltreating her or making any demand of dowry from her. However, in the letters Ex.PG and PH there are allegations particularly against Vijay Kumar and Veeran Wali about the harassment of Rekha and the demand of dowry. The letter Ex.PG bears the stamp dated 9.10.1989 and letter Ex.PH bears the date 28.12.1989. There is no date on the letter Ex.PI. The letters Ex.PJ and PK bear the stamp or the date 20.1.1990 and 9.1.1990. Now, it is to be seen to whether these letters are genuine or manipulated. The accused admittedly, residents of Ambala Cantt. The mother and brother of Rekha deceased used to reside at Delhi. They left Delhi some where in July, 1990 and migrated to Canada. The complainant Usha Rani PW6 and Smt. Achla PW7 are the sisters of Rekha deceased and they are married and living with their husbands at Delhi. The deceased Rekha was employed in Social Welfare Department even prior to her marriage. It has been admitted by the plaintiff Usha Rani PW6 that before her marriage Rekha was employed as Health Supervisor in Social Welfare Department and posted at Hatheen (Faridabad) till July, 1990, when she was transferred to Chhapper, Tehsil Jagadhri. She further admitted that till her posting at Hatheen her sister Rekha was daily passenger to Hatheen from Delhi. So it is not understandable as to when and why the necessity arose for writing the letters Ex.PG to PK, which were allegedly written from October, 1989 to January, 1993 from the house of the accused by Rekha to her brother and mother at Delhi when she was residing at Delhi itself.
These letters were allegedly written to her brother and mother by Rekha but they did not take any action against the accused. Had these letters been actually written with the content mentioned therein the mother and brother of Rekha must have approached the accused and lodged protest with them or they would have initiated some other proceedings against them. But there is no evidence that the mother and brother of Rekha did take any action against any of the accused on receipt of the said letters from Rekha.
The letters Ex.PG to PK were allegedly written by Rekha to her mother. But these letters were produced before the police by Usha Rani. There is no explanation on the file as to how Usha Rani came in possession of these letters. Usha Rani also admitted that some letters written by Rekha containing the allegation of harassment and demand of dowry by the accused were received by her but she tore away those letters. It does not appeal to mind that she tore away the letters received by her from her sisters containing the allegations of cruelty to her but she kept the letters allegedly handed over to her mother and brother (sic) the death of Rekha took place on the intervening night of 10/11th January, 1991. The complaint Ex.PM was made to the police by Usha Rani on 11.1.1991. But there was no mention of any of these letters in the said complaint. These letters were produced before the police for the first time on 6.3.1991 when these were taken into possession under recovery memo Ex.PE. There was no reason for Usha Rani to produce the letters after about two months of the death of Rekha Rani and not to make any mention of these letters in the complaint Ex.PM if these letters were genuine and were actually in her possession.
All these above mentioned circumstances create a serious doubt about the genuineness of the letters Ex.PG to PK. If these letters are ignored the prosecution is left with oral evidence of PW6 Usha Rani and PW7 Achla about the demand of dowry made by the accused and causing her harassment for not meeting their demands. This statement of Usha Rani PW6 about the demand of dowry made by the accused is not in conformity with the contents of the complaint Ex.PM. She stated before the Court that the accused made a demand of Rs. 15,000/ on the pretext of adding a room to their house. But she admittedly did not make mention of this demand of Rs. 15,000/ in the complaint Ex.PM which was given by her before the police for registration of the case. In the complaint there is a reference of fulfilling the demand of Rs. 5000/ made from Rekha by the accused. But Usha Rani did not make any reference of the said amount in her deposition before the Court. PW7 Achla deposed that in October, 1990 Rekha came to her and made a demand of Rs. 2000/ for giving the amount to the accused. But in the complaint Ex.PM there is also no reference of this demand of Rs. 2000/. As admitted by Usha Rani, Achla was present when the complaint Ex.PM was got typed. It is not understandable as to why Achla in spite of being present while getting the complaint Ex.PM typed did not make any mention of the demand of Rs. 2000/ made from her by Rekha for giving the said amount to the accused. So when the letters Ex.PG to PK have not been proved to be genuine, the oral evidence of PWs about the harassment of their sister by the accused on account of the demand of dowry cannot be believed especially when their evidence is not in conformity with the contents of the complaint Ex.PM and they being the sisters of the deceased are supposed to depose against the accused.
12. The prosecution has also placed great reliance upon the complaint Ex.PE made to the police by the deceased Rekha Verma on 7.1.1991 and the compromise Ex.PF arrived at between Rekha and the accused Vijay Kumar and Veeran Wali. As per statement of PW9 Sumer Singh SI the complaint Ex.PE was handed over to him in the police station by Rekha and in pursuance of that application he called Vijay Kumar and his other family members to the police station where the compromise Ex.PF was effected. He further deposed that the compromise Ex.PF was signed in his presence by Vijay Kumar and Veeran Wali as well as by Rekha Rani and the witnesses. But after going through the cross examination of this witness it is doubtful that the application Ex.PE was in fact made on 7.1.1991 and the compromise Ex.PF was effected on the same day. He admitted that he did not make an entry of the receipt of application Ex.PE or of the compromise Ex.PF in the daily diary. He also admitted that from the contents of the application Ex.PE, a cognizable offence was made out against the accused but the case was not registered because it was not so desired by Rekha Rani. So when a cognizable offence was made out from the contents of the complaint Ex.PE and no entry of this complaint was made in daily diary, what to talk of registering the case on its basis, it is at least doubtful that the complaint Ex.PE was in fact made by Rekha Verma herself to the police on 7.1.1991. Rekha Verma also made an allegation in this complaint that the accused throttled her on the night of 6.1.1991. She went to the police station on 7.1.1991. But as per the evidence of PW9 SI Sumer Singh he did not see any mark of injury on the neck of Rekha. So even if the complaint Ex.PE was made by Rekha Verma the contents mentioned therein or the allegations levelled by her against the accused were not correct. This finds further support from the compromise Ex.PF. It has been specifically mentioned in that compromise by Vijay Kumar that his wife Rekha Verma will never insist for living separate from other members of the family. There is no mention of any reference about any harassment of Rekha on account of any demand of dowry by the accused. So even if the compromise Ex.PF is taken to be correct it reveals that the bone of contention between the parties was the insistence of Rekha to live separate with her husband from rest of the members of his family and not her harassment on account of any demand of dowry.
13. So there is no trustworthy or plausible evidence on the file to show that the accused made any specific demand of dowry from Rekha or subjected her to cruelty for not meeting their demands. The circumstances also give support to the conclusion that the accused never made any demand of dowry from Rekha. One of those circumstances is that Rekha was employed as a Health Supervisor in the Social Welfare Department and getting a monthly salary of Rs. 2500/. So where was the need for the accused to compel Rekha to bring money from her parents when she was regularly contributing her salary to the family of the accused. The other circumstance is that there are letters Ex.DE, DF and DG on the file which reveal that Rekha was happy in the house of her inlaws and she had no complaint or grievance against any of them. The letter Ex. DE is written by Urmil to Rekha alias Pinki. The letter Ex.DF is written to accused Vijay Kumar and Rekha by Achla PW7. The letter Ex.DG has been addressed to her brotherinlaw by Rekha deceased. The contents of these letters bring out that Rekha was quite happy at the house of the accused and she never made any complaint to any of her relatives against the behaviour of the accused.
Then there is a conduct of the accused which also goes in favour of their innocence. The deceased Rekha was immediately taken to the hospital by Vijay Kumar and Veeran Wali accused when she started vomiting after some time of the taking milk and bread. Vijay Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Veeran Wali and Suman accused were present at the time of inquest. Their statements Ex.DA to DD were recorded by the investigating officer. According to these statements Rekha was already sleeping when Vijay Kumar returned to his house from his duties. She got up on his arrival and after some time she started vomiting and immediately she was taken to the hospital. The accused got conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Rekha. They sent message through telephone and telegram to Usha Rani and Achla, sisters of Rekha deceased. Till the arrival of Usha Rani and Achla the dead body was kept intact and was not disposed of. So these circumstances also go in favour of the accused. Had they administered any poison to Rekha or been guilty conscious, they would have taken steps to dispose of the dead body at the earliest instead of sending intimation to the sisters of the deceased.
14. As a sequel to the above discussion, the prosecution has neither been able to prove beyond doubt that the accused ever made any demand of dowry and subjected Rekha to cruelty for not meeting their demand of dowry or that the death of Rekha took place otherwise than under natural circumstances. The only fact that the death of Rekha took place within seven years of her marriage is not sufficient to constitute an offence under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code. When the prosecution has failed to prove the demand of dowry of the harassment of Rekha by the accused the offence under Section 498A also stands not proved beyond doubt.
15. So far as the offence under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code is concerned, there is not an iota of evidence on the file to substantiate it. It has been admitted by Usha Rani that the accused did not put forward any demand at the time of marriage other than what was given to them. So the articles given to the accused by the parents of Rekha at the time of marriage can be termed as gifts. Those articles have since been taken from the accused by the sisters of Rekha deceased. So there is no question of any misappropriation of any property of Rekha by the accused."
14. Aggrieved by the acquittal of the respondents, the present appeal by the State of Haryana.
15. We have heard Shri D.P. Singh, Addl. A.G. Haryana assisted by Shri P.S. Rana, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant and Shri R.S. Cheema, Sr. Advocate with Mr. M.J.S. Waraich, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents and with their assistance have gone through the record of the case.
We are dealing with an appeal against acquittal and the position of law is well settled. Although the Criminal Procedure Code does not make any distinction between the powers of the appellate Court while dealing with the order of conviction or of an acquittal. Normally appellate Courts do not disturb the order of acquittal in a case where the two views of the evidence are reasonably possible. However, when the approach of the trial Judge in dealing with the evidence is manifestly erroneous and the conclusions drawn are wholly unreasonable and perverse certainly in such case the appellate Court can disturb the order of acquittal recorded by the trial Court. The prudence demands restraints on mere probability or possibility in an appeal against acquittal. The jurisdiction and obligation of the High Court to re appreciate the evidence is identical in cases involving acquittal and conviction and all that is required by the High Court while dealing with an appeal against acquittal, is that it shall take into consideration and be alive to the factors which influenced that trial court to record an order of acquittal. In an appeal against acquittal the rule of prudence demands of the High Court to give proper weight and consideration to the views of the trial court with regard to the credibility of the witness, the presumption of innocence in favour of the accused, the right of the accused to the benefit of the doubt and the slowness of the appellate Court in reversing a finding of fact arrived at by a Judge who had the opportunity of seeing the witnesses.
16. In the light of the above guidelines while dealing with an appeal against acquittal now we have to find out whether the approach of the learned trial court was erroneous or perverse so as to justify on our part to interfere in that finding.
17. Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code lays down that where the death of a women is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty and harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called dowry death and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.
18. Along with Section 304B IPC, we have also to rely upon Section 113B of the Indian Evidence Act which deals with the presumption as to dowry death case and according to this section when the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a women and it is shown that soon before her death such woman had been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry the Court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death. This is adding Section with the help of which the law Courts can always determine whether the ingredients of Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code have been proved or not.
19. The indepth study of Section 304B IPC would lead to the following ingredients which are supposed to be proved by the persecution :
i) That the death of the woman was caused by any burn or bodily injury or occurred otherwise than under normal circumstances within 7 years of her marriage; and
ii) That soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband in connection with any demand for dowry.
20. Switching over the evidence, now we have to see whether it has been established on the record that the death of Smt. Rekha Devi had taken place under the abnormal circumstances ? It was the case of the prosecution in the complaint Ex.PM given by Smt. Usha Rani that her sister Smt. Rekha Devi has been murdered intentionally at the hands of Shri Vijay Kumar, motherinlaw Smt. Veeran Wali, Sh. Pinta, and Sh. Daboo (who are the younger brothers of Shri Vijay Kumar) and by two unmarried sisters.
21. To examine this allegation in detail we have on record the medical evidence given by Shri Tarsem Monga PW4 who on 10.1.1991 conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Smt. Rekha. The relevant observation of the doctor qua the dead body had already been reproduced above. The reading of the observations of the doctor would show that even at the time of the post mortem examination the cause of death could not be determined. Rather it was withheld till the receipt of the report of the Chemical Examiner. It is also evident from the record that viscera was sent to the office of Chemical Examiner. The doctor did not observe any injury on any part of the body of the deceased and perhaps this was the reason that he did not suspect any foul play leading to the cause of death and he had to preserve the viscera which was sent to the office of Chemical Examiner for analysis. When the statement of the doctor was recorded in the trial Court on 24.7.1991 after 7 months of the occurrence even up to that date the cause of death of the deceased could not be determined.
22. To examine this allegation in detail we have on record the medical evidence given by Shri Tarsem Monga PW4 who on 10.1.1991 conducted the post mortem examination on the dead body of Smt. Rekha. The relevant observation of the doctor qua the dead body had already been reproduced above. The reading of the observations of the doctor would show that even at the time of the post mortem examination the cause of death could not be determined. Rather it was withheld till the receipt of the report of the Chemical Examiner. It is also evident from the record that viscera was sent to the office of Chemical Examiner. The doctor did not observe any injury on any part of the body of the deceased and perhaps this was the reason that he did not suspect any foul play leading to the cause of death and he had to preserve the viscera which was sent to the office of Chemical Examiner for analysis. When the statement of the doctor was recorded in the trial Court on 24.7.1991 after 7 months of the occurrence even up to that date the cause of death of the deceased could not be determined.
Be that as it may, the viscera was sent to the office of Director, Forensic Science Laboratory, who gave report Ex.PT and even as per this report which was issued on 18.10.1991, no common poison could be detected in the contents of the stomach; into the pieces of large and small intestines; into the pieces of liver, spleen and kidney and so much so in the blood. This report conclusively establishes that the prosecution has not been able to prove the first essential ingredient of the crime under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code that the death of the woman had taken place otherwise than under normal circumstances. Of course, the death of the deceased had taken place within seven years of her marriage but without proving the abnormality with regard to the cause of death we are of the considered opinion that the prosecution has not been able to prove the first essential ingredient of the crime and, therefore, the offence under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code is not proved.
23. To proceed further into the matter, let us see whether the second log of the allegations of the prosecution that deceased was subjected to cruelty and harassment soon before her death in connection with the demand of dowry by the husband or the relatives of the husband, is proved or not ? In this regard, it is the case of the prosecution that the parents of the deceased were compelled to pay a sum of Rs. 5,000/ to Smt. Rekha Rani deceased who handed over the money to her husband and her motherinlaw. So much so after the birth of the male child, there was a demand of gold ornaments from the side of the accused and that the deceased was subjected to merciless beating from time to time as she was not in a position to bring more cash or dowry articles. It is also the case of the prosecution that the deceased had reported the matter to the police 4/5 days prior to her death and it was assured by the respondents that they will not cause any harassment to the deceased and a compromise took place. This part of the case has also been examined in depth by the learned trial Court who has given his valid reasons in rejecting this part of the story unfolded by Smt. Usha Rani PW6 the complainant and Smt. Achla who appeared as PW7. We have independently assessed the evidence of both these witnesses and we are of the considered opinion that their statements are totally unreliable. The main plank of the reliance of learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State was on the letters Exs.PG to PK, which have been examined by us. A reading of these letters would show that the contents of the letters are inter se contradictory. For example the letters Exs.PI and PJ do not talk of any harassment or cruelty nor there is any mention with regard to the demand of dowry. Similarly, the letter Ex.PK does not talk of any allegations made by deceased against the behaviour of the accused. There are two letters Exs.PG and PH of course in which there are allegation against Shri Vijay Kumar and his mother Veeran Wali. These letters were written two years earlier to the death of the deceased and thus we are of the opinion that even if these letters are acted upon still it is not established by the prosecution that the deceased was subjected to cruelty or harassment soon before her death. There is a gap of two years. The other two letters are Exs. PJ and PK which require our discussion. These letter in our opinion are not genuine but have been manipulated just to bring the case within the arena of the first ingredient of Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code. These letters were allegedly written by the deceased to her brother and mother but the conduct of the parents is abnormal. In spite of the receiving of these letters they did not raise any hue or cry nor they lodged any protest with the accused. Otherwise also, these letters were produced by Smt. Usha Rani. When those letters were written to the mother of the deceased under what circumstances, Smt. Usha Rani got these letters, is also a mystery. It has been admitted by Smt. Usha Rani that she too had been receiving letters from her sister containing the allegations of harassment but those letters were not preserved by her. Rather she admits that she torn away those letters. In such a situation, it is not plausible that she will preserve those letters which were not addressed to her. The mother and the father of the deceased did not appear in the witnessbox. Also with regard to the cash amount allegedly demanded by the accused, the case of the prosecution is discrepant. While appearing in the Court, it is in the statement of Usha Rani complainant than the respondents made a demand of Rs. 15000/ on the pretest of constructing a room but there is no such mention in the complaint Ex.PM. The complaint has been written in English, suggesting that it was drafted with a cool mind. The complaint runs into three pages which is again suggestive of the fact that while drafting the complaint the complainant was not in a hurry or under confusion. She is a related witness. We can well understand the psyche of the complainant as she must be in an aggressive mood to implicate all the family members of the husband as the death of her sister had taken place. A reading of the complaint Ex.PM would show that it is alleged by the complainant that accusedrespondent made a demand of Rs. 5,000/ but Smt. Usha Rani did not make any reference in her statement before the Court. The case set up by Achla PW7 is that in October, 1990 the deceased came to her and made a demand of Rs. 2,000/ for giving the amount to the accused but the complaint Ex.PM is again silent on this point. It is the common case of the parties that deceased was an earning hand and she was contributing her salary to her husband and in such a situation it is difficult to accept that the accusedrespondents would make a demand of an additional amount in the shape of dowry or they will treat the deceased with cruelty or harassment. It appears that there was some misunderstanding between the deceased and her husband as a result of which the matter went to the police but still there was a compromise which was executed on 7.1.1991. It is not the case of the prosecution that the accusedrespondents had threatened that they would not adhere to the compromise or that they would cause the death of the deceased. We are in agreement with the observations made by the learned trial Court in its judgment, which remarked as follows :
"So there is no trustworthy or plausible evidence on the file to show that the accused made any specific demand of dowry from Rekha or subjected her to cruelty for not meeting their demands. The circumstances also given support to the conclusion that the accused never made any demand of dowry from Rekha. One of those circumstances is that Rekha was employed as a Health Supervisor in the Social Welfare Department and getting a monthly salary of Rs. 2500/ so where was the need for the accused to compel Rekha to bring money from her parents when she was regularly contributing her salary to the family of the accused.
24. There is a documentary evidence on the record which suggests that deceased was quite happy in the house of her inlaws. Letters Exs.DE, DF and DG are indicative of the fact that there was no problem with the deceased.
25. One more vital circumstance which was taken into consideration by the learned trial Court in giving the benefit of doubt to the accused, is that the deceased was taken to the hospital by her husband and by her motherinlaw when she started vomiting after some time of her taking milk or bread. Further the other accused were present at the time of the inquest proceedings and their statements were also recorded in the inquest proceedings exonerating Vijay Kumar. It is the admitted case of the prosecution that it was the accused who sent the message through telephone and telegram to Usha Rani and Achla informing them about the death of the deceased. The accusedrespondents did not make any efforts for the disposal of the dead body of Rekha till the arrival of Usha Rani and Achla. This conduct on the part of the accused is suggestive of the fact that there was no foul play on their part.
26. As we have stated above that when we deal with an appeal against acquittal and two views are possible the benefit of doubt should go to the accused. Moreover, the learned trial Court has appreciated the entire evidence in depth and then formulated the opinion about the acquittal. The learned trial Court had the opportunity to see the demeanour of the eye witnesses. By no stretch of imagination, we are in a position to say that the finding of the learned trial Court was perverse or that the view taken by the learned trial Court was not possible. In such a situation, we are not inclined to interfere in the well reasoned findings given by the learned trial Court.
27. In view of the above discussion, we find that there is no merit in this appeal and the same is hereby dismissed.
