Karnataka High Court
Rajendra Patil S/O Channappa Gowda vs The State Of Karnataka By Its Spp on 16 September, 2010
_ .._¢_Af3AN'GA£OREVD':«560 001 I IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BANGALORE DATED THIS THE 16"' DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2010 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARALI NAGARAJ CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 54/2004 BETWEEN: RAJENDRA PATIL S/O CHANNAPPA GOWDA AGED ABOUT 35 YEARS V DISMISSED POLICE CONSTABLE R/O KAMANABAVI EXTENSION ' MAHARANI COLLEGE ROAD CHITRADURGA ' -A ' APPELLANT (By SRI~;Y"'S --STfi'EVAPi??;ASA'D»,"A3D'L')"""~-- AND: _ . _ .3 . . _ THE STATE' :<.A riNATAkA.._"-~"' BY ITS STATE Pu:-3L1<: PROSECUTOR HIGELCOURT BUIE;DIi}£§_v '(By'ESRESVDARAJASUBRAMANYA BHAT, HCGP) RESPONDENT c'FiL.A;".' IS FILED U/S 374 CR.P.C. AGAINST THE VKJUDGMENAIT DATED 09.12.2003 PASSED BY THE ADDL. ' 'W,VSEE3.SION'S JUDGE, FAST TRACK COURT, CHITRADURGA IN SC _NO.4"8/2002 CONVICTING THE APPELLANT/ACCUSED NO.1 FOR ATHREOFFENCE P/U/S/ 3048, 498A, 306 IPC AND U/S 4 OF DP ACT AND SENTENCING HIM TO UNDERGO R I FOR A PERIOD OF -~-EIGHT YEARS FOR THE OFFENECE P/U/S 304-B IPC AND FURTHER SENTENCING HIM TO UNDERGO R I FOR A PERIOD OF ._r"~--- 9 .. TWO YEARS AND ALSO HE SHALL PAY FINE OF RS.1,000/- AND I.D. HE SHALL UNDERGO IMPRISONMENT FOR FURTHER PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS FOR THE OFFENCE P/U/S 306 OF IPC AND FURTHER SENTENCING HIM TO UNDERGO S 1 FOR A TERM OF ONE YEAR AND ALSO TO PAY FENE OF RS.1,000/~ AND I.[). TO UNDERGO S.I. FOR FURTHER PERIOD OF SEX MONTHSFFOR THE OFFENCE P/U/S 498-A IPC AND FURTHER SENTE{\f€IIf\£.G HIM TO UNDERGO 5.1. FOR A PERIOD OF ONE YEAR...A:f\£»D.'A.1;3G 3 TO PAY A FINE OF Rs.5,000/-- AND I.D., TO UNDEROO A FURTHER PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS FOR THE OFF'E.r§1cEj*;?/U,'s-/Ij OF DP ACT. ALL THE SENTENCES SHALL RUN cO'iIcig~RRENTLv'..c_ CRL.A. COMING ON FOR HEARING THIS FDAA?,..'TH4E"LfO_DR;T.' DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: JUDGMENT" Accused No.1 in§essiAo'I'Tsi..Casecr_§§to.F48)'2AOC§ on the fiie of iearned Addi. Track Court, Chitradurga (heFe§.naft§er A§';;« 'Trial Court' for short) appeal the correctness of Judgment"'-aF_nTd_OVr'd.e'I'I:'da'ted4AD9.12.2OO3 passed in the said casIe_§Fconvictin'gA._him for the offences punishable under :ASecticns:A..30Ai'B,_3O6 and 498A IPC and under Section 4 of TD_DIAIr'yV'PFOv_h_ibi.ti'O'n Act (hereinafter referred to as 'DP Act' A . forA'.s'hoa'*--i::)'. 'I A The present appelIant~--accused is the husband deceased Smtsuchitra, the daughter of PW1 Smt.M C ("'-~«(T'"'--~r 3 Yashoda, the compiainant and younger sister of PWs.2 and 3 nameiy M.C Shivaprakash and M C Yeriswamy. _.._This accused and also his mother Smt.Gangamma younger sister Smt.Manjuia were ail charge ' above said offences. 3. On appreciation of orai ievidneince of documents at Exs.P1 to P65 Van:d'~..l§xs.i)'1,tu p?.,_ port-i~o.n's of * it statements of prosecution wit,nes:s~es"'and .M'(3s..1 7, the Trial Court, by its impugried and_VOrder, though acquitted accused .__Nos:.'2"ahd tzhesaid offences, convict,edMth"eAeoreseféjgt a.0pe'iianthfaccused No.1) for the said offences} V '-- V K i i _4_. facts that"the deceased Suchitra was given rr§arri.a.ge'r--.to accdsed No.1 and her marriage with him _w'e,e"pe:rre,rr%iedv'i,;.on 06.07.2000 and that thereafter she deiiyered. 'maie chiid are ail not disputed. It is aiso not dis'pu_te that on 05.12.2001 whiie she was in her "'--rri.atrifmoniai home committed suicide by consuming _Mp_oison. The case of the prosecution is that ail the accused (_£"---x'--7 ¢¢.-4 . 4 Nos.1 to 3 respectively being the husband, mother-in-law and sister--in--law of the deceased subjected her to cruelty in connection with their demand for dowry and therei"'ohreV,A she committed suicide by consuming poison on date. 5. In order to prove the ;f.act'uih'i' of.ill?tr'eati?re.n:t1,i.i the prosecution has p|aced'r_elianceh'on hvV«1cGvm.piaint filed by PW1 the mother of delceased and'«aV|_so_:the oral evidence of the compla'i--nant;.-.,3 who are two elder brothers ofdecease"d; - if V a learned Counsel for the appe|lant--'ac__cusVed', _ref'erri:rg'tg4to the averments in complaint and..'the eyidence PWs.1 to 3 strongly contends that there a.r'eA«.n--o.:s--pecific averments in the complaint that this 'a~;ipe.lil'an't=ha;c_cusled iH--treated the deceased in connection -V with44"the'-hderniand for dowry either soon before her death or it any point of time prior thereto and the oral evidence of to 3 is also insufficient to hold that the deceased 'was subjected to cruelty by this appe|lant~accused either .,._r"v*---v 5 soon before her death or at any point of time earlier thereto and that the said cruel treatment was of st_i._c_h a nature as to drive her to commit suicide and therefo're,"*<th'e4 conviction of the above accused, of ail the saici offen'c'es,"'~, ' cannot be sustained in law. He:»fu»rt,her.'_" it whatever is deposed by PWs.1 ta"-.3 *thei.~. only to the effect that the d'ecce'a.s%ed was iiljti-'eate'd"ttby all * T' the accused Nos.1 to 3,. and this so, the.,.T.ri'al Court was not justified in noresent appeilant despite acquitting .._accu'sed'::i§los.r2'vit-.arid all the said offences. -.Pe.rRaja Subramanaya Bhat, iearnecl HighilCoti'rt"'C$over_,nment Pieader while supporting the ,,j_tid'gi't1ent order of conviction, strongly contends that evi-d:e'n,c_e of PWs.1 to 3 and also the allegations in cot-fip.l__a'i~t;i't'V..clearly establish that the deceased had been" sovojected to cruel treatment by this appellant it,accd.sedVV"on the very date of incident of consuming poison .' the deceased and therefore, conviction of the appeilant ¢_.______{'\r"--\_¢v~. 6 accused for the offences punishable under Sections 3048 and 498A IPC and under Section 4 of DP Act is quite justified. 8. On careful reading of the avermeifit' complaint filed by PW1 Smt.Yashoda, deceased, it could be seen that "°os}12i;;>.loogi*t'li:ti{eii~i, deceased telephoned to he»:-«_.jvg:é~l.derbrother'-.2PiAl'2'"~~lvl C " it Shivaprakash and told ,.him th-atlshe"should'come to her matrimonial home and 'as to giving of Hero Honda Motor CjycleillalndfsiIt/'erarticies by her parents to the complainant asked him to go to the m'atrim%on'ia_lheme».oAf"tri'e deceased and bring her. It couldg.-be seen,_:Vfurt~her"-from the said complaint that the 'lV""con*ipl:ain'anti* has farther alleged that on the same day at iafter'nooji'.»--,.:gVshetreceived information that her deceased daughter~~iN:aslV. admitted to Basaveswara Hospital at l3"»~'~___V'Chitradurga and therefore, she asked her son PW2 gV"'VSiii.va'prakash to go to the said hospital and bring the _gd_eceased. It is pertinent to note that no particulars of iil- r« treatment said to have been given by either of this appellant-accused or any of the other two accused who.._are acquitted, are alleged in the said complaint. 9. Ex.P2 is another complaint Shivaprakash, the elder brother oi decea7vsed..{4jOn"'ca-teias;Ei_ei reading of the said cornplaint,'it.__:could.be seen"théat_,though it is alleged therein that dowry wasigiyent parents of deceased to the accuseidfet the tirne.__o.i""h,er marriage with accused No.1, there are,.n.o:'_allegVat,ion's.of:--'ar.'y ilI~treatment alleged to have gvizyento by any of the accused" in "coinnecifi:on_¢"wi_'th their unlawful demand for money, motor cyci'e'foriis'i--i_yer articles. If it were to be true that the accused~.,ii'--i~treat'ed the deceased in connection witty-',i.:t'he%i,rw.demand ifo'r"money or any other valuable article same was informed to PW2 by the dece_asedV.on€-.V.the very date of incident, he should have ii'~..«.._"s,tated same in his compiaint at Ex.P2 which was by him on the very next date of the incident. It is in dispute that Ex.P1 complaint came to be fiied by .....S'""""--r-W PW1, the mother of the decgeased on 08.12.2001. Even the aiiegation in the said compiaint as observed supra, do not disclose the particuiars of alleged i||~treatment l:y"the accused to deceased. 10. On carefuf reading of evidence,__o'f---..,PW0,1',itheif complainant Smt.Yashoda and brothers of deceased, it coueldbe s'een»thatyethougih thé»y'"--.,e have stated in their evidence"'i'r~.that_ 6 rhointh-s 'after the marriage of deceased air the accused Nos.1 to 3 started troubling stated as to what was t|'iAé"i'!ji3.tUrt'i.', arsaigi iIi~treatment and at what point of time the 'samewywajs. to the deceased. Therefore, it is cfe-ar th'a't._:Vthe.v"evidence placed on record by the .V."pro$ecut'ion"i'is insijffiicient to hold that deceased was treatment by this accused or any of the other acc~use--d: in connection with their uniawful demand 0."'»"««.__V'~eitherrrioney or any other article and that the said ill- VA :"V'tr'e.at:ment was continued till the death of deceased and the 0% _s__a§me was of such a nature so as to drive her to commit c----S~3"\-"*5...-. 9 suicide. Therefore, I am of the considered opinion that the present appeal deserves to be allowed and the appellant (accused No.1 in the said case) deserves to be acquitte«d_i'of all the said offences. :1. E><s.D1 to D3 are __the._ i statements said to have been:"14ggii§?_en'iV lit' complainant Smt.Yashoda th'e._r'n.other"'of deceVased'i-~b.cfore * it PW6 Taluka Executive EYlagVist.ra't.eA durin.g finquest proceedings. PW6 has h"i'sf_egvidence that PW1 stated before hire as per' gist of these statementisvis::s5'£I4'kdt§:'§,'VVatgthe timwewof marriage, a sum of Rs.2,00;GQ(3/atwaS"g_ilvel\.,'t5y«the parents of deceased to the accused as T.ho"ugh charge was framed against 'xi.'*--accu-sed:.iNos..1 toHl3"foi? the offence under Section 3 of DP received the dowry, the Trial Court acquitted accused Nos.1 to 3 of the said offence and Stateihas not challenged the acquittal. it In view of E><s.D1 to D3, the appellant was dieirected to be present in the open Court during hearing of 1*-----('\"-.~'\?' 10 the appeal. At that time, he submitted that he would deposit in fixed deposit account in the name of his m~i._nor child by name Akash Patil, who is now aged 9 the entire period of minority. Accordingly, H counsel for the appellant--accused has"prod'.uced:AlVtw_oV:fiaéedvn3 deposit receipts each for Rs.1,00,lAC5Q()i;'--§V_A'deposited name of Master Akash Patil the--...'rhi.nor son. o~f_th_eVV''dVe'ceased '' and accused No.1 (app.ei|ant)" =$yith""..Corporation Bank, Chitradurga Branch. He haspalsio~lbrod.uic.ed:photostat copies of the said depo.si't. -.:VBot'h._VVthe:«original and the photostat 'taken on record. I feet it necessary,: in the minor boy, to direct the Manager o'f.__4ClorpVor_a'tionBank not to pay to accused No.1 whofiipsll the nat'u.ral_ guardian of the said minor boy the »inVt'erestVA_accr.:ued on the said deposit and not to allow any 'loan--.tox.be."_r-aisyed. on the said deposits and also not to allow -V with4dr.ai2sz«a|""of either of the said amounts or any part V' '' ..therenof.V"' ,.......C"'\----p If 13. For the reasons aforesaid, I pass the following: ORDER
The present appeal is allowed. The Judgment and Order dated 09.12.2003 passed"".i_:n Case No.48/2002 by the iearnecriiiicidrii. ,_ s3,es.sir5,1r1s,judge,ia. Fast Track Court, Chitradurga coiirn/i»'t;ti_ng theA'a*ppeViialr.§;.W_ accused for the offences unde.rV'V"Sectior1--s.'3iO4_:B,°*.§C6sand V
-498A IPC and under S'ection;4" Pro'h'i'o'i'tion Act, £961 is hereby set aside. ll Accused Not'.-lJ.ll_'.vthe_rein (appeiiant herein) is here§3"i/iii,Eicqu§i_tted_:',Of~all'l~l»1the_.sa'id offences. The bail bond---,».if.A"'al.nj/1,i§:.;exe'c.u'tedflbywthe accused shall stand cancelled. " 4' ' V ;T--.he F'{4.eg.istra"r .'(}udicial) shaii send the original l"idegpositii,-gceigpts vtowlthe Manager, Corporation Bank, lVfB-ranch with a direction that necessary end'o_rsev:jnen't.i' shall be made on the said deposit receipts to effecir. that the interest accrued on the amounts A j'de'pos,ited shall not be paid to the father of the minor boy _,n.a§mely Akash Patii who is his natural guardian and said ( I2 amounts in deposit or any part thereof shaii not be permitted to be withdrawn by the father of the minor nor any loan shall be permitted to raised by him on deposits during the period of minority of the sa_id:--- ~ The Manager of the said directed that after necessary: endorsement onfthe said deposit receipts, the same'V"sha»i| be oyer to the father of the said minor:b~o_y a_«n'd"V_eomptvilviiance bereported to the Registrar (Judicial) of this