RAVINDRA TRIMBAK PATILversusSTATE OF MAHARASHTRA.

                        [2014] 5 S.C.R. 818


A                  RAVINDRA TRIMBAK PATIL
                                 v.
                   STATE OF MAHARASHTRA.
               (Criminal Appeal No. 1963 of 2011)
                         APRIL 25, 2014
B
        [T.S; THAKUR ANO GYAN SUOHA MISRA, JJ.]

      PENAL CODE, 1860: ss:306 and 498A rlw s.34 -
  Suicidal death - Harassment and ill treatm.ent on account of
C demand of dowry-Abetm(fnt to suicide- Conviction uJss.306
  and 498A rlw s.34 based on dying declaration - Held:
  Statement of victim-tfeceased recorded before· Executive
  Magistrate when she was conscious and in a fit state of mind
  which finally became a dying declaration after her death -
D Prosecution case fully supported by dying declaration which
  did not suffer from any blemish or infirmity and was supported ·
  by medical evidence and evidence of other. witnesses
  corroborating the prosecution case - Deceased having died
  within seven years of her marriage, there is a clear
E presumption that the charge against the appellant-husband
  u/s.306 stood fully established - No interference with the
  conviction order - Crime against women.

        The prosecution case was that the appellant-
    husband harassed his wife on account of demand of
F . dowry and due to continuous ill treatment, she poured
    kerosene oil on her person and set herself on fire and the'
    next day she succumbed to burn injuries. A statement of
    the victim was recorded by police before the Executive
    Magistrate. The trial court convicted the appellant and his
G mother under section 306 and 498A r/w section 34 IPC
    on the basis of the dying declaration. The High 'court
    maintained the conviction. Hence the instant appeal.

        Dismissing the appeal, the court
H                            818
       RAVINDRA TRIMBAK PATIL v. STATE OF               819
                 MAHARASF-ITRA
      HELD: The judgment and order of the trial court as A
 also the High Court are well-reasoned on all aspects and
 same is not interfered with on the plea that the deceased
 was suffering from mental illness which had driven her
 to commit suicide and the dying declaration which was
 recorded before the Executive Magistrate soon after the B
 occurrence should be ignored. In the wake of dying
 declaration recorded primarily after the incident and the .
·witnesses who had arrived at the scene of occurrence
 corroborating the prosecution case, there was no further
 need to probe.the evidence merely to accept the defence c
 case that the reason for the death of the deceased was
 due to her mental illness ignoring the version given out
 in the dying declaration when the deceased was
 conscious and in a fit state of mind to get her statement
 recorded which finally became a dying declaration after D
 her death. The prosecution case being fully supported by
 the dying declaration which did not suffer from any
 blemish or infirmity supported by medical evidence and
 evidence of other witnesses corroborating the
 prosecution case, it is not a fit case for interference.
 Above all, the deceased having died within seven years E
 of her marriage, there is a clear presumption that the
 charge against the appellant under Section 306 IPC stood
 fully established apart from the fact that the prosecution
 was supported even by the dying declaration of the
 deceased recorded before the executive magistrate. It is F
 thus not a case where further scrutiny of the evidence led
 by the prosecution was required merely to uphold the
 findings recorded by the trial court and the High Court.
 [Para 9] (822-D-H; 823-A-C]
                                                               G
     CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
 No. 1963 of 2011 .

    . From the Judgment & Order dated 18.12.2009 of the High
 Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad in
 Criminal Appeal No. 52/1998.                                  .H
    820      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2014] 5 S.C.R.

A      Anagha S. Desai, Satyajit A Desai; Somnath Padha, Vipul
    Ganda for the Appellant. · ·

          Asha Gopalan Nair for the Respondent.
                                             .'
          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
B
        GYAN SUDHA MISRA, J. 1. The appellant is in appeal
   before us against the judgment of 'the High Court. of Bombay,
                                                  I

   Bench at Aurangabad in Criminal Appeal No. 52 of 1998,
 · whereby the High Court partly allowed the criminal appeal of
c the appellant herein and his mother (accused No.2) and thereby
   confirmed his conviction un~er Sections 306 and 498A read
   with Section 34 IPC sentencin9 him to RI for 3 years and 2
   years respectively .as awarded by Ld. Sessions Judge,
   Jalgaon. The High Court in the said app_eal maintained the
D conviction of accused No.2 under the above sections, but
   reduced the sentence to the period of imprisonment which she
   had already undergone i.e. 6 months .
                                      .
          2.The case of the prosecution was that the deceased
    Shobha was wife of the appellant herein. Sh'obha married the
E   appellant on 06.04.1992 at Chalisgaon. Thereafter, she went
    to reside with the appellant, at his house. However, eight days
    after the marriage, there was a quarrel as the mother of Shobha
    did not give proper respect to the mother of the appellant and
    as per custom she did not ·touch the feet of mother of the
F   appellant on her first visit. Therefore, appellant used to harass
    Shobha. In spite of that, Shobha continued to live with the
    appellant and. her in-laws. Sometime later, appellant gave a
    telephonic call and told PW3-Shivaji Marathe- fat.her of Shobha
    that they were coming with Shobha and mediators. At that time,
G   the appellant and his mother said Shobha was not doing
    household work and they wanted divorce while Shobha
    complained that the appellant used to beat her and he and his
    mother would ill-treat her. She was unable to live with the
    appellant and wanted to reside with her parents. Thereafter,
H   Shobha started residing with her parents. At that time, Shobha
       RAVINDRA TRIMBAK PATIL v. STATE OF                     821
      MAHARASHTRA [GYAN SUDHA MISRA, J.]
complained that the appellant and her mother-in-law were              A
demanding golden ring, sewing machine and some other
articles and were harassing and beating her for that purpose.
Subsequently, Shobha filed maintenance application in the
Court. However, there was a compromise which was reduced
writing and Shobha the.n Went to the Ho!Jse of the appellant.         B

     3. Further, case of the prosecution is that 2 months later,
on 26.07.1993, due to continuous ill-treatment, when Shobha
was alone in the house, she poured Kerosene oil on her person
and set herself on fire, Due to h~r shouts, the neighbours came       C
there. The appellant and her family were informed, who rushed
home and took Shobha in an injured state to Municipal Hospital
at Pachora, where statement of Shobha was recorded.
Thereafter, Shobha was taken to Civil Hospital, Jalgaon as she
had serious injuries.
                                                                      D
      4. At Jalgaon, statements of Shobha were recorded l:iy
Jalgaon Police before the Executive Magistrate. The next day,
i.e. on 27.7.1993 at about 2 p.m., Shobha died of the burn
injuries. The first dying declaration of Shobha was treate.d as
an F.1.R. and the case was registered. Thereafter, the appellant      E
and his mother were chargesheeted while brother-in-law was
sent to the Juvenile Court.

     5. At the trial, prosecution examined 11 witnesses an<Lon
behalf of defence, 2 witnesses were examined. After                   F
considering the evidence, Ld Sessions Judge passed the order
of conviction and sentence as stated above.

     6. The High Court vide its judgment and order which is
impugned before us, came to the conclusion that Shobha had
been subjected to cruelty and harassment since the beginning          G
of her marriage. There was no change in their attitude and
treatment in spite of living with her parents for 78 months. It was
noted that the death of the deceased had occurred within 7
years of marriage and ordinarily, during such period, unless
driven to wall, she would not have committed suicide and her          H
         822      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2014] 5 S.C.R.

     A dying declarations and her chit addressed to her advocate,
       speak volume. Hence, High Court found the judgment of the
       Trial Court well reasoned and hence upheld the same.

              7. Contention of the Counsel of the appellant was that
         Shobha suffered from mental illness and was under treatment
     8
         of Dr. Joshi/DW-1, even before her marriage as admitted by
         Dr. Joshi in evidence and this aspect was not considered by
       . the Courts below.

             8. However, the High Court in its impugned judgment and
     C order observed that it did not appear that the alleged mental
       illness of the deceased had anything to do with the ill-treatment
       to her so as to force her ultimately to commit suicide.

              9. We have carefully examined the judgment and order of
     D   the trial court as also the High Court which are well-reasoned
""       on all aspects and we do not deem it necessary to enter into
         the correctness of the same on the plea that the deceased
         Shobha was suffering from mental ill-ness which had driven her
         to commit suicide ignoring the dying declaration which was
     E   recorded before the Executive Magistrate soon after the
         occurrence. In case the dying declaration could be disbelieved
         for any reason, this Court would have thought it just and
         appropriate to enter into other circumstantial evidence like the
         defence case that the deceased Shobha committed suicide
         due to her mental ill-ness. In the wake of dying declaration
     F   recorded primarily after the incident and the witnesses who had
         arrived at the scene of occurrence corroborating the
         prosecution case, we see no further need to probe the evidence
         merely to accept the defence case that the reason for the death
         of Shobha was due to her mental ill-ness ignoring the version
     G   given out in the dying declaration when the deceased was
         conscious and in a fit state of mind to get her statement
         recorded which finally became a dying declaration after her
         death. The prosecution case being fully supported by the dying
         declaration which do not suffer from any blemish or infirmity
     H   supported by medical evidence and evidence of other
       RAVINDRA TRIMBAK PATIL v. STATE OF                      823
      MAHARASHTRA [GYAN SUDHA MISRA, J.]
witnesses corroborating the prosecution case, we do not               A
consider that it is not a fit case for interference. Above all, the
deceased having died within seven years of her marriage, there
is a clear presumption that the charge against the appellant
under Section 306 IPC stands fully established apart from the
fact that the prosecution is supported even by the dying              B
declaration of the deceased recorded before the executive
magistrate, It is thus not a case where further scrutiny of the
evidence led by the prosecution is required merely to uphold
the findings recorded by the trial court and the High Court. We
thus find no substance in this appeal and hence the same is           c
dismissed. The appellant therefore shall surrender to serve out
the sentence in case he is on bail. Order accordingly.
Devika Gujral                                     Appeal dismissed.