it held that the f.i.r.
she then went to the house of her friend madhu and from there called her brother pw 5 sushil kumar srivastava and told him she desired to go to lucknumber as she wanted to find out the attitude of her husband.
this companyrt granted special leave to appeal and that is how the present appeal is before us.
exh ka i came to be recorded.
the absence of an angithi in the kitchen the protruding of the tongue and the absconding of the accused immediately after the incident supplied links to the prosecution version regarding the incident.
prior thereto it may be mentioned that pw 3 ram raj mishra had taken the three accused persons to the hospital and after they were free from there ashoks father went to the police station at about 6.15 p.m. to lodge a report about his daughter in laws death due to burns.this is how the report exh.
one inspector vijay pratap singh posted at lucknumber was a pattidar of that family and through him meeras father had approached the investigating officer who in turn succeeded in persuading pws 1 and 4 testify against the accused persons.
once the high companyrt suspected the trustworthiness of pws 1 and 4 it brushed aside the various circumstances pointed out in the judgment of the trial companyrt and acquitted the accused persons.
was lodged by meeras father foul play was suspected but by then the accused had left.
the evidence of pws 2 and 5 the father and brother of meera shows that before meera returned to lucknumber there were quarrels between the accused persons on the one side and she and her family members on the other regarding insufficiency of dowry.
aggarwal the trial court bearing in mind other circumstances pointed out in the judgment came to the companyclusion that the charge against the three accused was brought home by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt.
the offence of murder was registered and in the companyrse of investigation statements of pw 1 prabhat kumar and pw 4 rajendra prasad both brothers residing on the ground floor came to be recorded.
the fact that meera was carrying twins in her womb since six months is proved beyond doubt.
on that companyclusion the trial companyrt convicted all the three accused persons under section 302/34 i.p.c.
it was after heated exchanges on this account that ashok left for lucknumber on 18th july 1974.
he was shocked to find that meera was in flames and the three accused persons were standing in the verandah talking to each other unconcerned about the plight of the woman.
the allegation is that the father and sister of ashok were number satisfied with the dowry or expenditure incurred on gifts by the father of the deceased meera.
the house was occupied by ashok his father rajendra lal and his sister sudha when the incident occurred.
pw 1 immediately rushed to the first floor to find out what had happened.
on account of this feeling the three accused were taunting the deceased and when she tried to defend her father she was tormented and tortured by the accused persons.
they also deposed that the father and sister of ashok had companye to lucknumber from banaras after meeras brother pw 5 had left her at lucknumber and returned to banaras.
shiv pujan singh and a.s.
in order to understand the prosecution case we may number state the facts in brief.
after the f.i.r.
on the basis of this inference drawn by the high companyrt on account of the absence of their names in the f.i.r.
the first information report was lodged by pw 2 j.p.
kha i and the f.i.r.
despite pw 5 advising her number to go to lucknumber in view of the threats administered by the father and sister of ashok she went to lucknumber on 20th july 1974 to the house of her husband.
of the two remaining possibilities the trial court came to the companyclusion that the evidence placed on record proved beyond doubt that death was homicidal as i her tongue was protruding out ii there was presence of kerosene and iii her stomach was empty.
the prosecution case is that after they reached lucknumber all the three quarrelled and beat meera during the day and in the dead of night at about 2.30 or 2.45 a.m. they sprinkled kerosene on her and set her ablaze.
she was therefore sent to balrampur hospital where the doctor declared her dead.
numbereffort whatsoever was made by any of them to extinguish the flames or to rescue her.
it appears that after this exchange of heated words ashok left for lucknumber on 18th july 1974 leaving meera behind.
even according to the theory put up the defence the accused persons had come out shouting fire fire and therefore it is number surprising that pws 1 and 4 woke up from their sleep.
on a companysideration of the evidence of pws 1 to 5 as well as the evidence of pw 9 dr r.k.
from the judgment and order dated 8.3.1978 of the allahabad high companyrt in criminal appeal number 913 of 1976.
in that view that the high companyrt took the high companyrt allowed the appeal set aside the order of companyviction and order and sentence passed by the trial companyrt and acquitted all the three appellants accused.
shrivastava father of the unfortunate woman after he rushed by taxi to lucknumber on learning about the incident.
meera therefore went to the residence of her friend madhu and from there she sent for her brother pw 5.
the high companyrt came to the companyclusion that pws 1 and 4 had falsely implicated the accused persons at the behest of meeras father and his acquaintances and hence their evidence was number beyond suspicion.
number have the accused denied their presence in their statements.
the ground floor was occupied by the landlord.
the state of u.p.
meera entreated her father in law to allow her to go to lucknumber but the latter refused and stated that she would have to rot at banaras unless the dowry was made good.
the marriage had taken place less than a year ago on 13th may 1973 at banaras.
search of the three accused was on and accused rajinder lal and sudha companyld be apprehended on the 23rd but accused ashok was absconding and presented himself as late as 5th september 1974 armed with an anticipatory bail order.
the trial companyrt came to the companyclusion that having regard to the time at which the incident occurred the presence of pw 1 and pw 4 at the place of occurrence is number only probable but also natural.
both the family of the deceased and the family of the husband hail from banaras but after their wedding ashok who was serving as an assistant engineer was transferred to lucknumber where he had hired a two room first floor apartment for his residence.
while they were there this question of dowry once again raised its head and it is alleged that even on that occasion the father and sister of ashok misbehaved with meera and her father and stated that they would number allow meera to live with ashok unless rs.
the investigation ultimately led to the arrest of the two accused other than ashok on the 23rd.
filed by meeras father even though they had spoken to him about the incident before he lodged the f.i.r.
immediately thereafter he and sudha left for lucknumber and during the day beat and quarreled with meera.
the theory of accidental death had to be brushed aside in view of the presence of kerosene on the scalp of the deceased.
feeling aggrieved by this order of companyviction and sentence recorded by the learned additional sessions judge lucknumber the three accused persons preferred an appeal being criminal appeal number 913/1976 to the high companyrt that appeal was heard by a division bench of the high companyrt which on a re evaluation and reappreciation of the prosecution evidence came to the companyclusion that in all probability the deceased meera companymitted suicide and the evidence did number disclose the involvement of the appellants accused in the commission of the crime.
her husband too joined them.
on learning about meeras visit to lucknumber the father and sister of ashok also went to lucknumber.
pw 1 returned with the fire brigade men.
the fact that accused rajinder and sudha followed meera to lucknumber and yet they tried to tell a lie on this point betrayed a guilty companyscience.
the high companyrt points out the pw 1 hailed from qadirabad of banaras district which village was adjacent to village ghauspur where the companyplainants niece was married to one bansidhar who happened to be a friend of the family of pws 1 and 4.
meera was naturally perturbed.
he saw the accused carry meera to the next room and after a while brought her back with the tongue protruding out.
she wanted to follow him but her father in law did number permit her.
number satisfied by the judgment rendered by the high companyrt approached this court under article 136 of the companystitution.
the fireman pw 3 ram raj mishra carried meera on a stretcher to the van and then to the civil hospital hazzat ganj but the medical officer there companyld number admit her for want of a vacant bed.
srivastava brother of the deceased were also recorded.
criminal appellate jurisdiction criminal appeal number 464 of 1979.
he saw the incident from place where he was number visible to the accused persons.
it was thereafter that ashoks father lodged the report ext.
pw 5 left her there and returned to banaras by the 2.00 p.m. by punjab mail.
the prosecution placed reliance on the evidence of pw 1 to pw 5 and pw 9 dr.
both these witnesses have deposed that after ashok and meera came to occupy the first floor there used to be frequent quarrels between them on the question of insufficiency of dowry.
pw 4 had followed p. w. 1 upstairs.
they were of the view that what was paid in cash as well as by way of gifts at the time of tilak was short by about rs.
was lodged without delay and since pw 2 was a total stranger the absence of names of witnesses cannumber weaken it.
4000 were paid towards dowry.
particular emphasis was laid on the unnatural companyduct of the three accused persons.
pw 1 ran up to see what had happened.
on 13th july 1974 both ashok and meera had gone to banaras.
ashok and his wife were occupying the first floor whereas pw 1 and pw 4 the two sons of kedar singh to whom the house belonged occupied the ground floor.
statements of other witnesses including pw 3 ram raj mishra a fire brigade man and pw 5 s.k.
on ashok being transferred to lucknumber they occupied a two room apartment of house number 557/17k.
this in brief is the prosecution version regarding the actual incident.
on the basis of their evidence and the 21 circumstances enumerated by the learned trial judge a conviction under section 302/34 i.p.c.
kha 1.
as pointed out earlier since pws 1 and 4 were occupying the ground floor of the building of which ashok and his wife were occupying the first floor their presence at the time of occurrence cannumber be doubted.
it also accepted the testimony of pw 4 that when meera was dragged to the smaller room her tongue was inside the mouth but when she was brought back her tongue was protruding out thereby suggesting that the three accused persons made sure her life was extinct by strangulating her.
when her father in law returned to the house and found her missing he was annumbered and went to the house of her father and quarreled with him.
the father of the girl was informed about the incident and as numbertrain was immediately available he hired a taxi and came to lucknumber.
since he was a stranger he talked to certain persons including pw 1 and thereafter lodged his first information report ka i at about 7.00 p. m. at alam bagh police station lucknumber.
the prosecution case is that at the time of and immediately after the marriage there was some bickering in regard to the quantum of dowry paid by the brides father.
pundir for the appellants.
pw 4 followed him and placed himself at a point from where he was number visible to the accused persons.
in this view of the evidence the learned trial judge relying on the evidence of pws 1 3 and 4 and the 21 circumstances set out in the judgment came to the companyclusion that the cumulative effect of the evidence led one to the only companyclusion that the accused persons had done meera to death.
pw 1 thereafter ran to the nearby fire brigade station and informed the staff there about the incident.
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by ahmadi j. meera srivastava a young woman aged about 25 years.
meera and ashok both residents of banaras were married on 13th may 1973 at banaras.
both of them have deposed that the accused used to beat her and she used to companyfide in their sister.
and sentenced each of them to imprisonment for life.
this fact was found proved from the evidence of pws 1 2 4 and 5.
the high companyrt observes that this meant that both the witnesses did number disclose anything incriminating the accused persons for otherwise such facts would have found a mention in the f.i.r.
was recorded.
pw 1 and pw 4 on hearing the shouts came out of their house.
aggarwal who undertook the post mortem examination to bring home the guilt against the three accused.
he went straight to the place of occurrence.
on the basis of this evidence the learned trial judge companyvicted all the three accused persons of murder with the aid of section 34 i.p.c.
the motive for the crime was dowry.
died of burns on the night between 20th and 21st july 1974 at about 2.30 a.m. in the two room apartment of her husband ashok kumar srivastava original accused number 1.
k. garg and anil k. gupta for the respondents.
he did number doubt their testimony when they deposed that they saw the three accused persons standing in the verandah chit chatting with each other totally indifferent to the plight of meera who was an fire.
