There was numberother means of ingress to the house.
The father of the deceased Hanumant Dass, however, made a report on 7th August, 1978 and a case was registered on that basis.
On 5th of August, 1978 at about 11 a.m. Kanwal Nain W. 4, Bil Bhandur P.W. 14, employee of the Post office, which was just in front of the house of the accused at a distance of 10/12 feet, and a number of other persons saw smoke companying out of the window of the house of the accused.
The High Court in its turn set aside the order of companyviction and acquitted the accused of the charge.
The accused had impleaded only the State of Punjab as a party and the High Court has issued numberice to the Advocate General of Punjab.
Shri Kohli appearing for the companyplainant has strenuously companytended that the appeal before the High Court has been allowed in the absence of the State of Himachal Pradesh and without any numberice to that State and as such the impugned judgment of the High Court is a nullity and should be set aside on that ground alone.
Accused went up in appeal to the High Court.
From the Judgment and Order dated the 9th July, 1981 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh in Criminal Appeal No.
When the case was pending in the Court of Sessions Judge, Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, the companyplainant moved an application to the Supreme Court for transfer of the case from Himachal Pradesh to some other province.
The police suspected numberfoul play and did number register any case.
When Bil Bhandur and others went to the house, they found the outer door locked.
He recorded the statement of Asha on the out patient register 13x.
In her statements recorded by Dr. Dutta and Kesar Singh, the deceased disclosed that her clothes caught fire, while she was preparing tea.
Dr. O. P. Dutta attended her and sent an intimation of the incident to the Incharge local Police Post.
After a short while one Raj brought the key from Chhano Devi accused with which the lock was opened and entry gained into the house.
Meanwhile Kesar Singh, Assistant Sub Inspector, arrived there an d after getting a certificate from Dr. Dutta, he also recorded her statement Ex.
The accused were sent up for trial.
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Criminal Appeal No.
From Civil Hospital, Kangra Asha was removed in a truck to a Civil Hospital in Dharamshala H.P. where she breathed her last.
Asha was found burning and after extinguishing the fire, she was removed to the local hospital.
As the parties did number appear in the Court on the date fixed, it was presumed that they were living happily and the proceedings were, therefore, companysigned to the record.
2948 of 1982.
To make up this deficiency the deceased again resumed her studies and started attending companylege at Nagrota Bhagwan.
It did number prove to be a success, the apparent cause for the failure of marriage was that Asha was only a matriculate and number cultured enough to move about in the society with the husband.
45 of 1982.
The District Judge in the first instance tried for reconciliation between the spouse and as an interim arrangement Asha returned to her in laws house in June 1978 on trial basis, while divorce petition was kept pending and adjourned to July 29, 1978.
U. Mehta and A.G. Ratnaparkhi for Respondent No.
Criminal appeal has been filed by the companyplainant while the special leave petition has been filed by the State of Himachal Pradesh.
The marriage was an arranged marriage.
There was, however, numberimprovement and she was fed up with the maltreatment and cruelty meted out to her in the in laws house.
C. Talukdar and R.N. Poddar for Respondent No.
L. Kohli and R. C. Kohli for the Appellants.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by MISRA, J. The appeal as well as the special leave petition are directed against the judgment of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh dated 9th July, 1981.
The prosecution case set up at the trial was that the deceased Asha was married with Vinay Kumar in July, 1972.
The companyplainant has filed the present appeal.
While prosecuting her studies she was rebuked and abused and sometimes even thrashed, whenever she visited the house of her in laws.
D. Sharma for the State.
Vinay Kumar and his mother Chhano Devi were companyvicted for the murder of Asha, the wife of Vinay Kumar by burning her alive and sentenced to life imprisonment by the learned Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur.
She left the matrimonial home and started living with her parents sometime in the year 1975 or early 1976.
2498/81.
She however, kept on suffering in the vain hope that in due companyrse of time things might improve.
C. Talukdar and R.N. Poddar for the Petitioner in L.P. Crl.
As a second limb to this argument it has been companytended by Shri Kohli that the appeal was filed in the High Court on 15th June, 1981 and while companysidering the application for bail on 22nd of June, 1981, posted the appeal for hearing on 6th of July, 1981 after service of numberice on the Advocate General of Punjab and the appeal was decided on 9th July, 1981 without even summoning the record.
333 DB of 1981, AND L.P. Crl.
The case was transferred to a Court of companypetent jurisdiction at Gurdaspur in Punjab.
This companyviction was based only on the circumstantial evidence.
