Delhi District Court
State vs Pawan on 20 April, 2022
IN THE COURT OF MS. DEEPALI SHARMA
ADDITIONAL SESSIONS JUDGE04,
EAST DISTRICT : KARKARDOOMA COURTS: DELHI
CNR No. DLET010033112015
SC No. 906/2016
FIR No. 25/2015
U/S 498A/304B/34 IPC
P.S. Kalyanpuri
State
versus
Pawan,
S/o Sh. Shishpal Yadav,
R/o H.No. 25/246, Trilok Puri,
Delhi91.
.......... Convict
ORDER ON SENTENCE
1.Vide judgment dated 05.03.2022, convict Pawan has been held guilty for offence under section 498A IPC for subjecting his deceased wife to cruelty as defined under Explanation (a) to Section 498A IPC and is hence convicted for the said offence.
2. In terms of the directions of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in the judgment titled as Karan v. State (NCT) of Delhi in Criminal SC No. 906/2016 Page No. 1 of 6 Appeal No. 352/2020, dated 27.11.2020, the convict was directed to file an affidavit disclosing his assets and income and the prosecution was directed to file an affidavit detailing the expenses incurred on the prosecution. The said affidavit of the convict was received by this Court. The same was sent to East District Legal Services Authority for conducting a summary inquiry to compute the losses suffered by the victim and the paying capacity of the Convict in accordance with the abovementioned judgment of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi. The report of the East District Legal Services Authority was placed on record and the affidavit of the prosecution was also filed. Arguments on the point of sentence were heard.
3. Ld. Counsel appearing for the convict requests for a lenient view on the ground that convict Pawan is about 30 years old and is unemployed. He is not married after the demise of the victim wife. He has old aged parents to look after. It is stated that the convict was on bail during trial. It is stated that the convict is young individual and his life would be jeopardized if he is sent again to judicial custody. It is stated that the convict was also charged for offences u/s 498A/304B/34 IPC, however, he was convicted for offence u/s 498A IPC only on the basis of a sole incident which was witnessed by the sister of deceased victim and mostly the deceased victim used to reside at her parents house. It is further stated that the convict has already spent almost one year in custody, therefore, he may be released on the basis of the period of SC No. 906/2016 Page No. 2 of 6 detention already undergone by him.
4. On the other hand, Ld. Addl. PP for the State urges that the convict be sentenced to maximum punishment on the ground that the convict had illtreated his wife, who eventually committed suicide and thus he does not deserve any sympathy of the court. It is urged that harassment for dowry is a social evil and the same should be dealt with a heavy hand by the court to discourage the practice. It is stated that the convict is also involved in two other cases i.e. case bearing FIR No. 34/2014, U/S 356/379/34 IPC of PS Pandav Nagar and case bearing FIR No. 75/2016, u/s186/333/353/307/34 IPC of PS Kalyanpuri. It is stated that in these circumstances the convict does not deserve any leniency and should be given maximum sentence.
5. From the evidence on record, it stands proved that convict Pawan has been held guilty for offence under section 498A IPC for subjecting his deceased wife to cruelty as defined under Explanation (a) to Section 498A IPC and is hence convicted for the said offence. The deceased victim was subjected to cruelty by the convict and eventually she committed suicide on 06.01.2015. Considering that the social evil of harassment of women for dowry demands has to be deprecated and discouraged by the courts and also considering that the victim eventually committed suicide in the present case, the convict is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years and to pay a fine of Rs. 7,500/ in SC No. 906/2016 Page No. 3 of 6 default of which he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 2 months for offence punishable under section 498A IPC.
6. As per the affidavit dated 13.04.2022 of the prosecution, the prosecution has incurred a total expense of Rs. 13,772/ in prosecuting the present case. A copy of the order dated 01.07.2021 of the Directorate of Prosecution, Government of NCT of Delhi, Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi is also annexed indicating the criteria adopted by the prosecution in computing the cost.
7. In these circumstances, it is therefore directed that in accordance with section 357(1)(a) Cr. P.C., the total amount of fine of Rs. 7,500/ (Rupees seven thousand and five hundred only) as and when deposited by the Convict, shall be released to the prosecution towards the cost / expenses incurred in the prosecution of the present case, as the same shall defray a part of expenses incurred by the prosecution.
8. Benefit of section 428 Cr. P.C. be given to the Convict.
9. As regards the compensation to be paid to the victim as per the provision of 357 Cr.P.C., the affidavit has been filed by the prosecution regarding the expenditure incurred by it and the East District Legal Services Authority has also filed its report regarding the paying capacity of the Convict and its recommendations regarding the SC No. 906/2016 Page No. 4 of 6 compensation to be paid to the victim. The victim i.e. the parents of the deceased have stated that they do not want anything from the accused and that their emotional and mental trauma cannot be quantified in monetary terms. The mother of the deceased further stated that she did not want the convict to be jailed because nothing can bring their daughter back. The Delhi Legal Services Authority (East) has also assessed the paying capacity of the convict to be 'Nil'.
10. However, considering that the parents of the deceased victim would have undergone immense emotional and mental trauma due to demise of their daughter, I recommend payment of compensation to the parents of the deceased as per the provisions of Section 357A Cr.P.C. The quantum of compensation to be awarded under Victim Compensation Scheme shall be decided by DLSA in terms of the provisions of Section 357A Cr.P.C.
11. Copy of this order, judgment and the victim impact report be transmitted to East District Legal Services Authority for compliance and disbursement of compensation amount to the Victim parents of the deceased, as per rules.
12. Copy of the judgment and order on sentence be given to the convict free of cost.
SC No. 906/2016 Page No. 5 of 613. Copy of this order be also transmitted to the Victim parents of the deceased.
14. After due compliance, file be consigned to Record Room.
order
DEEPALI Digitally signed by
Announced in the open Court DEEPALI SHARMA
SHARMA Date: 2022.04.20
on this 20th day of April, 2022 16:55:16 +0530
(Deepali Sharma)
Additional Sessions Judge04
East District/KKD Courts/Delhi.
SC No. 906/2016 Page No. 6 of 6