ASHOK KUMARversusSTATE OF HARYANA

                   [2010] 7 S.C.R. 1119

                      ASHOK KUMAR                                 A
                              v.
                   STATE OF HARYANA
            (Criminal Appeal No. 1489 of 2004)
                       JULY 8, 2010
                                                                  B
 [DR. B.S. CHAUHAN AND SWATANTER KUMAR, JJ.]

    PENAL CODE, 1860:

     s. 304-8 rlw s.2 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 - Dowry      c
death - Conviction - Plea that every demand could not be
termed as dowry demand - HELD: The expressions 'or any
time after the marriage' and 'in connection with the marriage'
cover all demands made at the time, before or after the
marriage so far they were in connection with the marriage -
                                                                  0
The expression 'demand for dowry' has to be construed
ejusdem generis to the word immediately preceding the
expression - The expression 'in connection with the marriage'
has to be given a wider connotation - In the instant case, the
evidence of prosecution witnesses as also the defence witness
satisfied the ingredients of s. 304-8 - Conviction sustained -    E
Dowry Prohibition Ac,t, 1961 - s.2 - Evidence - Testimony of
defence witness - Interpretation of Statutes - Rule of ejusdem
generis.

     s.304-8 - Expression 'soon before her death' - HELD:         F
Cannot be given a narrower meaning - Further, interpretation
given should be one which would further the object and cause
of the law enacted and avoid absurd result - For want of any
specific period, concept of reasonable period would be
applicable - Jn the instant case, there is evidence ofdernafld    G
of money 20-22 days prior to incident and on failure to satisfy
the demand, victim subjected to harassment and torture when
she reached her matrimonial home 7-8 days prior to her
death - Interpretation of statutes - Doctrines - ·Concept of
reasonable period.
                            1119                                  H
    1120    SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2010] 7 S.C.R.

A      s.304-8 - Dowry death - Presumption - HELD: The
  legislature has applied the concept of deeming fiction to
  provisions of s. 304-8 - Once prosecution proves its case with
  regard to basic ingredients of s. 304-8, court will presume by
  deemed fiction that the accused have caused the death of the
B bride - Interpretation of Statutes - Deeming fiction.
        CONSTITUTION OF /NOIA, 1950:

       Articles 136 and 142 - Exercise of power to award
  appropriate sentence - Conviction and sentence of ten years
C RI awarded by courts below uls 304-8 /PC - HELD: Cruelty
  and harassment to deceased was caused by her mother-in-
  law and brother-in-law, who were acquitted by High Court -
  Their acquittal was not challenged - In the facts and
  circumstances, in order to do complete justice in exercise of
o power under Article 142, sentence of accused reduced to
  seven years RI - Penal Code, 1860 - S. 304-8 - Sentencing.

        EVIDENCE:

        Statements of witnesses - HELD: Have to be read in their
E entirety - There may be certain variations in the statements,
    therefore, they should be appreciated and dealt with upon
    their cumulative reading - Penal Code, 1960 - s. 304-8.

       Defence witness - HELD: Defence would be bound by
  the statement of the witness produced by it - Penal Code,
F s.304-8 IPC.
        CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1973:

       s.313- Recording of statement of accused - HELD: The
G purpose of the mandatory requirement is to put every
  incriminating evidence to accused and to give him a fair
  chance to offer his explanation - However, if the accused
  makes a false statement, court may draw adverse inference
  - In the instant case, accused failed to substantiate his
  statement that the bride was in love with somebody else and
H
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                 1121


as she was not permitte<;I to marry according to her choice,   A
she committed suicide - Penal Code, 1860 - s. 304-8.

     s. 154 - FIR - Delay in registration - Dowry death -
Fifteen hours delay in registration of FIR - HELD: In the
circumstances of the case, there is no inordinate or
                                                               8
unexplained delay in lodging the FIR - Penal Code, 1860 -
s.304-8.

     WORDS AND PHRASES:

    Expressions 'or any time after the marriage', 'in          c
connection with the marriage' occurring in s.2 of Dowry
Prohibition Act, 1961 and 'demand for dowry' used in s.304-
8 /PC - Connotation of.

       The appellant was married on 9.10.1986, and his wife
  died of burn injuries on 16.5.1988. The prosecution case     D
  was that the appellant, his mother and brother harassed
  and tortured the bride for dowry; that one week prior to
  the incident the deceased came to her parents and stated
  that her husband wanted to set up a new business for
  which he required a sum of Rs.5000/-; that her father        E
· could not manage the money due to which the accused
  burnt her. The trial court convicted all the three accused
  of the offence charged. On appeal, the High Court
  acquitted the mother and the brother of the appellant.
                                                               F
    It was contended for the appellant that every demand
by the husband or his family members could not be
termed as 'dowry demand' within the meaning of s.2 read
with s.4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and,
consequently, the death of the deceased could not be
termed as a 'dowry death' within the ambit and scope of        G
s.304-8.

     Partly allowing the appeal, the Court

     HELD: 1. Explanation to s.304-8 IPC requires that the     H
    1122   SUPREME COURT REPORTS             [2010] 7 S.C.R.

A expression 'dowry' shall have the same meaning as in s.2
  of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, i.e. any pr9perty 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,
B before, or at any time after, the marriage and in
  connection with the marriage of the said parties but does
  not include dower or mahr under the Muslim Personal
  Law. The expressions 'or any time after marriage' and 'in
  connection with the marriage of the said parties'; which
c were introduced by amendments appear to have been
  added in s.2 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 parties. This
  clearly shows the intent of the legislature that these
  expressions are of wide meaning and scope and they
0
  cannot be given a restricted or a narrower meaning.
  However, 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 the section.
E [para 10-11) [1133-H; 1134-A-E]
      Madhu Sudan Malhotra v. K.C. Bhandari (1988) Supp.
  1 SCC 424; State of Andhra Pradesh v. Raj Gopal Asawa
  2004 (3) SCR 32 = (2004) 4 SCC 470; Ram Singh v. State
  of Haryana 2008 (2) SCR 216 = (2008) 4 SCC 70; Satbir
F Singh v. State of Punjab 2001 (3) Suppl. SCR 353 =AIR
  2001 SC 2828 and Appasaheb v. State of Maharashtra 2007
    (1 ) SCR 164 = (2007) 9 SCC 721, referred to.
       1.2. The courts have also taken the view that where
  the husband had demanded a specific sum from his
G 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. [para 13) [1135-A-E]
H       1.3. The cruelty and harassment by the husband or
      ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                 1123

any relative could be directly relatable to or in connection A
with, any demand for dowry. The expression 'demand for
dowry' will have to be construed ejusdem generis to the
word immediately preceding this expression. Similarly, 'in ·
connection with the marriage' is an expression which
has to be given a wider connotation. [para 16] [1136-H; B
1137-A-B]

     1.4. In the instant case, PW-1, the father of the
deceased, stated that six months after the marriage of the
deceased, her husband and in-laws started harassing her
for insufficient dowry. He further stated that 20-22 days     C
prior to her death the deceased had told him that she was
being troubled for a sum of Rs.5000/- which was required
by her husband as he wanted to change his business.
PW-2 supported the statement of PW-1. PW-3 stated that
the husband of the deceased and her in-laws used to ill-      D
treat the deceased and were demanding dowry and; that
he informed PW-1 about the death of the deceased due
to burn injuries. [para 25] [1144-G-H; 1145-A-G]
     1.5. The most important witness was DW-3, the sister     E
of the deceased, aged about 14 years. She was examined
as defence witness. She stated that her sister (the
deceased) had complained that her husband and in-laws
demanded dowry and also used to give her be~ting; that
she came to their home 20 days prior to her death, and        F
told that her in-laws had demanded a T.V. and Rs.5,000/
-. This statement of DW-3 in cross,examination, in fact, is
clinching evidence. The defence would be bound by the
statement of the witness produced by it whatever be its
worth. On the face of the evidence adduced by PW-1 read
in conjunction with the statement of DW-3, the                G
ingredients of s.304-B IPC have been satisfied. [para 26,
28 and 30) [1146-D-F; 1147-A-H]
     1.6. There are certain variations or improvements in
the statements of PWs but all of them are of minor nature.    H
   1124    SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2010] 7 S.C.R.


A The statements of the witnesses have to be read in their
  entirety to examine their truthfulness and the veracity or
  otherwise. It will neither be just nor fair to pick up just a
  line from the entire statement and appreciate that
  evidence out of context and without reference to the
B preceding and subsequent lines. It is always better and
  in the interest of both the parties that the statements of
  the witnesses are appreciated and dealt with by courts
  upon their cumulative reading. [para 28] [1147-B-E]

        Devi Lal v. State of Rajasthan 2007 (11 ) SCR 219    =
C (2007) 14 sec 176, relied on.

       2.1. The words 'soon before her death' used in s.304-
  8 IPC cannot be given a restricted or a narrower meaning.
  They must be understood in their plain language and
o with reference to their meaning in common parlance.
  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
E provisions and must receive strict construction: 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. Further, the
  interpretation given should be one which would avoid
  absurd results on the one hand, and would further the
F object and cause of the law so enacted, on the other.
  [para 14] [1136-F-H; 1136-A-B]
       2.2. The concept of reasonable time is the best
  criteria to be applied for appreciation and examination of
G such cases. There should be a reasonable, if not direct,
  nexus between the death and the dowry related cruelty
  or harassment inflicted on the deceased. For want of any
  specific period, the concept of reasonable period would
  be applicable. Thus, the cruelty, harassment and demand
H of dowry should not be so ancient whereafter the couple
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                1125


and the family members have lived happily and that it         A
would result in abuse of the said protection. These
matters will have to be examined on the facts and
circumstances of a given case. In the instant case, there
is definite evidence to show that nearly 20-22 days prior
       1
to the incident, the deceased had come to her parental        s
home and informed her father ~bout the demand of Rs.
5,000/- and harassment and torture to which she was
subjected to by her husband and his relatives. Her father
had consoled her ensuring that he would try to arrange
for the same and thereafter took her at her matrimonial       c
home 7-8 days prior to her death. [para 15 and 29] [1136-
B-G; 1147-F·G]
    Tarsem singh .vs. State of punjab 2008 (17) SCR 379 =
2009 AIR 1454 and Yashoda v. State of Madhya Pradesh
(2004) 3 sec 98, referred to.                                 D

      3. The legislature has applied the concept of
 deeming fiction to the provisions of s.304-B IPC. Once the
 prosecution proves its case with regard to the basic
 ingredients of s.304-B, the court will presume by deemed     E
 fiction of law that the husband and/or his relatives
 complained of, have caused the death of the bride. Such
·a presumption can be drawn by the court keeping in view
 the evidence, produced by the prosecution in support of
 the substantive charge u/s 304-B.Of course, it would be
                                                              F
 a rebuttable presumption. [para 18] [1138-A-E]
     Kaliyaperumal v. State of Tamil Nadu 2003 (3) Suppl.
 SCR 1 = AIR 2003 SC 3828, relied on.
    4.1. It is a settled principle of law that dual purpose G
is sought to be achieved when the courts comply with .
the mandatory requirement of recording the statement of
an accused u/s 313 CrPC. Firstly, every material piece of
evidence which the prosecution proposes to use against
the accused should be put to him in clear terms; and
                                                            H
   1126    SUPREME COURT REPORTS              [2010) 7 S.C.R.


A secondly, the accused should have a fair chance to give
  his explanation in relation to that evidence as well as his
  own versions with regard to alleged involvement in the
  crime. However, if the statements made by the accused
  are false, the court is entitled to draw adverse inferences.
B Further, the pr·ovisions of s. 313 (4) Cr.PC explicitly
  provide that the answers given by the accused may be
  taken into consideration in such enquiry or trial and put
  in as evidence for or against the accused in any other
  enquiry or trial for any other offence for which, such
C answers may tend to show he has committed. Thus, the
  use of a statement u/s 313 of Cr.PC as an evidence is
  permissible as per the provisions of the Code but has its
  own limitations. Courts may rely on a portion of the
  statement of the accused and find him guilty in
  consideration of the other evidence against him led by the
0 prosecution. However, such statements made under this
  Section should not be considered in isolation but in
  conjunction with evidence adduced by the prosecution.
  Another important caution that courts have declared is
  that conviction of the accused cannot be based merely
E on the statement made u/s 313 Cr.PC as it cannot be
  regarded as a substantive piece of evidence. [para 22-23]
  [1141-G-H; 1143-B-F]
      Vijendrajit Ayodhya Prasad Goel v. State of Bombay AIR
F 1953 SC 247, referred to.
       4.2. In the instant case, from various answers given
  by the accused to the court in his statement recorded u/
  s 313 Cr.P.C., it appears that the death of the deceased
  by burning is not disputed. However, besides denying
G the case of the prosecution, the appellant took the stand
  that he was falsely implicated in the crime. According to
  him, the deceased was not happy with the marriage
  inasmuch as she was in love with somebody else and
  wanted to marry him and, as it was not permitted by her
H family, she committed suicide. It was for the accused to
       ASHOK KUMAR      v. STATE OF HARYANA            1127


 prove his defence, but, he has led no evidence in this        A
 regard and thus, the Court cannot believe this version put
 forward by the accused. [para 24 and 30] (1144-C-E;
 1145-H; 1146-A-B]
       5. There is no inordinate or unexplained delay in
  lodging the FIR. The incident occurred at 4.00 p.m. on       8
  16.05.1988. The victim died at 9.00 p.m. on the same day.
  The complainant family got the information of the death
  from a relative, PW-3. Thereafter, they must have tried to
  get the body subjected to the postmortem and have the
  same released for performing the last rites. The FIR was     C
  registered at 7.30 p.m. on 17.05.1988 which obviously
  would mean that the complainant had reached the police
  station even prior thereto. The conduct of the
  complainant and the witnesses is in line with the
  behaviour of a person of common prudence and the facts       D
  and circumstances of the case clearly demonstrate
. proper exercise of due diligence on the part of these
  witnesses. The FIR cannot be said to have been
  registered belatedly. Even if the delay is presumed, it is
  not of such a nature that would entail any benefit to the    E
  accused. [para 31] (1048-C-H; 1049-A]
     6.1. There being no infirmity in the concurrent
judgments of the Sessions Judge and the High Court,
there is no reason to interfere with the same in law or on
facts. Thus, the conviction of the accused is sustained.       F
[para 32] (1049-B]
     6.2. As regards the quantum of punishment, it is not
even the case of the prosecution that at the time of
occurrence, the accused-appellant was present at home          G
and he failed to protect or save the deceased from
burning which caused her death. Besides, the marriage
itself has survived for a short period of nearly one and a
half years. The cruelty and harassment to the deceased
                                                               H
    1128   SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2010) 7 S.C.R.


A was stated to have been caused by the mother-in-law and
  the brother in law of the deceased. They have been
  acquitted by the High Court for total lack of evidence.
  Neither the State nor the complainant has preferred an
  appeal against their acquittal. The accused is aged about
8 48 years. Keeping in view the facts and circumstances
  of the case and in exercise of powers under Article 142
  of the Constitution of India to do complete justice, the
  Court is of the considered view that ends of justice would
  be met by awarding the accused the minimum sentence
C provided in law, i.e. 7 years of rigorous imprisonment.
  [para 33] [1049-C-F]

                        Case Law Reference:
    2008 (2) SCR 216               referred to          para 12
D   2001 (3) Suppl. SCR 353        referred to         para 12
    (1988) Supp. 1 sec 424         referred to         para 12
    2004 (3) SCR 32                referred to          para 12

E   2008 (17) SCR 379              referred to          para 15
     (2004) 3 sec 98               referred to          para 15
    2003 (3) Suppl. SCR 1          relied on            para 18
     2007 (1) SCR 164              referred to          para 20
F
     2007 (11) SCR219              relied on            para 21
     AIR 1953 SC 247               referred to          para 23
      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
G No. 1489 of 2004.
        From the Judgment & Order dated 16.12.2003 of the High
    Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal
    No. 38-SB of 1989.

H
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                    1129


   Vijay R. Datar, Vined Jhanji, Jyoti Mendiratta and Balraj       A
Dewan for the Appellant.

    Roopansh Purohit and Kamal Mohan Gupta for the
Respondent.

    The Judgment of the Court was delivered by                     B

    SWATANTER KUMAR, J. 1. Inter alia but primarily the
appellant has raised a question of law in the present appeal.
The contention is, that every demand by the husband or his
family members cannot be termed as 'dowry demand' within           C
the meaning of Section 2 read with Section 4 of the Dowry
Prohibition Act, 1961 (for short referred to as 'the Act') and
consequently, the death of the deceased cannot be termed as
a 'dowry death' within the ambit and scope of Section 304-8
of the Indian Penal Code (for short 'the Code') and, as such,      D
the conviction and order of sentence passed against the
appellant is liable to· be set aside.

     2. It is a settled canon of criminal jurisprudence that the
question of law has to be examined in light of the facts and
circumstances of a given case. Thus, reference to the facts        E
giving rise to the present appeal would be necessary.

     3. Vipin @ Chanchal @ Rekha, the deceased and Ashok
Kumar, the appellant herein, were married on 9th October,
1986. Harbans Lal, the father of the deceased had given            F
sufficient dowry at the time of her marriage according to his
means, desire and capacity. But, the appellant and his family
members i.e. Mukesh Kumar, the brother of the appellant and
Smt. Lajwanti, the mother of the appellant were not satisfied
with the dowry. They allegedly used to harass and maltreat the     G
deceased and used to give her beatings. They had demanded
a refrigerator, a television etc. One week prior to the date of
occurrence, the deceased came to the house of her father at
Kaithal and narrated the story. She specifically mentioned that
her husband wanted to set up a new business for which he           H
    1130    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2010) 7 S.C.R.


A required a sum of Rs. 5,000/-. The father of the deceased could
  not manage the same due to which the appellant and his family
  members particularly, Lajwanti and Mukesh alleged to have
  burnt the deceased by sprinkling kerosene oil on her as a result
  of which the deceased died in the hospital at about 4.00 p.m.
B on 16.05.1988. The father of the deceased received
  information of the incident from his sister's son Subhash
  Chand. Neither the appellant nor his family members informed
  him about the said demise.

        The father of the deceased moved a complaint (Ex. PA)
C before SI Randhir Mohan who made endorsement (Ex. PA/1)
  on the basis of which FIR (Ex. PL:) was recorded. This was
  done by SI Randhir Mohan on the basis of ruqa (Ex. PQ)
  received on 16.05 1988 at about 5.45 p.m. The deceased was
  brought to the hospital as a burnt case in gasping condition and
D she expired in casualty. The said officer went to the General
  Hospital, completed the proceedings under Section 174 of the
  Criminal Procedure Code (for short 'the Cr.PC') and during
  those proceedings he recorded the statements of Lajwanti,
  mother in law of the deceased, Ram Lal, father in law of the
E deceased, Khem Chand, Harbans Lal and one Arjun Dass.
  Thereafter, the body was sent for postmortem which was
  handed over to Hanbans Lal, after the post mortem. The
  complaint was made by Harbans Lal (PW-1) on 17th May, 1988.
  Site Plan (Ex. PW) as well as the photographs (Ex. P-14 to P-
F 17) and their negatives (Ex. P-18 to P-21) were prepared by
  Photographer Satish Kumar (PW-10). Ex. PS was also taken
  into possession which was half burnt small tin, containing 3
  litres of kerosene oil under Ex. PH which was sealed. Certain
  other goods like hammer (Ex. PK), broken piece of a wooden
G door (Ex. P-11 ), half burnt match stick, match box etc (Ex. P-
  12) were also taken into possession.

      4. After completing the investigation of the case and
  recording the statements of the relevant witnesses, the
  Investigating Officer submitted the charge sheet in terms of
H Section 173 of the Cr.PC. The case was committed to the Court
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                       1131
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]
of Sessions by the learned CJM vide his order dated 18th             A
October, 1988 which framed the charge under Section 304-8
of the Code read with Section 34 of the Code. Upon
completion of the evidence of prosecution, statement of the
accused under Section 313 of Cr.PC was recorded.
                                                                     8
     5. The learned Trial Court by a detailed judgment dated
13.01.1989/16.01.1989 held all the three accused viz., Ashok
Kumar, Mukesh Kumar and Lajwanti, guilty of the offence
punishable under Section 304-8 of the Code and vide order
of the same date, sentenced the accused to undergo rigorous
imprisonment for a term of 10 years and to pay a fine of Rs.         C
1,000/- each and in default of payment of fine, to further
undergo rigorous imprisonment for 3 months.

     6. Aggrieved by the aforesaid judgment and order of
sentence passed by the Trial Court, the accused filed an appeal      o
before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh,
which was partially accepted. Lajwanti and Mukesh, the mother
and brother of the accused Ashok Kumar, were acquitted of
the offence under Section 304-8 of the Code while the
conviction of Ashok Kumar, accused was upheld and the order          E
of sentence was also maintained by the High Court.

     7. Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court dated 16th
December, 2003, Ashok Kumar, the appellant herein, has filed
the present appeal. While impugning the judgment under appeal
and besides raising the legal contention afore noticed, it is also   F
contended that the Courts below have failed to appreciate the
evidence in its correct perspective. The evidence brought on
record clearly show that there was no connection between the
death of the deceased and the alleged dowry demands or
alleged cruelty. Further, it is contended that there was delay in    G
registration of the FIR and no explanation has been rendered
whatsoever in that behalf. The occurrence was dated
16.05.1988 at 4.00 p.m. and the FIR was lodged on
17.05.1988, while the deceased died in the hospital on
16.05.1988. Unexplained and inordinate delay in lodging FIR          H
    1132    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2010] 7 S.C.R.


A (Ex. PU) creates a serious doubt on the case of the
  prosecution. There were no specific allegations made in the FIR
  with regard to dowry and the allegations made, in any case,
  did not specify the basic ingredients of dowry demand. While
  criticizing the serious contradiction between the statements of
B prosecution witnesses, it is also contended that the prosecution
  has failed to prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt
  particularly, keeping in view the letters written (Ex. DB to DJ),
  no offence could be established against the accused and, as
  such, he is entitled to be acquitted.

C      8. On the contrary, it is argued on behalf of the State that
  by virtue of cumulative effect of the statements of Harbans Lal,
  the father of the deceased (PW-1), Krishna Rani, the mother
  of the deceased (PW-2) and Subhash Chand (PW-3) read in
  conjunction with documentary evidence and the statement of the
D Investigating Officer, the prosecution has been able to prove
  the charge beyond any reasonable doubt. It is contended that
  one witness, produced by the accused himself, has fully
  corroborated the case of the prosecution and, as such, the
  appellant was rightly convicted and sentenced by the Courts
E below and the judgment under appeal does not suffer from any
  legal or other infirmity. According to the prosecution, the appeal
  should be dismissed.

        9. At the very outset, we would proceed to deal with the
F legal submissions made on behalf of the appellant. But before
  that, we must notice that the appellant was neither charged with
  the offence under Section 4 of the Act nor he has been found
  guilty of the said offence. Thus, the submissions have to be
  examined only from the point of view that the appellant has been
  convicted for an offence under Section 304-B of the Code and
G the provisions of the Act are relevant only for examining the
  merit or otherwise of the contention raised that the expression
  'dowry', as per explanation to the provisions of Section 304-B
  of the Code, has to be given the same meaning as in Section
  2 of the Act.
H
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                      1133
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

     10. The appellant was charged with an offence under             A
Section 304-8 of the Code. This penal section clearly spells
out the basic ingredients as well as the matters which 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,            B
within 7 years of a marriage. It is the first criteria which the
prosecution must prove. 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        c
be called 'dowry death' and the husband or the relative, as the
case may be, will be deemed to have caused such a death.
Explanation to this section requires that the expression 'dowry'
shall have the same meaning as in Section 2 of the Act. The
definition of dowry under Section 2 of the Act reads as under :      0
     "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                                                    E

     (b) by the parent of either party to a marriage or by any
     other person, to either party to the marriage or to any other
     person,

    at or before [or any time after the marriage] (in connection     F
    with the marriage of the said parties, but does not include]
    dower or mahr in the case of persons to whom the Muslim
    Personal Law (Shariat) applies.

    Explanation 11.--The expression "valuable security" has the      G
    same meaning as in section 30 of the Indian Penal Code
    (45 of 1860)."

     11. 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    H
    1134    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   [2010] 7 S.C.R.


A 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 said parties but does no! include dower or mahr
  under the Muslim Personal Law. All the expressions used under
  this Section are of a very wide magnitude. The expressions 'or
B any time after marriage' and 'in connection with the marriage
  of the said parties' were introduced by amending Act 63 of
  1984 and Act 43 of 1986 with effect from 02.10.1985 and
  19.11.1986 respectively. These amendments appear to have
  been made with the intention to cover all demands at the time,
c before and even after the marriage so far they were in
  connection with the marriage of the said parties. This clearly
  shows the intent of the legislature that these expressions are
  of wide meaning and scope. The expression 'in connection with
  the marriage' cannot be given a restricted or a narrower
  meaning. The expression 'in connection with the marriage' even
0
  in common parlance and on its plain language has to be
  understood generally. 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
E that it would not attract, on the face of it, the provisions of this
  section.

         12. At this stage, it will be appropriate to refer to certain
  examples showing what has and has not been treated by the
F Courts as 'dowry'. This Court, in the case of Ram Singh v.
  State of Haryana ((2008) 4 SCC 70], 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
G the expression 'dowry'. Again, in the case of Satbir Singh v.
  State of Punjab [AIR 2001 SC 2828], this Court held that the
  word 'dowry' should be any property or valuable given or
  agreed to be given in connection with the marriage. The
  customary payments in connection with birth of a child or other
H ceremonies are not covered within the ambit of the word
      ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                       1135
           [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

'dowry'. This Court, in the case of Madhu Sudan Malhotra v.          A
K. C. Bhandari [(1988) Supp. 1 SCC 424], 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          B
the meaning of Section 2 of the Act. 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 the case of State of
Andhra Pradesh v. Raj Gopal Asawa [(2004) 4 SCC 470).                c
     13. 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. Section 4 of the Act is     D
the Renal Section and demanding a 'dowry', as defined under
Section 2 of the Act, is punishable under this section. As
already noticed, we need not deliberate on this aspect, as the
accused before us has neither been charged nor punished for
that offence. We have examined the provisions of Section 2 of        E
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.

      14. We have already referred to the provisions of Section      F
304-8 of the Code and the most significant expression used
in the Section is 'soon before her death'. In our view, the
expressions 'soon before her death' cannot be given a
restricted or a narrower meaning. They must be understood in
their plain language and with reference to their meaning in          G
common parlance. 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. But, even the rule of strict
                                                                     H
    1136     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   [2010) 7 S.C.R.


A construction requires that the provisions have to be read in
  conjunction with other relevant provisions and scheme of the
  Act. 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.
B         15. 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. This Court in the
    case of Tarsem Singh v. State of Punjab [AIR 2009 SC 1454),
    held that the legislative object in providing such a radius of time
C   by employing the words 'soon before her death' is to
    emphasize the idea that her death should, in all probabilities,
    has been the aftermath of such cruelty or harassment. In other
    words, there should be a rec:sonable, if not direct, nexus
    between her death and the dowry related cruelty or harassment
D   inflicted on her. Similar view was expressed by this Court in
    the case of Yashoda v. State of Madhya Pradesh [(2004) 3
    SCC 98], where this Court stated that determination of the
    period would depend on the facts and circumstances of a given
    case. However, the expression would normally imply that there
E   has to be reasonable time gap between the cruelty inflicted and
    the death in question. If this is so, the legislature in its wisdom
    would have specified any period which would attract the
    provisions of this Section. However, there must be existence
    of proximate link between the acts of cruelty. along with the
F   demand of dowry and the death of the victim. For want of any
    specific period, the concept of reasonable period would be
    applicable. 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
G   of the said protection. 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. These
    matters, of course, will have to be examined on the facts and
    circumstances of a given case.

H        16. The cruelty and harassment by the husband or any
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                        1137
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

relative could be directly relatable to or in connection with, any      A
demand for dowry. The expression 'demand for dowry' will have
to be construed ejusdem generis to the word immediately
preceding this expression. Similarly, 'in connection with the
marriage' is an expression which has to be given a wider
connotation. It is of some significance that these expressions          B
should be given appropriate meaning to avoid undue
harassment or advantage to either of the parties. These are
penal provisions but ultimately these are the social legislations,
intended to control offences relating to the society as a whole.
 Do_v1ffY is something which existed in our country for a               c
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 subsistence of the marriage.                                   o
      17. 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 Article 20 of the Constitution of India
as well as has a presumption of innocence in his favour. In other
words, the rule of law requires a person to be innocent till proved     E
guilty. The concept of deeming fiction is hardly applicable to
the criminal jurisprudence. In contradistinction to this aspect, the
legislature has applied the concept of deeming fiction to the
provisions of Section 304-8. Where ot-her ingredients of
Section 304-B are satisfied, in that event, the husband or all          F
relatives shall be deemed to have caused her death. In other
words, the offence shall be deemed to have been committed
by fiction of law. 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                G
relatives complained of, has caused her death. 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.
                                                                        H
    1138         SUPREME COURT REPORTS              [2010] 7 S.C.R


A         18. Of course, deemed fiction would introduce a rebuttable
    presumption and the husband and his relatives may, by leading
    their defence and proving that the ingredients of Section 304-
    8 were not satisfied, rebut the same. While referring to raising
    of presumption under Section 304-8 of the Code, this Court,
8   in the case of Kaliyaperumal v. State of Tamil Nadu [AIR 2003
    SC 3828], stated the following ingredients which should be
    satisfied :

        "4 .................. .

C          (1)     The question before the Court must be whether the
                   accused has committed the dowry death of a
                   woman. (This means that the presumption can be
                   raised only if the accused is being tried for the
                   offence under Section 304-8, IPC).
D
           (2)    The woman was subjected to cruelty or harassment
                  by her husband or his relatives.

           (3)     Such cruelty or harassment was for, or in
                   connection with, any demand for dowry.
E
           (4)    Such cruelty or harassment was soon before her
                  death."

        19. In light of the above essential ingredients, for
F constituting an offence under Section 304-8 of the Code, the
  Court has to attach specific significance to the time of alleged
  cruelty and harassment to which the victim was subjected to
  and the time of her death, as well as whether the alleged
  demand of dowry was in connection with the marriage. Once
G these ingredients are satisfied, it would be called the 'dowry
  death' and then, by deemed fiction of law, the husband or the
  relatives would be deemed to have committed that offence. The
  learned counsel appearing for the appellant, while relying upon
  the case of Tarsem Singh (supra), contended that the concept
  of 'soon before the death' is not attracted in relation to the
H alleged harassment or cruelty inflicted upon the deceased, in
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                      1139
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

the facts of the present case. The oral and documentary              A
evidence produced by the prosecution does not suggest and
satisfy the essential ingredients of the offence.

       20. Similarly, reference was also made to the judgment
of this Court in the case of Appasaheb v. State of Maharashtra
[(2007) 9 SCC 721], to substantiate the contention that there        B
was no co-relation between giving or taking of the property with
the marriage of the parties and, as such, the essential
ingredients of Section 2 of the Act were missing. Accordingly,
it is argued that there was no demand of dowry by the appellant
but it was merely an understanding that for his better business,     C
at best, the amounts could be given voluntarily by the father of
the deceased. This fact was further sought to be substantiated
while referring to the following abstracts of the judgment in the
case of Appasaheb (supra):
                                                                     D
     "6 ........ The learned trial Judge then sought clarification
     from the witnesses by putting the following question:

     "Question: What do you mean by 'domestic cause'?

     Answer: What I meant was that there was a demand for            E
     money for defraying expenses of manure, etc. and that was
     the cause."

     In the very next paragraph she stated as under:

     "It is not true to suggest that in my statement before the      F
     police I never said that ill-treatment was as a result of
     demand for money from us and its fulfilment. I cannot
     assign any reason why police did not write about it in my
     statement."
                                                                     G
     xxx   xxx xxx       xxx

     9. Two essential ingredients of Section 304-B IPC, apart
     from others, are (i) death of woman is caused by any burns
     or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal          H
    1140     SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2010) 7 S.C.R.


A      circumstances, and (ii) Woman is subjected to cruelty or
       harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband
       for, or in connection with, any demand for "dowry". The
       explanation appended to sub-section (1) of Section 304-
       8 IPC says that "dowry" shall have the same meaning as
8      in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

       xxx    xxx   xxx   xxx

       11. In view of the aforesaid definition of the word "dowry"
       any property or valuable security should be given or agreed
c      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. Therefore, the giving or taking of
       property or valuable security must have some connection
       with the marriage of the parties and a correlation between
D      the giving or taking of property or valuable security with the
       marriage of the parties is essential. Being a penal
       provision it has to be strictly construed. Dowry is a fairly
       well-known social custom or practice in India. It is well-
       settled principle of interpretation of statute that if the Act
       is passed with reference to a particular trade, business or
E
       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 construed as having that particular
       meaning. (See Union of India v. Garware Nylons Ltd. and
F
       Chemical and Fibres of India Ltd. v. Union of lndia[(1997)
       2 sec 664].) A demand for money on account of some
       financial stringency or for meeting some urgent domestic
       expenses or for purchasing manure cannot be termed as
       a demand for dowry as the said word is normally
G      understood. 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
H
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                     1141
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

    purchasing manure. Since an essential ingredient of             A
    Section 304-B IPC viz. demand for dowry is not
    established, the conviction of the appellants cannot be
    sustained."

     21. On the contrary, the learned counsel appearing for the     8
State while relyi_ng upon the judgment of this Court in Devi Lal
v. State of Rajasthan [(2007) 14 SCC 176), argued that the
relatives and, particularly the father of the deceased, had
specifically mentioned the acts of harassment and, in any case,
the statement of the sister of the deceased, who was produced       C
by the accused as his defence witness, itself clinches the entire
issue and, therefore, the offence under Section 304-8 of the
Code is made out. It was also contended that an absolute
accuracy in the statement of witnesses is not a condition
precedent for conviction. He relied upon the following dictum
of the Court in Devi Lat's case (supra) :                           D

     "25. Indisputably, before an accused is found guilty for
     commission of an offence, the court must arrive at a finding
     that the ingredients thereof have been established. The
     statement of a witness for the said purpose must be read       E
     in its entirety. It is not necessary for a witness to make a
     statement in consonance with the wording of the section
     of a statute. What is needed is to find out as to whether
     the evidences brought on record satisfy the ingredients
     thereof."                                                      F

      22. Now we may proceed to discuss the evidence led by
the prosecution in the present case. In order to bring the issues
raised within a narrow compass we may refer to the statement
of the accused made under Section 313, Cr.PC. It is a settled
principle of law that dual purpose is sought to be achieved         G
when the Courts comply with the mandatory requirement of
recording the statement of an accused under this provision.
Firstly, every material piece of evidence which the prosecution
proposes to use against the accused should be put to him in
clear terms and secondly, t.he accused should have ·a fair          H
    1142    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2010] 7 S.C.R.


A chance to give his explanation in relation to that evidence as
  well as his own versions with regard to alleged involvement in
  the crime. This dual purpose has to be achieved in the interest
  of the proper administration of criminal justice and in
  accordance with the provisions of the Cr.P.C. Furthermore, the
B statement under Section 313 of the Cr.PC can be used by the
  Court in so far as it corroborates the case of the prosecution.
  Of course, conviction per se cannot be based upon the
  statement ur;ider Section 313 of the Cr.PC.

        23. Let us examine the essential features of this section
C and the principles of law as enunciated by judgments of this
   Court, which are the guiding factor for proper application and
   consequences which shall flow from the provisions of Section
   313 of the Cr.PC. As already noticed, the object of recording
   the statement of the accused under Section 313 of the Cr.PC
D is to put all incriminating evidence to the accused so as to
  provide him an opportunity to explain such incriminating
  circumstances appearing against him in the evidence of the
  prosecution. At the same time, also permit him to put forward
  his own version or reason&, if he so chooses, in relation to his
E involvement or otherwise in the crime. The Court has been
  empowered to examine the accused but only after the
  prosecution evidence has been concluded. It is a mandatory
  obligation upon the Court and besides ensuring the compliance
  thereof, the Court has to keep in mind that the accused gets a
F fair chance to explain his conduct. The option lies with the
  accused to maintain silence coupled with simplicitor denial or,
  in the alternative, to explain his version and reasons, for his
  alleged involvement in the commission of crime. This is the
  statement which the accused makes without fear or right of the
G other party to cross-examine him. However, if the statements
  made are false, the Court is entitled to draw adverse inferences
  and pass consequential orders, as may be called for, in
  accordance with law. The primary purpose is to establish a
  direct dialogue between the Court and the accused and to put
H every important incriminating piece of evidence to the accused
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                         1143
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

and grant him an opportunity to answer and explain. Once such A
a statement is recorded, the next question that has to be
considered by the Court is to what extent and consequences
such statement can be used during the enquiry and the trial.
Over the period of time, the Courts have explained this concept
and now it has attained, more or less, certainty in the field of B
criminal jurisprudence. The statement of the accused can be
used to test the veracity of the exculpatory of the admission, if
any, made by the accused. It can be taken into consideration
in any, enquiry or trial but still it is not strictly an evidence in the
case. The provisions of Section 313 (4) of the Cr.PC explicitly          c
provides that the answers given by the accused may be taken
into consideration in such enquiry or trial and put in as evidence
for or against the accused in any other enquiry or trial for any
other offence for which, such answers may tend to show he has
committed. In other words, the use of a statement under Section
                                                                         0
313 of Cr.PC as an evidence is permissible as per the
 provisions of the Code but has its own limitations. The Courts
 may rely on a portion of the statement of the accused and find
 him guilty in consideration of the other evidence against him
led by the prosecution, however, such statements made under
 this Section should not be considered in isolation but in E
 conjunction with evidence adduced by the prosecution. Another
 important caution that Courts have declared in the
 pronouncements is that conviction of the accused cannot be
 based merely on the statement made under Section 313 of the
 Cr.PC as it cannot be regarded as a substantive piece of F
 evidence. In the case of Vijendrajit Ayodhya Prasad Goel v.
 State of Bombay [AIR 1953 SC 247], the Court held as under:

     "3 ...........As the appellant admitted that he was in charge
     of the godown, further evidence was not led on the point.           G
     The Magistrate was in this situation fully justified in referring
     to the statement of the accused under Section 342 as
     supporting the prosecution case concerning the
     possession of the godown. The contention that. the
     Magistrate made use of the inculpatcry pa"' nf the
    1144    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2010] 7 S.C.R.


A       accused's statement and excluded the exculpatory part
        does not seem to be correct. The statement under Section
        342 did not consist of two portions, part inculpatory and
        part exculpatory. It concerned itself with two facts. The
        accused admitted that he was in charge of the godown,
B       he denied that the rectified spirit was found in that godown.
        He alleged that the rectified spirit was found outside it. This
        part of his statement was proved untrue by the prosecution
        evidence and had no intimate connection with the
        statement concerning the possession of the godown."
c       24. From various answers given by the accused to the
   Court in his statement recorded under Section 313 of the
  Cr.P.C., it appears that the death of the deceased is not
  disputed. The allegation with regard to cruelty was denied.
   However, besides denying the case of the prosecution, the
D appellant took the stand that he was falsely implicated in the
  crime. According to him, the deceased was not happy with the
  marriage inasmuch as she was in love with some other boy and
  wanted to marry him which was not permitted by her family and
  that is why she committed suicide. As would be evident from
E this admitted position, the death of the deceased by burning
  is not an issue. The limited question was whether the deceased
  committed suicide simplicitor for the reasons given by the
  accused or in the alternative, the prosecution story, that it was
  a dowry death relatable to the harassment and cruelty inflicted
F upon her by the accused and his family members, is correct.

       25. In the postmortem report it was noticed that the cause
  of death was shock and dehydration which resulted from
  extensive burn injuries, which were ante-mortem. The
  postmortem report (Ex. PO) and the body sketch (Ex. P0/1)
G clearly demonstrate that practically the entire body had been
  affected by the burn injuries. The prosecution had examined
  Harbans Lal, the father of the deceased (PW-1), who stated
  that immediately after the marriage of deceased with the
  accused, both were living happily and he had given dowry
H
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                     1145
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]

according to his capacity, but six months after her marriage,       A
her husband and her in-laws started teasing her and giving
taunts that she had not brought T.V. and Fridge etc. in the dowry
and whenever she used to come to him ':!he menticne:d about
the same and 20 days prior to her death she had told him thai
she was being troubled for a sum of Rs. 5,000/- so that he!         8
husband could change to a new business and while consoling
her, he told her that he would arrange for the money in some
time and took her at the house of her in-laws 7-8 days prior to
her death. He also stated that Ashok Kumar, the accused,
Lajwanti, the mother-in-law of the deceased and Mukesh,             c
brother-in"law of the deceased, used to give her beatings and
he had filed the complaint (Ex.PA). Ex.PB and Ex. PC were
the letters which he had given to the police, however, this
witness was cross-examined and confronted with Ex. PA,
where the. allegation about T.V. and Fridge etc. had not been       0
recorded. He voluntarily stated that his son-in-law (the accused)
used to deal in vegetables but he wanted to change to Kariyana
business, and that is why he wanted a sum of Rs. 5,000/-. Smt.
Krishna Rani, the mother of the deceased, was examined as
 PW-2. She admitted that a child was born from the marriage.        E
She had also corroborated the statement of PW 1. According
to her, Lajwanti told that the deceased had expired. Subhash
Chand (PW-3) stated that he had informed Harbans Lal (PW-
1) about the death of the deceased due to burn injuries and
stated that they (the husband of the deceased and her in-laws)
used to ill-treat the deceased and were demanding dowry.            F
However, he did not refer to the demand of Rs. 5,000/-, as
stated by other witnesses. To prove the case Karta Ram, SI
(PW-6), Darshan Lal, H.C. (PW-7), Ranbir Mohan, SI (PW-8),
the police officials, were also examined by the prosecution
apart from Kharati Lal, Kariyana Merchant (PW-4). Dr. Manjula       G
 Bansal, Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Jind (PW-5), was
examined to prove the death of the deceased which was
caused by burn irijuries.

     26. The accused had led defence and examined as many           H
    1146    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2010) 7 S.C.R.


A as six witnesses. Dr. Bhushan Aggarwal, lncharge Swami
  Salagram Ashram Charitable Hospital, Jind (DW-1) was
  examined to primarily show that a child was born on 30th
  August, 1987. Vijay Laxmi (DW-3) and Lekh Raj (DW-4) were
  examined to show that there were no dowry demands and
B Harbans Lal, the father of the deceased had not complained
  to them about the same at any point of time. But, the most
  important witness examine by the accused was Vijay Laxmi
  (DW-3), who is the daughter of Harbans Lal, aged about 14
  years. She mentioned that the letter (Ex. DJ) was written by her
c and she stated that sometimes Ashok Kumar, the accused
  used to take the deceased to her father's house. She admitted
  that two days prior to writing of the letter (Ex. DJ), her sister
                                 .
  and sister's son had come to her house and she stated that
  whatever is written in the letter is correct. But, in her cross-
D examination, she stated as under:

        "Whenever my sister visited our home after marriage, she
        would complain that her husband and in-laws demanded
        dowry and also they used to give her beating. She came
        to our home 20 days prior to her death. At that time she
E       told that her in-laws etc. were demanded a T.V. and
        Rs.5,000/-. My father took her to her husband's home. My
        sister was not suffering from my disease. She was h.iving
        good health."

F      27. The above statement of this witness (DW-3) in cross-
  examination, in fact, is clinching evidence and the accused can
  hardly get out of this statement. The defence would be bound
  by the statement of the witness, who has been produced by the
  accused, whatever be its worth. In the present case, DW-3 has
G clearly stated that there was cruelty and harassment inflicted
  upon the deceased by her husband and in-laws and also that
  a sum of Rs. 5,000/- was demanded. The statement of this
  witness has to be read in conjunction with the statement of PW-
  1 to PW-3 to establish the case of the prosecution. There are
H certain variations or improvements in the statements of PWs
       ASHOK KUMAR v. STATE OF HARYANA                      1147
            [SWATANTER KUMAR, J.]
but all of them are of minor nature. Even if, for the sake of. A
argument, they are taken to be as some contradictions or
variations in substance, they are so insignificant and mild that
they would no way be fatal to the case of the prosecution.
      28. This Court has to keep in mind the fact that the incident . 8
had occurred on 16.05.1988 while the witnesses were
examined after some time. Thus, it may not be possible for the
witnesses to make statements which would be absolute
reproduction of their earlier statement or line to line or minute
to minute correct reproduction of the occurrence/events. The C
Court has to adopt a reasonable and practicable approach and
it is only the material or serious contradictions/variations which
can be of some consequence to create a dent in the case of
the prosecution. Another aspect is that the statements of the
witnesses have to be read in their entirety to examine their
truthfulness and the veracity or otherwise. It will neither be just D
nor fair to pick up just a line from the entire statement and
appreciate that evidence out of context and without reference
to the preceding lines and lines appearing after that particular
sentence. It is always better and in the interest of both the
parties that the statements of the witnesses are appreciated E
and dealt with by the Court upon their cumulative reading.
     29. As already noticed, the expression 'soon before her
death' has to be accorded its appropriate meaning in the facts
and circumstances of a given case. In the present case, there        F
is definite evidence to show that nearly 20-22 days prior to her
death the deceased had come to her parental home and
informed her father about the demand of Rs. 5,000/- and
harassment and torture to which she was subjected to by the
accused and her in-laws. Her father had consoled her ensuring        G
that he would try to arrange for the same and-thereafter took
her at her matrimonial home 7-8 days prior to the incident.
     30. On face of the aforesaid evidence read in conjunction
with the statement of DW-3, we are convinced that ingredients
of Section 3048 have been satisfied in the present case. It was      H
    1148    SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2010] 7 S.C.R.


A for the accused to prove his defence. He had taken up the stand
  that the deceased was in love with another boy and did not want
  to marry the accused and the marriage of the deceased with
  the accused being against her wishes was the real cause for
  her to commit the suicide. However, he has led no evidence in
B this regard and thus, the Court cannot believe this version put
  forward by the a::cused.

        31. The argument raised on behalf of the appellant that
   there was inordinate and unexplained delay in registering the
   FIR is without any substance The incident occurred at 4.00 p.m.
C on 16.05.1988 whereafter the family of the deceased was
   informed. It is a normal conduct of a normal person that the
   entire concentration would be upon looking after and saving the
   deceased rather than to run up to the police or other persons
  instantaneously. Unfortunately, she died at 9.00 p.m. on the
D same day and the FIR was lodged on the next day i.e. on
   17.05.1988. The purpose of raising such a contention is to show
  and prove that there was a planned effort on the part of the
  complainant or the prosecution to falsely implicate the accused.
  Here, such a situation does not exist. We have already noticed
E that the complaint (Ex.PA) has been lodged resulting in
  registration of FIR (Ex. PU) at 7.30 p.m. on 17.05.1988 which
  obviously means that the complainant had reached the police
  station even prior thereto. The conduct of the complainant and
  the witnesses is in line with the behaviour of a person of common
F prudeflce and the facts and circumstances of the case clearly
  demonstrate proper exercise of due diligence on the part of
  these witnesses. Firstly, the complainant family got the
  information of the death of the deceased from a relative named
  Subhash Chand (PW-3) and, thereafter, they must have tried
G to get the body subjected to the postmortem and have the
  same released for performing the last rites. The incident
  occurred on 16.05.1988 and the FIR was registered on
  17.05.1988, therefore, there was no abnormal or inordinate
  delay in lodging the FIR in the facts of this case. Even if we
H presume the delay, it is not of such a nature that would entail
        ASHOK KUMAR v. S"l"ATE OF HARYANA                   1149
             [SWATANTER .KUMAR, J.J

any benefit to the accused. Thus, in our view, there is no         A
inordinate or unexplained delay in lodging the FIR.

     32. Having found no infirmity in the concurrent judgments
of the learned Sessions Judge and the High Court, we see no
reason to interfere in these judgments in law or on facts. Thus,
                                                                   8
we sustain the conviction of the accused.

      33. Coming to the question of quantum of punishment,
there are few factors of which we must take note of. It is not
even the case of the prosecution that atthe time of occurrence,
the accused-appellant was present at home and he fatted to C
protect or save the deceased from burning which caused her
death. Secondly, the marriage itself has surv\ved for a short
period of nearly one and a half year. The cruelty and
harassment to the deceased was stated to be caused by
Lajwanti, the mother in law of the deceased and Mukesh, the D
brother in law of the deceased. As already noticed, Lajwanti
 and Mukesh have been acquitted by the High Court for total
 lack of evidence. Neither the State nor the complainant has
 preferred an appeal against judgment of acquittal. The accused
 is a young person of 48 years. Keeping in view the facts and E
 circumstances of the case and in exercise of powers under
Article 142 of the Constitution of India to do complete justice,
 we are of the considered view that ends of justice would be
 met by awarding him the minimum sentence provided in law,
 i.e. 7 years of rigorous imprisonment. Resultantly, the appeal F
 is partially accepted and the accused-appellant is awarded
 sentence of 7 years rigorous imprisonment for an offence under
 Section 304-8 of the Code.

       34. The appeal is disposed off in the above terms.
                                                                   G
     35. The accused is on bail. His bail bonds and surety stand
discharged. He be taken into custody to undergo the remaining
period of his sentence.

R.P.                                     Appeal partly allow~d.
                                                                   H