In a significant order, the Supreme Court on Friday acquitted a man convicted for cruelty and dowry death of his wife as it pulled up trial courts for not putting an end to continuing mistakes in such cases.
A bench headed by Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the “essential ingredient” necessary to prove the charges did not exist in this case as witness statements did not give instances where cruelty or harassment had taken place.
The court also expressed its concern over the fact that despite earlier clarifications by it on the ingredients constituting the offence under Section 304B of the IPC, trial courts continue to commit similar mistakes. “It is for the state judicial academies to step in. Perhaps this is a case of moral conviction,” the bench said.
It noted that the deposition of the mother of the victim on the aspect of cruelty or harassment did not relate any specific act to the husband on dowry demands. “This is an essential ingredient of Section 304B. It is not made out from evidence,” the bench said.
It also held that the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt the two impugned offences and hence overturned the verdict given by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana as well as the trial court.
The convict was tried for Sections 304B (dowry death) and 498A (subjecting woman to cruelty), along with his parents, regarding the case but the trial court had acquitted the parents while it convicted the accused.
The married couple, wedded on 25th June 1996, witnessed the sad death of the woman by herself, by hanging on 2nd April, 1998, within statutory period of seven years for constitution of the offence under Section 304B. Post-mortem report showed ‘Asphyxia due to hanging’ as the cause of death.
Three prime witnesses were the victim’s mother, brother, and maternal uncle. Whereas the trial and high courts believed the version of the mother and brother, the judgment of the Supreme Court has changed the direction of this case.
