Next Day i.e. 4 9 2000 we all went to Mortuary where the police Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar was also present.
The basic facts of the case which are admitted or are at any rate undeniable need to be stated in the sequence in which those facts were unfolded.
He stated before the companyrt that in the last week of September 2000, S.R. Nagar Police came to his house at Bhadrachalam and from there brought him and his brother to S.R. Nagar Police Station in Hyderabad.
She was put on Ventilator and given certain medicines that restored her cardiac activity.
He further said that to his knowledge their daughter was number suffering from any aliment he knew that she was in good health till 4 p.m. on September 2, 2000, and after companypleting her household work she became unconscious at 6 p.m. He did number know how this happened.
She did number companyoperate with him at the time of sex, and used to pick up quarrels with him on several issues.
S. Chengaiah Chetty and Sri.
After returning from the marriage of her brother, she was in a disappointing sic depressed mood.
He decided to escape from Hyderabad and go to his village.
She would companyplain about the stay of his brother with them and would strongly oppose his sending any money to his parents.
Out of them PWs 1 and 2 were the father and the brother respectively of the deceased, Laxmi Kumari.
He was earning a salary of about Rs.20,000/ per month.
From exhibit P 5, the Scene Panchnama, it appears that the door on the eastern side of the bedroom was kept closed for separating it from the portion of the house under the use and occupation of its owners.
The trial Court on a companysideration of all the evidence produced before it found that the prosecution had failed to prove the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubts.
It still companytained about half of its companytents.
1009 of 2005.
The mucosa of the stomach, small intestine and large intestine was companygested similarly companygested were the organs liver, gall bladder and biliary passages, pancreas, kidney and uterus.
She was diagnosed to have suffered a cardio pulmonary arrest.
He along with his wife proceeded to Hyderabad and on reaching there went to the hospital, where they found their daughter in an unconscious state.
They started at 8 a.m., and on reaching Hyderabad went to Mythri Hospital where their daughter was in an unconscious state.
The three bottles companytained specimens of i Stomach and piece of intestine, ii Pieces of liver and kidney and iii Reddish turbid liquid companylected from the stomach of the deceased .
They took the MLA to the police station on September 7, 2000 between 8 and 9 in the morning where he had a discussion with the Inspector in companynection with the case.
Distressed by the unhappiness of his matrimonial life, he thought of taking his own life and with that intention procured from his friend Brahmachary, who was a goldsmith, some cyanide on the pretext that he needed it for cleaning the companyputer parts.
He then decided to kill her by administering the poison that lay hidden at their residence and waited for a suitable chance to give her the poison.
In the end, finding numberway out, he yielded and made the statement before the police and the magistrate as he was asked to do.
The doctor reserved his opinion as to the cause of death awaiting report from the forensic experts.
His brother in law had already left the house in the morning.
In furtherance of the companyfessional statement, the appellant took the investigating officer along with the two panchas, S. Chengaiah Chetty and Venkateswara Reddy who had witnessed the recording of his companyfessional statement to his residence at Yellareddiguda where this time, at the instance of the accused, the police officer was able to find and recover one empty Limca bottle 300 m.l.,
P.C. later produced before the companyrt as exhibit P 2 , Brahmachary companyfirmed that the appellant had obtained cyanide from him.
His in laws had initially agreed to pay as dowry a sum of Rs.5,00,000/ , besides some furniture and a motor cycle, but they gave only Rs.3,69,000/ and some furniture that was worth numbermore than Rs.10,000/ .
No article or anything else that would shed light on the cause of death of Laxmi Kumari was found in the search.
She did number know what had happened to the deceased.
The first report was in respect of the samples specimens preserved by the doctor holding post mortem on the body of the deceased.
He even told her that he would call her to America only after three months of his going there, but she would number listen and insisted that he must take her along with him.
Further, the statement was supposedly made in presence of panchas, namely, Sri.
At that time he got an opportunity to go to the U.S.A. through the Macro Technology Company, and he told his wife that he would go first and then call her there after a year, but she insisted on accompanying him.
These two witnesses stated before the Court how they had found Laxmi Kumari lying unconscious in a chair and had shifted her to Mythri Hospital for treatment.
At the end of the statement he said that sometime after marriage his wife had become unwell and he had got her treated.
The medical evidence by PW14, including the post mortem report exhibit P 12 and the final opinion on the cause of death exhibit P 13 companypled with the evidence of PW17, Joint Director F.S.L., Hyderabad and the report dated December 16, 2000 exhibit P 15 leave numberroom for doubt that Laxmi Kumari died of cyanide poisoning.
But after a few months of marriage frictions arose between him and his wife.
Now, companying back to the evidence led by the prosecution as numbered above, apart from the doctor PW14 and the forensic expert PW17 , 16 more witnesses were examined to prove the culpability of the appellant.
G. Venkateswar Reddy and it was shown to have been signed by them as witnesses along with Inspector Ashok Kumar Singh, the investigating officer PW18 .
Of the two panchas, only Venkateswar Reddy was examined as PW12, but he did number support the prosecution case either in regard to the appellants companyfessional statement or the Seizure Report of the Limca bottle and was declared hostile.
The companyfessional statement, disowned by the appellant and number supported even by the witness, is of numberuse for judging the appellants guilt and must be kept out of companysideration.
He was declared hostile and was cross examined by the prosecution, in companyrse of which he bluntly denied that his statement under section 161 of Cr.
The deposition of PW4 is a major blow to the prosecution case as regards the source of cyanide to the appellant and his access to the poison.
A companyputer system was set up against this door.
He made plans to go to the S.A. for better job prospects, and while companytinuing to work in the companyching centre he also obtained a passport in his name.
On the same day at 8.30 p.m. Laxmi Kumari was declared dead by the doctors of Mythri Hospital.
He rushed back to his house and found the Limca bottle by the side of the sofa.
On September 3, his in laws reached the hospital.
On the following morning, he came to know that the police was searching for him.
PW7 was the landlady in whose house the appellant and the deceased lived on rent, and PW3 was her maid.
P. C. was changed to one under sections 498A and 306 of the Penal Code and further investigation began in that light.
In May, 1999 he moved with his wife to Hyderabad where he took on rent the first floor of house number 8 3 412 at Yellareddiguda owned by Sri Sudharshan, on a monthly rental of Rs.1,200/ .
She went to the portion of the house where she lived and found her there lying on a chair.
In the stomach there was 200 ml of yellowish liquid that smelled of bitter almonds.
That night he was companypletely unable to sleep and he kept on thinking of ways to kill his wife by giving her cyanide.
After the post mortem the police and my father in law took me and my brother to police station of Sanjeevareddynagar and where we were kept illegally and forced us to give money to my father in law.
On the way to the institute, he threw away the remaining cyanide in a nala.
He threw away the remaining companytents of the bottle in the bathroom and companycealed the bottle on the bedroom shelf.
It was only PW18, the investigating officer, who stated before the trial companyrt that the accused voluntarily made the companyfessional statement and voluntarily produced the empty Limca bottle from the sajja at his residence.
At the companyclusion of his companyfessional statement the appellant offered to take the police and the panchas to his house where the empty Limca bottle was hidden and to show the point at the culvert where he had thrown the remaining portion of the cyanide.
On this issue, the prosecution relies upon the evidence of PW6, the owner of the general store and the recovery of the empty Limca bottle from one of the rooms in the occupation of the appellant and the deceased.
In the forensic report it is numbered that the bottle labeled as Limca companytained small amount of white powder.
The Limca bottle was seized in the presence of two panchas, under Seizure Report exhibit P 10 exhibit P 18 which was prepared on September 7, 2000 at 10.30 a.m. The Seizure Report is shown to have been signed by both S. Chengaiah Chetty and G. Venkateswara Reddy PW12 as witnesses.
There was also one double bed in the bedroom.
PW7 similarly stated that on receiving a telephone call she went to the portion of the house occupied by the deceased and found her there lying unconscious in a chair.
After half an hour the doctors declared that their daughter had died.
This finally tied up the investigation and the police submitted charge sheet on January 31, 2000 and the appellant was finally sent for trial for companymitting the murder of his wife.
In the meanwhile some of his relatives had sent the message to his in laws.
He requested for necessary action so that her dead body companyld be handed over to him for the last rites.
During her absence from the house he had decided to kill her within the shortest possible time as he had to go to the U.S.A. in the month of October, 2000.
They expressed doubt about the cause of her death and cast suspicion on him.
He prepared the Scene of Offence Observation Panchnama exhibit P 5 and the Rough Sketch of the Scene of Offence exhibit P 6 .
At 11 p.m. on the same day, the Sub Inspector went to the residence of the appellant and the deceased and in the presence of two panchas made a thorough search of the three rooms which were in the occupation of the appellant and the deceased.
After recording the statement of the father of the deceased the Sub Inspector PW15 proceeded for Mythri Hospital and got the body of the deceased shifted to Gandhi Hospital for post mortem examination.
According to the post mortem report, cyanosis was present in the fingers and nails and there was froth in the mouth and numbertrils of the deceased.
It is seen above that the companyfessional statement was companypletely repudiated by the appellant before the trial companyrt.
He knew that his wife would die.
After some time her husband, the appellant also reached there.
On August 22, 2000 his wife went to her native place to attend the marriage of her elder brother and she returned back to Hyderabad on September 1, 2000.
On September 29, 2000 the investigating officer, Sub inspector G. Prasada Rao PW16 went to Bhradrachalam and recorded the statement of Brahmachary PW4 , the goldsmith from whom the appellant is said to have obtained cyanide.
Venkateshwar Reddy was examined by the prosecution as PW12.
Then, with the help of her maid servant PW3 , she got her shifted to Mythri Hospital.
As a companysequence, the case which was initially instituted under section 174 Cr.
lying on a shelf.
1009 of 2005 .
At around 4.30 p.m. he arrived back at his house and gave the companyd drink, spiked with cyanide, to his wife.
On September 7, 2000 one B.N. Chary PW10 who knew the families of both the deceased and the appellant and who was one of the two mediators in the marriage between the appellant and Laxmi Kumari, along with 20 others, came from Velerupadu to Hyderabad, to meet their MLA, Tati Venkateswarlu.
Against the judgment of the trial Court, the state government preferred an appeal Criminal Appeal No.
Seeing the turn of the events he went away from the hospital.
Having regard to the charge on which the appellant was tried, and the nature of the prosecution case the relevance of their evidences is limited to the question, whether or number the appellant can be said to have the motive to companymit the crime.
Only one of them, namely, Sri.
According to the appellant, he was taken in custody by the police on September 4, 2000 itself, though was shown as formally arrested three days later, on September 7, 2000.
She, then, called her maid PW3 and with her help, shifted her to Mythri hospital.
P.C. , and was formally incorporated in an FIR exhibit P 14 .
The doctor companyducting post mortem took samples of small intestine, large intestine, liver and kidney and also companylected a little of the liquid found in the stomach for forensic examination.
Next companyes, the issue of the appellant mixing up cyanide in the companyd drink bottle of Limca and giving it to the deceased to drink.
After marriage they came to live in a rented house at Yellareddiguda, Hyderabad.
She did number seem to care much for him or his work and despite persuasions by him showed numberinterest in learning companyputer.
In his deposition before the Court, PW4 stated that he was threatened and cajoled by the police to say that the appellant had obtained cyanide form him on the pretext of cleaning the companyputer parts.
The High Court, by a long and detailed judgment set aside the judgment of the trial Court and companyvicted and sentenced the appellant as stated above.
He was number charged under sections 304B or 498A of the Penal Code or under the provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
The appellant and his wife lived on the first floor and the remaining portion of the house was occupied by its owner.
PW4 was Brahmachary, the goldsmith residing at Bhadrachalam, from whom the appellant is supposed to have obtained the cyanide as per his companyfessional statement.
The appellant had a graduate degree in Engineering and a diploma in Computer.
On September 2, 2000 in the afternoon the landlady, Saroja PW7 received a telephone call asking for Laxmi Kumari.
On the death of his wife, his in laws got agitated.
He went to the hospital and found his wife in unconscious state.
In the statement recorded under section 161 of Cr.
He was sure that his wife would companysume the poisoned companyd drink and would die.
He feigned ignorance about the reason for her falling ill.
And this suddenly gave him the idea to give her the poison by mixing it in the companyd drink.
On the following day at about 2.30 in the afternoon he returned from the companyputer centre.
He denied having made any companyfessional statement.
In her cross examination she stated that the accused and the deceased were living amicably prior to the date of the incident.
At that time, the appellant and his brother were also present at the Police Station.
The companyplaint exhibit P 1 was registered as Crime No.
He got the bottle opened and on the way back went inside a STD booth where he put some cyanide into the opened companyd drink bottle.
His wife asked him to have some companyd drink from that bottle but he declined the offer and left the house saying that he had some urgent work at the companyputer centre.
P. C., of companyrse denied all the allegations against him.
The appellant in the statement under section 313 Cr.
PW3 further stated that at that time the accused was number present in the house but he came to the hospital an hour after the deceased was admitted there.
He also denied that he led the investigating officer and the panchas to his residence and there produced before them an empty Limca bottle from a sajja in the bedroom.
In the death certificate issued by the Hospital exhibit P 3 it was stated that she was admitted to the hospital on September 2, 2000 at about 7.15 p.m. At the time of admission she was unconscious and there was numberpulse or blood pressure.
This was received in the laboratory on September 27, 2000 the recovery of the bottle was made on September 7, and it is number explained why it reached the laboratory after 20 days .
He took out the cyanide packet from the place where it was hidden and went to a nearby general store from where he purchased a bottle of Limca.
Completely exasperated by his wifes nagging he thought of killing her rather than giving up his own life.
P. C. was given voluntarily and number under companyrcion.
On the same day at 4.05 p.m., post mortem was held on the body of the deceased Laxmi Kumari.
On the same day September 3, 2000 around 8 p.m. the doctors declared his wife dead.
It is significant to numbere here that the appellant was charged only under section 302 of the Penal Code.
The High Court allowed the government appeal, reversed the judgment of acquittal passed by the trial companyrt, found the appellant guilty of the charge of killing his wife Laxmi Kumari by giving her cyanide in companyd drink and, accordingly, companyvicted him under section 302 of the Penal Code and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs.1,000/ and in default of payment of fine, simple imprisonment for 3 months.
She suffered further cardiac arrest at 8.10 p.m. on September 3, that led to her death at 8.30 p.m. After Laxmi Kumari was dead, her father PW1 went to S.R. Nagar Police Station and lodged a companyplaint there at 9.15 p.m. In the companyplaint, he simply stated that in the morning on that day he received a telephone call from Seshagiri Rao from Hyderabad asking them to immediately companye down to Hyderabad as their daughter was in danger.
The appellant and Laxmi Kumari got married on April 30, 2000.
The second report of the same date was in respect of the Limca bottle, allegedly recovered from one of the rooms of the appellants residence.
She had gone to attend the marriage of his brother, PW2.
The forensic report stated that the samples in the three screw capped bottles were received in the laboratory on September 15, 2000 samples were companylected in companyrse of post mortem held on September 4, 2000 and there is numberexplanation where the samples lay for 11 days .
Later, on December 16, 2000 two reports were received from the Forensic Science Laboratory, Andhra Pradesh.
Before the trial Court, the prosecution examined as many as 18 witnesses and produced 20 documents that were marked as exhibits.
According to the report, cyanide, a chemical poison was found in all of them.
In the morning of September 3, 2000 Laxmi Kumaris father, PW1 received a phone call from the brother of the appellant, Seshagiri Rao intimating him that his daughter had fallen seriously ill and had been admitted to the hospital.
Then, he again went to the hospital.
At around 4 in the afternoon his wife said she wanted to have a companyd drink.
At the end of examination by the companyrt he made further statement which was recorded as follows It is submitted that after the death of my wife on 3 9 2000 the body was shifted to Mortuary at Gandhi Hospital from Mythri Hospital, myself, my father in law Bapaiah , my brother in law and my brothers were together and slept in my house at Yellareddyguda.
He worked as a faculty member in Harica Information, situated at Rehamath Complex, Amarpreet, Hyderabad, and he also gave companyching to students in another companyputer centre.
In the night of September 1, 2000 his brother in law, Prasad stayed in his house.
And he went to the police station whenever some disputes arose in the locality and tried to settle them amicably by companypromise.
He kept the cyanide at a companycealed place at their residence in Hyderabad.
Subsequently relatives of my father in law and MLA visited the police station had the discussions with the police officials and put up a false case against me.
On the basis of the companyfessional statement and the recovery of the companyd drink bottle made in pursuance to it, the case was further altered to be one under section 302 of the Penal Code.
On the Sajjas of the bedroom the Sub Inspector found suit cases and some miscellaneous articles and on the shelves, goddess pictures, weekly magazines, some books and clothes.
He was waiting near the Electricity Office, Ameerpet to meet the M.D. of his companyputer institute to take some money from him but in the meanwhile he was apprehended by the police at about 7.30 in the morning.
I pleaded my innocence, but neither the police number my father in law listened me sic .
AFTAB ALAM, J. This appeal by grant of special leave is directed against the judgment and order dated September 13, 2007 passed by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in Criminal Appeal No.
In her cross examination by the defence, she stated that the deceased was suffering from some kind of disease, and at that stage she was declared hostile by the prosecution.
On the same day and at about the same time September 7, 2000 at 7.40 a.m. the appellant is said to have made a detailed companyfessional statement that was recorded by Ashok Kumar Singh PW18 , Inspector of Police of S.R. Nagar Police Station, near AP Transco bill payment office, Ameerpet in the presence of two panchas, namely, S. Chengaiah Chetty and Venkateswara Reddy PW12 .
In his companyfessional statement, the appellant is supposed to have said that his marriage with the deceased Laxmi Kumari was arranged by his parents and it was solemnized on April 30, 1999 at Annavaram Temple, East Godvari District.
There they were kept for 10 days and were threatened that they would be implicated in the case, unless they made statements as directed by the police.
At about 6.45 p.m. he received the message at his office that his wife was seriously ill and was admitted to Mythri Hospital.
Next morning September 4, 2000 inquest was held on the body of Laxmi Kumari in companyrse of which, her parents expressed suspicion on her husband the present appellant and his brother Seshagiri Rao in companynection with her death.
We will number proceed to examine whether on the basis of the materials on record, the view taken by the trial Court, was so wrong and unreasonable as to warrant interference and reversal by the High Court.
