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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Dowry Death--Non production of wedding card in itself is no basis to assume that no wedding card was printed or the marriage was simple

2010(1) LAW HERALD (P&H) 411
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
Before
The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia
Criminal Appeal No. 798-SB of 1997
Shankar Lal
v.
State of Haryana
{Decided on 18/01/2010}
For the Appellant: Mr. K.L.Suneja, Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. Deepak Jindal, Deputy Advocate General, Haryana.
IMPORTANT POINT
Dowry Death--Non production of wedding card in itself is no basis to assume that no wedding card was printed or the marriage was simple--Conduct of accused to take deceased to hospital in itself will not rule out she that was not harassed and demand of scooter was not raised by appellant.
Demand of dowry--Harassment--Proof--Fact that marriage was recent and parental house of deceased was situated nearby sufficient to reject contention that no letter or document was produced to prove harassment.
(A) Indian Penal Code, 1860, S.304-B--Dowry Death--Demand of dowry--Harassment--Death of deceased with 90% burns--At the time of occurrence marriage of deceased with appellant was 5½ months old--Deceased died in house of appellant and her death was in circumstances other than normal--Non production of wedding card in itself is no basis to assume that no wedding card was printed or the marriage was simple--Smell of kerosene was present on body of deceased --Conduct of accused to take deceased to hospital in itself will not rule out she that was not harassed and demand of scooter was not raised by appellant.
(B) Indian Penal Code, 1860, S.304-B--Dowry death--Demand of dowry--Harassment--Proof--Fact that marriage was recent and parental house of deceased was situated nearby sufficient to reject contention that no letter or document was produced to prove harassment.
(C) Indian Penal Code, 1860, S.304-B--Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children Act, 2000--Dowry death--Demand of dowry--Harassment--Age of accused--An enquiry regarding age of appellant not undertaken--Age of appellant at time of occurrence was given as 16 years--In judgment and statement recorded under Section 313 Cr.P.C. in 1997 his age was recorded as 18 years--Order of sentence is kept in abeyance--Appellant be summoned by competent juvenile Justice Board who shall hold an enquiry whether on date of occurrence appellant was juvenile or not--In case he is not found juvenile order of sentence came into force--Otherwise Juvenile Justice Board shall pass orders regarding sentence in accordance with 2000 Act.
(D) Indian Penal Code, 1860, S.304-B--Evidence Act, 1872, S.113--Dowry Death--Demand of dowry--Harassment--Appellant was demanding scooter and dowry proved--Demand was raised soon before death of deceased--Presumption under Section 113 B of Evidence Act is already against appellant--All ingredients of offence under Section 304-B are made out against appellant--Conviction upheld.