Supreme Court of India
Parveen Kumar vs The State Of Himachal Pradesh on 23 September, 2024
Author: Bela M. Trivedi
Bench: Bela M. Trivedi
2024 INSC 717 REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL No(s). 1014-1015 OF 2013
PARVEEN KUMAR …APPELLANT(s)
VERSUS
THE STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH …RESPONDENT(S)
JUDGMENT
BELA M. TRIVEDI, J.
1. Both the appeals arise out of the common Judgment and Order dated
16.03.2011 passed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh at Shimla in
the Criminal Appeal No. 97 of 2000 preferred by the appellant-Parveen
Kumar and the Criminal Appeal No. 325 of 2000 preferred by the State
of Himachal Pradesh.
2. The short facts as curled out from the record are that on 10.10.1992 the
appellant had married Raksha Devi (the deceased). The said Raksha
Devi gave birth to a male child from the loins of the appellant at her
Signature Not Verified parental home on 18.12.1993. As per the case of the prosecution, the
Digitally signed by
Nisha Khulbey
Date: 2024.09.23
appellant used to beat his wife even when she was pregnant and
13:28:22 IST
Reason:
therefore, she had gone away to her parental home and had got
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registered an FIR being No. 59 of 1993 for the offence under Section498-A of IPC on 12.09.1993 at the Police Station Ghumarwin. She also
filed a petition under Section 125 of the Cr.P.C. seeking maintenance
from the appellant, and also filed another complaint under Section
107/151 Cr.P.C. Somewhere in May 1994, the appellant brought back
his wife to her matrimonial home. On 22.09.1994, the said Raksha Devi
gave a statement in the Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate in
the proceedings under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. that she did not want to
pursue the matter as she was living happily with the appellant. Similar
statement was also allegedly given in the Court in respect of the
complaint filed by her. However, on 26.09.1994 the wife of the appellant
Raksha Devi consumed tablets of aluminum phosphide at about 1:45
a.m. She was admitted in the hospital for treatment, however could not
survive and died at 5.00 a.m. on the same day.
3. The information regarding her death was reduced to writing by the SHO
in the daily diary register vide DDR No. 30. The SHO sent the body of
the deceased to the hospital for carrying out the post-mortem. On
01.10.1994 the brother of the deceased, Sh. Madan Lal (PW-3) lodged
an FIR being No. 97 of 1994 at the Police Station, Bhoranj alleging that
the appellant had subjected his sister to cruelty and forced her to commit
suicide. The Investigating Officer after carrying out the investigation
submitted the chargesheet against the appellant for the offence under
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Section 498-A and 306 of IPC. The Sessions Court, Hamirpur, H.P. after
appreciating the evidence on record adduced by the prosecution as well
as by the defence, convicted the appellant-accused for the offence
under Section 498-A IPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous
imprisonment for a period of two years and pay a fine of Rs.1,000/- with
the default clause, however, acquitted the appellant for the offence
under Section 306 of IPC vide the Judgment and Order dated
24.02.2000.
4. Being aggrieved by the said Judgment and Order passed by the
Sessions Court, the appellant preferred Criminal Appeal No. 97 of 2000
against his conviction under Section 498-A IPC whereas the State of
Himachal Pradesh preferred the Criminal Appeal No. 325 of 2000
against the acquittal of the appellant from the offence under Section 306
of IPC before the High Court. The High Court vide the impugned
Judgment and Order dismissed the appeal preferred by the appellant
whereas allowed the appeal preferred by the State and convicted the
appellant for the offence under Section 306 of IPC. He was directed to
undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years and to pay a
fine of Rs.3,000/- with default clause of the offence under Section 306
of IPC, while confirming the conviction and sentence imposed by the
Sessions Court for the offence under Section 498-A of IPC.
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5. The learned counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that out of
the three cases filed by the deceased – Raksha Devi against the
appellant, the complaint lodged under Section 107/151 of Cr.P.C. was
dismissed by the concerned Court on 04.04.1994, and the other two
cases filed under Section 125 Cr.P.C. and FIR No. 59/93 under Section
498-A IPC were settled between the parties as per the Order dated
22.09.1994 passed by the concerned Court. According to him the
settlement between the parties could not be treated as admission of
guilt, on the contrary after the settlement the deceased had come to her
matrimonial home to stay with the appellant. He further submitted that
there were no allegations of cruelty made between the period June 1993
till she committed suicide on 26.09.1994 and therefore no presumption
under Section 113A of the Indian Evidence Act could be raised against
the appellant. Placing reliance of the decision of this Court in Hans Raj
Vs. State of Haryana1 and in case of Naresh Kumar vs. State of
Haryana2 he submitted that the conviction could not be based on
conjectures and surmises.
6. Per contra the learned counsel appearing for the respondent-State
submitted that the appellant had tried to mislead the investigation by
stating that the deceased had taken the tablets of aluminum phosphide
1 2004(12) SCC 257
2 2024 (3) SCC 573
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as an insecticide by mistake. He further submitted that the death had
happened within two years of the marriage and during the said two years
the deceased had filed three complaints against the appellant alleging
harassment and cruelty and therefore the presumption under Section
113A of the Evidence Act was rightly raised by the High Court for
convicting the appellant under Section 306 of IPC. According to him
though the appellant had examined two defense witnesses, the
testimony of both the witnesses did not inspire any confidence.
7. For better appreciation of the submissions made by the learned counsel
for the parties it would be beneficial to reproduce the provisions
contained in Section 498-A and 306 IPC as also Section 113A of the
Indian Evidence Act. The said provisions read as under:
“498A. Husband or relative of husband of a woman
subjecting her to cruelty. —Whoever, being the husband or the
relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to
cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “cruelty”
means— (a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is
likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave
injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical)
of the woman; or (b) harassment of the woman where such
harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related
to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable
security or is on account of failure by her or any person related
to her to meet such demand.
306. Abetment of suicide. —If any person commits suicide,
whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished
with imprisonment of either description for a term which may
extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.5
113A. Presumption as to abetment of suicide by a married
woman. ––When the question is whether the commission of
suicide by a woman had been abetted by her husband or any
relative of her husband and it is shown that she had committed
suicide within a period of seven years from the date of her
marriage and that her husband or such relative of her husband
had subjected her to cruelty, the court may presume, having
regard to all the other circumstances of the case, that such
suicide had been abetted by her husband or by such relative of
her husband.
Explanation. –– For the purposes of this section, “cruelty” shall
have the same meaning as in section 498A of the Indian Penal
Code (45 of 1860).”
8. From the explanation to Section 498-A IPC, it is discernible that the word
‘Cruelty’ means, (i) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is
likely to drive the woman to commit suicide (ii) any wilful conduct which
is of such a nature as is likely to cause grave injury or danger to life,
limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or (iii)
harassment of the woman with a view to coercing her or any person
related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable
security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to
meet such demand. So far as the instant case is concerned, as per the
case of the prosecution the appellant had subjected the deceased to
Cruelty i.e. had committed wilful conduct which was of such a nature,
that drove her to commit suicide. Undoubtedly, the allegations of Cruelty
as contemplated under Section 498A have to be established beyond
reasonable doubt. Similarly, the charge under Section 306 also has to
be proved by the Prosecution beyond reasonable doubt by leading
cogent evidence that the appellant abetted the deceased to commit
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suicide as contemplated in Section 107 of IPC. Of course, Section 113A
of the Evidence Act permits the Court to raise a presumption as to
abetment of suicide, if the Suicide was committed within seven years of
the marriage and if it is proved that she was subjected to the “Cruelty”
as explained in Section 498A by her husband or the relative of the
husband. However, for the purpose of raising the presumption by the
Court under Section 113A of the Evidence Act, the basic facts as
contemplated in the said provision, need to be proved by the
Prosecution.
9. In the light of the above legal position, if the facts of the present case
are appreciated, it appears that there are certain facts which have not
been disputed, rather have been duly proved by the prosecution. Apart
from the fact of the appellant had married the deceased on 10.10.1992,
and the deceased had given birth to a male child from the loins of the
appellant on 18.12.1993, the filing of three cases by the deceased
during her life time against the appellant, i.e. (i) FIR No. 59/1993 dated
12.07.1993 under Section 498-A and 506 IPC; (ii) complaint/Kalendra
under Section 107/151 of Cr.P.C. dated 01.07.1993 and (iii) case under
Section 125 Cr.P.C in May, 1994 seeking maintenance for herself and
her child, is also not disputed. The fact of the deceased having
committed suicide by consuming tablets of aluminum phosphide, which
is supposed to be an insecticide, is also duly proved by the prosecution.
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It is also pertinent to note that the trial Court and the High Court have
concurrently held the appellant guilty of the offence under Section 498-
A IPC by holding that the appellant had subjected the deceased to
cruelty.
10. Though it was sought to be submitted on behalf of the appellant that as
per the suicide note Exhibit DF, the suicide was committed by the
deceased on account of her intolerable pain and illness and not due to
the Cruelty of the Appellant, the said contention deserves to be
considered for rejection only. Apart from the fact that the said suicidal
note does not appear to have been duly exhibited for being admitted in
evidence, the fact that the appellant had not even bothered to inform the
parents of the deceased immediately after the incident smacked of his
guilt. The two defense witnesses claiming to be the neighbours of the
appellant were examined to prove that the relationship between the
appellant and his wife was cordial and not discordant, however they also
do not inspire any confidence, in view of the undisputed and proved
facts that the deceased had filed three cases against the appellant
during her lifetime in respect of harassment and cruelty subjected to her
by the Appellant.
11. In that view of the matter, the High Court has rightly raised the
presumption under Section 113A of the Evidence Act to hold that the
suicide was abetted by the Appellant. There cannot be any
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disagreement to the proposition laid down by this Court in case of Hans
Raj vs. State of Haryana (supra) and Naresh Kumar vs. State of
Haryana (supra) relied upon by the learned Counsel for the Appellant,
to submit that unlike Section 113B of the Evidence Act, a statutory
presumption does not arise in Section 113A by operation of law merely
on the proof of the circumstances enumerated in the said provision, and
that Section 113A gives a discretion to the Court to raise a presumption.
As discussed hereinabove the prosecution by leading cogent evidence
had established that the deceased had committed suicide within a
period of seven years from the date of her marriage and that the
Appellant that is her husband had subjected her to cruelty as
contemplated in Section 498-A of IPC. We therefore, do not find any
illegality or infirmity in the impugned order passed by the High Court
convicting the Appellant for the offences under Section 498-A r/w
Section 306 of IPC.
12. The Appeals being devoid of merits are dismissed. Dismissed
accordingly.
……………………………………J.
[BELA M. TRIVEDI]
.……………..……………………. J.
[SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA]
NEW DELHI;
23rd SEPTEMBER, 2024
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