Recently, a judgment has been passed by the Supreme Court upholding the decision of High court of Uttarakhand by setting aside the conviction and life sentence of the accused husband, her father-in-law and mother-in–law under Section 304A Indian Penal Code, 1860 in Sandeep Kumar and others v. State of Uttarakhand and others.
Facts of the case
The daughter of the complainant and Sandeep Kumar tied the knot of marriage on 10-12-2009. After some time, the accused and his family started harassing the complainant’s daughter. The daughter of the complainant and her husband went to the complainant’s house after one month of marriage to stay for two days and demanded 10 Lakh rupees within 10-15 days as dowry from him for constructing a house. The parents of the deceased consoled her and sent her back to her matrimonial house with her husband. On 23-10-2011 the father of the complainant received a call from her daughter, she said that please came to Haridwar otherwise the accused and his family will kill her. So, under the threat her parents went to Haridwar and found the dead body of their daughter in the car which was given by the father on her marriage. The family of the deceased contended that the death was caused by the poison which was given to her by her accused husband and his family.
Decision given by the Session Court
The Session Court acquitted Sandeep Kumar and his parents as the complainant’s counsel failed to prove that the cause of death was dowry death as no evidence was stating that the reason of death was poison. The doctors suggested that the death of the deceased is not the result of poison but the disease of tuberculosis as there were evidences that she was undergoing the treatment of tuberculosis and it is also proved that there are no traces of poison and no one in the accused family was in the possession of poison.
Decision of High Court
The High Court reversed the decision of the lower court by awarding them conviction of life sentence and totally neglected the autopsy of the decease that shows that the deceased person is the patient of tuberculosis and taking the treatment and declared the accused and his family members as guilty of dowry death granting them life imprisonment.
Decision of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court set aside the decision of the High Court on the ground that if the cause of death has not been established as an unnatural death, the same cannot be treated as an offence of dowry death under Section 304B of the IPC, 1860. It was held that it has to be shown that the deceased wife was subjected to cruelty or harassment before the death in connection to dowry, here the allegation made by the father of deceased were not proved hence, the accused were acquitted on the grounds that there were no traces of poison on the body of the deceased and the accused are not in possession of the poison. Further, it was held that there were evidences of deceased undergoing the treatment of tuberculosis and there was no demand of dowry by the husband and the relatives. The amount of 10 lakh which was asked by the husband for construction of building, was on a condition that he will surely pay him back.