Holding

The Court held that the chain of circumstantial evidence was complete, establishing that the accused murdered his wife, and accordingly dismissed the appeal.

Summary

The appellant, a practising doctor, was accused of murdering his wife, Madhu Bala, who was found dead hanging in their residence with a dupatta around her neck and her legs tied to a cot. Post‑mortem and chemical examination revealed ante‑mortem injuries and the presence of a lethal dose of organophosphorus compound mixed with alcohol, indicating she was forcibly administered poison. The prosecution argued that the accused had a dowry motive, created a false suicide narrative, and fled the scene, all of which formed a complete chain of circumstantial evidence. The defence contended that the evidence was insufficient, the chain incomplete, and that the wife might have committed suicide while in a depressed state. The Supreme Court held that the medical and forensic evidence, together with the accused's motive and conduct, established guilt beyond reasonable doubt, and dismissed the appeal.

Issues considered

Whether the circumstantial evidence presented forms a complete and unbroken chain sufficient to convict the accused of murder.
Whether the accused had a motive, specifically dowry demands, to murder his wife.
Whether the death was a suicide or a homicide caused by administration of poison.
Whether the quantity of organophosphorus compound detected was sufficient to cause death.
Whether the accused's post‑incident conduct (false statement to police and absconding) indicates a guilty mind.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 302

Subjects

circumstantial evidencedowry motivemurderorganophosphorus poisoningsuicide vs homicideSection 302 IPCmedical forensic evidencefalse statement to policeabsconding

Judgment

MANGAT RAI A
v.
STA TE OF PUNJAB

JULY 9, 1997
B
[M.M. PUNCHHI AND S.B. MAJMUDAR, JJ.)

Criminal trial :

Circumstantial evidence-Circwnstances establishing guilt of the ac-
cused-Insufficient dow1y being motive of crime-Accused creating wrong C
evidence of hanging-Defence of suicide set up by the accused husband-Ante-
mortem injuries on the body of the deceased indicating that shi was forcibly
administered the alcohol mixed with poison-Accused being a doctor had
every facility and oppo1twzity for administering the poison-Conduct of the
accused in not immediately infonning the relatives of the deceased and his D
absconding from the scene of offence-Though by itself not conclusive,
becomes clinching circumstance against the accused-Held, in the cir-
cumstances of the case, chain of the circumstances leads to the inevitable
conclusion that it was the accused and no one else who was responsible for
the murder of his wife.
E
The appellant/accused was a doctor by profession. Deceased,
married to accused, was constantly ill-treated by the accused and his
family members for·not bringing sufficient dowry. Deceased gave birth to
a son before 2 months of the incidence and even at that time the accused
failed to visit his in-laws. On the day of the incident she was found dead F
hanging with 'dupatta' around the neck and her legs were tied to the foot
of the cot. It was established through the chemical examination that the
deceased was forcibly administered alcohol mixed with poison before her
death. According to the medical report, two injuries were found to be
ante-mortem while ligature mark on the neck was post-mortem. The G
accused did not immediately inform the relatives of the deceased and
absconded from the place of occurrence.

The Trial C.ourt on these facts held the appellant guilty under
Section 302 IPC and the same was upheld by the High Court on appeal by
the appellant. H
661
662 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] SUPP. 1 S.C.R.

A Before this Court the main contentions of the accused was that, (i)
the case was of circumstantial evidence and the chain of circumstances was
not complete; (ii) accused, recently blessed with a male child, had no
occasion to murder the wife; and (iii) there was evidence to show that the
deceased was in a depressed state of mind and therefore, there was all
possibility of her hanging herself.
B
The main contentions of the State were that, (i) accused had another
clinic one kilometer away from his residence and it was very easy for him
to go to his clinic after administering the poisonous alcohol and after
creating a false evidence as if the deceased had committed suicide; (ii) not
C intimating the in-laws on the date of the incident itself and subsequently
his absconding from the place of occurrence are all pointer to his guilty
mind.

Dismissing the appeal, this Court

D HELD : 1. The medical evidence and the report of the Chemical Ex-
aminer clearly show that deceased lost her life as a result of administration
of organophosporus compound mixed with alcohol. (668-F]

2. It is pertinent to note that deceased, a mother of two-and-a half-
E months baby, having allegedly taken half a bottle of liquor could not have
remained in senses to hang herselflater on by self-strangulation.(668-E]

3. The entire defence version was preposterous and violated all basic
norms of probabilities and was an affront to common sense.[668-E]

F 4. The accused had every facility and opportunity coupled with the
knowledge that the lethal dose of huge quantity of poison which by itself
was very pungent required to be diluted by mixing it up with alcohol before
it could be administered to anyone. [669-E]

G 5. The two ante-mortem injuries detected by the doctors on the body
of the deceased clearly indicated that she had resisted before the intake of
aforesaid quantity of alcohol mixed with poison. [669-E-F]

6. The aforesaid circur.1stances proved that death was due to
administration of alcohol and adequate quantity of organophosporus
H compound.
MANGAT.RA! v. STATE [S.B. MATMUDAR, J.] ti63

7. The subsequent conduct of accused of not immediately informing A
his in-laws and relatives of the deceased and his absconding from the scene
of offence for couple of days till he was ultimately arrested, which conduct '·
though by itself might not be conclusive, becomes a clinching circumstance
clearly point an accusing finger to the appellant and no one else. (670-A-B]

8. All the aforesaid circumstances must be treated to have B
represented a complete chain of circumstantial evidence leading to the
inevitable conclusion that it was the accused and no one else was
responsible for murder. (670-D]

Jose alias Kalli Jose v. The State of Kerela, (1973) 3 SCC 472; Smt. C
Phino v. State of Punjab, [1975) 4 SCC 119 and State v. Fatelz Balzadur &
Ors., AIR (1958) All. 1, cited.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.
683 of 1990.
D
From the Judgment and Order dated 2.8.88 of the Punjab & Haryana
High Court in Crl. A. No. 60-DB of 1986.

R.L. Kohli, Kawaljeet Kochhar and J.D. Jain for the Appellant.

R.S. Sodhi, for the Respondent. E
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

S.B. MAJMUDAR, J. The appellant who was convicted by the Trial
Court for murder of his wife unsuccessfully carried the matter in appeal
before the High Court and having lost there has landed in this Court by F
way of this appeal by special leave. A few relevant facts leading to these
proceedings deserve to be noted at the outset.

Introductory facts

The appellant is a practising doctor having two clinics. One is at G
Village Pakhopura in Amritsar District in State of Punjab. That clinic is
run as a part of his residential house where his wife Madho Bala aged 24
years met a tragic end. His other clinic is at Village Ratoke situated at a
distance of about one kilometre from his residential house. The appellant
was married to aforesaid Madho Bala about one and a half years prior to H
664 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997) SUPP. 1 S.C.R.
A the incident that took place on 04th September 1985. The case of the
prosecution is that after his marriage with said Madhu Bala neither the
appellant nor his mother got satisfied with the dowry which she brought
and they continuously went on complaining about its insufficiency. On that
account they used to ill-treat her. About four and a half months earlier to
B the date of the incident Madhu Bala visited her parents' house at Faridkot
and informed her relations about ill-treatment and the demand for T.V.
set, a refrigerator and a scooter and also about their complaining that
Madhu Bala had not been presented with a watch by her parents. The
evidence led 1'y the prosecution at the stage of the trial showed that P.W.4
Brij Bhushan, brother of Madhu Bala accompanied by his maternal-unc\e
C Roshan Lal and Des Raj who had acted as a go-between for getting the
appellant married to Madhu Bala, contacted the appellant-accused and the
other accused, his mother Indra Wati, who is acquitted by the Trial court,
and talked to them and informed them that they could not meet the
demand as they were poor and accused should not ill- treat Madhu Bala
D on that score. The prosecution case further is that the accused confessed
their guilt and promised not to repeat such demands in future and also
promised not to ill-treat Madhu Bala. In the meantime Madhu Bala gave
birth to a son. That happened about two months prior to the date of the
incident. An intimation was sent about the birth of the child to the
appellant but he did not visit the house of his in-laws. About 16-17 days
E before the occurrence Madhu Bala's mother-in-law Indra Wati, the
acquitted accused, visited the house of parents of Madhu Bala to take her ·
back. While taking her back she expressed dissatisfaction about the
customary presents made to the child and remarked, addressing Madhu
Bala, that her parents had not given her anything at the time of marriage
F and even after the birth of the son she was going empty-handed.

Now came the date of the occurrence, that is, 04th September 1985
on which day Madhu Bala met an unnatural death at the residential house
of the accused, her husband. Intimation about the same was conveyed on
05th September 1985, that is on the next day, to the relations of Madhu
G Bala about her death. They started for Village Pakhopura and on reaching
Sirhali, on way to Pakhopura, they received information that dead body of
Madhu Bala had already been removed to Tarn Taran. They then visited
the hospital at Tarn Taran where they felt that the post-mortem
examination at Tarn Taran might not be fair. An application was moved
H by them to Sub-Divisional Magistrate for carrying out post-mortem
MANGATRAiv. STATE [S.B. MAJMUDAR,J.] 665

,......_~ ..
examination by doctors at Amritsar. Under direction of the Sub-Divisional A
Magistrate, therefore, post-mortem was carried out by a Board of Doctors
at Amritsar. P.W.4 Brij Bhushan gave his statement to the police
a:ithorities on the·basis of which First Information Report was recorded
and the case was registered against the appellant and his mother.

Previous to the registration of the said case appellant accompanied B
by Sarpanch Sohan Singh had already visited Police Station Chola Sahib
and had lodged Report No. 18 on the night of 04th September 1985 itself
alleging that his wife had committed suicide by hanging herself. When ·
Assistant Sub-Inspectqr Balbir Singh visited the place of incident pursuant
to the aforesaid report by the appellant he found the dead body of Madhu C
Bala hanging with 'dupatta' around the neck and her legs were tied to the
foot of the cot. Usual steps towards investigation were undertaken.
Post-Mortem examination on the dead body of Madhu Bala was carried
out by a Board of Doctors consisting of Dr. Jagdish Gargi, P.W.1, Dr. H.
Rai and Dr. R.K. Goria. Out of them Dr. Gargi was examined as P.W.1.
Others were tendered for cross examination. Dr. Gargi, P.W.1 stated that D
he along with Dr. H. Rai and Dr. R.K. Goria carried out the post-mortem
on the dead body of Madhu Bala on 06th September 1985 at 11.15 a.m. He
found that there was a brownish ligature mark 2 cm broad encircling the
neck horizontally, sparing the skin below the right angle on the mandible
as well as interiorly 4 cm below the remus of the mandible. He also found E
two further injuries on the. dead body as under :

1. A reddish brown abrasion 20 x 2 cm. on the right side and
·'from of the abdomen, extending horizontally from the right
iliac fossa forward and medially.
F
2. Reddish brown abrasion 0-3 x 0.2 cm. on the dorsum of the
right foot, 3 cm. proximal to the base of the big toe.

According to Dr. Gargi the aforesaid two injuries were ante-mortem while
ligature mark on the neck was post-mortem.
G
Viscera of the deceased was preserved and sent to Chemical
Examiner for analysis. The skin removed from the side of the ligature mark
was also preserved for being pathologically examined by the Professor and
the Head of Pathology Department, Amritsar. The Chemical Examiner in
his report stated that there was blood alcohol concentration of estimated H
666 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] SUPP. 1 S.C.R.

A 322.0 mgms/100 mis of blood. fJcohol and organophosphorus compound
were detected in the viscera. The pathologist confirmed that there was no
evidence of congestion and inflammatory exudate in the sections of the
skin. On the basis of this report the doctors confirmed that the ligature
mark around the neck of the deceased was post-mortem and other injuries
B were ante-mortem. In the opinion of Dr. Gargi the death was due to
organophosphorus poisoning and alcohol. Dr. Prem Wadhera, P.W. 12 who
had examined the piece of skin taken out from the neck of the deceased
confirmed that the examination of the skin showed that the ligature mark
at the seat of the skin indicated that it was a post-mortem mark.

C In the light of this evidence led at the trial the learned Sessions
Judge, to whom the case was committed by the Committal Court, came to
the conclusion that the prosecution had brought home the offence under
Section 302, Indian Penal Code to the appellant-accused. But so far as his
mother, accused no. 2 was concerned, she was given benefit of doubt.
D Learned Trial Judge rejected the theory propounded by the defence that
the deceased had committed suicide and had got herself strangulated. It
was on the other hand found that it was the accused who had administered
poison to the deceased by mixing it with alcohol which the deceased was
made to drink and consequently the appellant was sentenced to
imprisonment for life. As noted earlier, the appellant carried the matter in
E appeal without any success and that is how he is before us in these
proceedings.

Rival Conte11tions

F Learned senior counsel for the appellant vehemently submitted that
this is a case of circumstantial evidence and the chain of circumstances is
not complete. He submitted that the appellant was at his clinic at the other
village at the relevant time. That as he was recently blessed with a male
child there was no occasion for him to murder his wife. That on the
contrary the evidence showed that she was in a depressed state of mind
G and, therefore, there was all possibility of her committing suicide by
hanging herself. It was next contended that in any case it was for the
prosecution to bring home the charge of murder to the appellant. That
there are varieties of organophosphorus compound and all may not be
equally lethal. In any case there was no evidence on record to show that
H the trace of organophosphorus compound detected in the viscera of the
MANGAT RAJ v. STATE [S.B. MAJMUDAR, J.] EfJ7

deceased was sufficient to prove fatal and in the absence of such evidence A
led by the prosecution the benefit of doubt must go to the accused and not
to the prosecution. In support of this conntention reliance was placed on
two decisions of this Court in the case of Jose alias Kalli Jose v. The State
of Kera/a, [1973] 3 SCC 472 at page 474 para 5 and in the case of Smt.
Phino v. State of Punjab, (1975] 4 SCC 119 at page 122 as well as on a B
decision of the Allahabad High Court in the case of State v. Fateh Bahadur
& Ors., AIR 45 (1958) Allahabad 1 at para 10 of the Report. He, therefore,
submitted that the appellant deserves to be acquitted of the charge of
murdering his wife.

On the other hand learned counsel for the respondent submitted that C
both the courts below have concurrently held on appreciation of relevant
evidence that it was the appellant and no one else who could commit the
murder of his wife. That she had died at his own residence. That he was
having his other clinic only one kilometer away from his residence and it
was very easy for him to go to his clinic at the relevant time after liquidating D
the deceased. That the theory of suicide by the deceased was patently false
as the ligature mark was found to be post-mortem by the doctors and it is
impossible . to even allege that a dead person would hang herself and,
therefore, it was a false case tried to be made to mislead the investigating
agency and precisely for that reason the appellant rushed to the police
authorities and gave a wrong version about the incident. That as the E
appellant resided with the deceased at the relevant time in his residential
house where his wife met her untimely death, the inference drawn by both
the courts below against the appellant that it was he and no one else who
had committed the murder of his wife, can be said to be well justified on
record of the case. That his earlier conduct of harassing the deceased and F
nagging her in connection with the dowry demanct, his conduct of not even
visiting his in-laws' house when he was blessed with a son and his
subsequent conduct of giving false version of the incident before the police
and not intimating the in-laws on the date of the incident itself and
subsequently his absconding from the place of occurrence are all pointer
to his guilty mind and, therefore, his appeal deserves to be dismissed. G

We have given our anxious consideration to these rival contentions.
Certain salient features of the case which are well established on record
and which, in our view, project a complete chain of circumstantial evidence
against the accused deserve to be noted at this stage - H
668 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1997] SUPP. l S.C.R.

A 1. The death of Madhu Bala had occurred at the residential house
of the appellant.

2. The appellant was not happy with the dowry brought by Madhu
Bala at the time of marriage and had motive to get rid of Madhu Bala who
B instead of forcing her parents to give articles demanded by the accused,
had sent her relations to prevail upon him to withdraw the demand and
accused also had given promise of treating her properly in future. This
aspect of the case is well established by the evidence of P. W. 4 Brij
Bhushan. Nothing has been brought out in his cross-examination to falsify
his version.
c
3. A false version was given by the appellant before the police that
Madhu Bala had died by committing suicide. That version is completely
falsified by medical evidence of Dr. Jagdish Gargi, P.W.1. Dr. Gargi in his
(
evidence stated that there is normally trickling of the saliva from the angle
D of the mouth of the deceased which stains the cloths of the deceased. He
had specifically observed the cloths worn by the deceased in this case. He
found no stains of saliva on the body of the deceased. This version could
not be effectively challenged in the cross-examination of this witness. It is
also pertinent to note that a young girl of 24 years, mother of an infant of
two and a half months having allegedly taken half a bottle of liquor could
E not have remained in senses to hang herself later on by self-strangulation.
The entire defence version to say the least was preposterous and violated
all basic norms of probabilities and was an affront to common sense. Once
the theory of suicide is ruled out it has to be held that deceased died a
homicidal death in the residence of appellant who himself is a practising
F doctor. The medical evidence and the report of the Chemical Examiner
clearly show that deceased Madhu Bala lost her life as a result of
administration of organophosphorus compound mixed with alcohol. It is
required to be noted that Madhu Bala who was a young Brahmin girl aged
24 and who had recently given birth to a male child who was two and a
half months old, is found to have consumed half a bottle of liquor which
G contained the mixture of organophosphorus compound. The Chemical
Examiner's Report showed that the blood alcohol concentration was
estimated as 322 mgms/100 mis and, therefore, on a rough estimate the
deceased could be said to have consumed about 400 cc of alcohol. Such
type of does would not have been voluntarily taken by her but would have
H been administered the does.
MANGATRAI v. STATE [S.B. MATMUDAR,J.] 669
4. The Chemical Examiner's Report also shows that once that A
organophosphorus compound along with 400 cc of alcohol was
administered to the deceased, the concentration of said compound went to
such a high degree that it travelled in the blood stream and poison was
detected in her blood sample no. IV which was a sealed bottle containing
blood of the deceased. Thus it could easily be seen that sufficient quantity B
of poison was administered to the deceased so that it could enter her blood
stream and result in her death. Under these circumstances it is not possible
to agree with the contention of learned senior counsel for the appellant
that the prosecution had failed to bring home to the accused the charge of
having administered sufficient quantity of poison which could prove fatal.
In fact it has proved fatal. C
5. The administration of poison to the deceased could not be treated
by way of accident or a voluntary act on her part as she by herself would
have no occasion to commit suic\de leaving her male son of two and a half
months in the lurch.
D
6. It is also well established that the appellant was a medical
practitioner having two clinics. Therefore he had every facility and
opportunity coupled with the knowledge that the lethal dose of huge
quantity of poison which by itself was very pungent Was required to be
diluted by mixing it up with alcohol before it could be administered to E
anyone.

7. The two ante-mortem injuries detected by the doctors on the body
of the deceased clearly indicated that she had resisted before the in-take
of aforesaid quantity of alcohol mixed with poison. In this connection Dr.
Gargi stated that he could not rule out the possibility of these injuries being F
result of a scuffle if the deceased resisted the administration of alcohol or
organophosphorus compound. Consequently the aforesaid circumstances
clearly proved that death of Madhu Bala was result of administration of
alcohol and adequate quantity of organophosphorus compound which
proved fatal. G
8. The accused had created a false evidence of hanging by rushing
to the police on the same night of the incident which obviously was an
attempt to side-track the investigating agency. This was a strong indicator
about his guilty mind. Furnishing such false information to the police about
the cause of death inevitable pointed to his guilt. H
670 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1997] SUPP. 1 S.C.R.

A 9. His subsequent conduct of not immediately informing his in-laws
and relatives of the deceased and his absconding from the scene of offence
for couple of days till he was ultimately arrested which conduct though by
itself might not be conclusive, becomes a clinching circumstance in the light
of the aforesaid tell-tale pre-existing circumstances well established on
B record and which clearly point an accusing finger to the appellant and no
one else.

10. In the household of the appellant apart from his wife, the
deceased and the co-accused, his mother who is acquitted, there was his
younger brother who in no circumstances could be alleged to have
C committed this heinous crime. By a process of elimination, therefore, it was
appellant-doctor who being dissatisfied with his in-laws and with his wife
can be said to have liquidated her.

All the aforesaid circumstances, therefore, must be trP,ated to have
represented a complete chain of circumstantial evidence leading to the
D inevitable conclusion that it was the accused and no one else who was
responsible for this heinous crime which deprived a young woman of 24
years of her life at 'the threshold of existence and also in turn deprived a
two and a half months old infant of his mother. Consequently there is no
escape from the conclusion that the prosecution has brought home to the
E appellant-accused the charge of murdering his wife beyond shadow of any
reasonabfe doubt.

In the result this appeal fails and is dismissed.

R.K.S. Appeal dismissed.