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Judgment
G.S. Solanki, J.—The Vith Additional Sessions Judge, Jabalpur passed the impugned judgment dated 21.06.96 in S.T. No. 317/95 by which the Appellants/accused have been convicted u/s 498A of I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for 1 year each and fine of Rs. 500/-, in default Rigorous Imprisonment for 3 months.
Being aggrieved the Appellants/accused have preferred this appeal u/s 374(2) of Code of Criminal Procedure
It is admitted fact of the case that during the pendency of this appeal complainant Makhanlal and his wife Smt. Meerabai(father and mother of deceased Urmila Bai) have entered into the compromise with the Appellants and filed an application to seek permission to compound the offence. Since, offence u/s 498A of IPC is not compoundable, therefore their application was dismissed.
The prosecution case in short is that marriage of deceased Urmila Bai was solemnized with Arjun Rajak, son of Appellants/accused before 11/2 years of the incident.
As per allegations of Meerabai(P.W.5) and Makhanlal(P.W.6), (mother and father of deceased Urmila Bai) respectively, after two months of marriage Appellants/accused have demanded a scooter. It is also alleged that whenever deceased Urmila Bai was sent to her parental home she was directed by the Appellants that she could not come back without the scooter. In this way, Appellants committed the cruelty in relation to dowry on the deceased Urmila Bai, therefore she committed suicide on 7.11.94 by pouring the kerosene oil over her body.
On information of incident, a marg was registered in Police Station Ghamapur and after enquiry offence was
3 registered against the Appellants. The dead body of deceased Urmila Bai was sent for post-mortem examination to Medical College, Jabalpur. Dr. D.K. Sakle(P.W.8) performed the autopsy on the body of deceased Urmila Bai and opined that she was died due to the shock of burn injuries and prepared the post-mortem report(Ex. P-14). During investigation a spot map(Ex. P-4) was prepared.
The Appellants were arrested and after usual investigation they were charge-sheeted.
Learned Additional Sessions Judge framed the charges against the Appellants/accused under Sections 304B, 306 and 498A of I.P.C.
The Appellants abjured their guilt and pleaded innocence.
After appraisal of evidence of record, learned Additional Sessions Judge acquitted the Appellants from the charges under Sections 304B, 306 of I.P.C. however, they have been convicted u/s 498A of IPC and sentenced as mentioned herein above. Hence, this appeal.
Learned Counsel for the Appellants submitted that looking to the evidence on record, he is not challenging the conviction recorded by the trial Court. He further submitted that the age of Appellant No. 1 is about 77 years and age of Appellant No. 2 is 76 years. He also submitted that complainant Makhanlal and his wife Meerabai(father and mother of deceased Urmila Bai) have also entered into compromise with these old Appellants and they did not want to prosecute them further. In these circumstances, end of justice would be met out if they be sentenced to jail sentence of already undergone and fine may be enhanced.
Learned Counsel for the State also has no objection to the contention raised by the learned Counsel for the Appellants.
I have perused the record and found that at the time of incident Appellants No. 1 and 2 were aged about 61 years and 60 years respectively. In these circumstances, they are very old aged person and at this time approximately they are aged about 77 years and 76 years respectively. Considering the fact that mother and father of deceased Urmila Bai also entered into the compromise with the Appellants. Therefore, aforesaid old aged persons are not required to sent in jail after a lapse of 16 years.
In these circumstances, appeal is partly allowed. Conviction passed by trial Court against the Appellants u/s 498A of I.P.C. is hereby affirmed and the sentence is altered in the following way:
Appellants are sentenced, for jail sentence(from 5.12.94 to 9.12.94) of already undergone and fine of Rs. 5 2,500/- each. In default of fine further Simple Imprisonment for 15 days.
Record of the trial Court be sent back along with the copy of judgment for compliance and necessary action.
The Appellants are on bail. Their bail bonds stand discharged.