{"id":222902,"date":"2010-05-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-13T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-bhadra-tiwari-vs-the-state-of-m-p-on-14-may-2010"},"modified":"2019-02-22T21:09:05","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T15:39:05","slug":"ram-bhadra-tiwari-vs-the-state-of-m-p-on-14-may-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-bhadra-tiwari-vs-the-state-of-m-p-on-14-may-2010","title":{"rendered":"Ram Bhadra Tiwari vs The State Of M.P on 14 May, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Madhya Pradesh High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Ram Bhadra Tiwari vs The State Of M.P on 14 May, 2010<\/div>\n<pre>                                               1\n\n                                                                                         AFR\n                       HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH\n                         PRINCIPAL SEAT AT JABALPUR\n\n                                    DIVISION BENCH\n\n                           Criminal Appeal No. 744\/2002\n\n                            1. Ram Bhadra Tiwari, aged about\n                               24 years, son of Shri Sukhdeo\n                               Prasad      Tiwari,  Occupation\n                               Agriculturist.\n                            2. Deowati, w\/o Shri Sukhdeo\n                               Prasad Tiwari, aged about 65\n                               years, Occupation Agriculturist.\n\n                                Both are residents of village\n                                Bharphandiya, Police Station\n                                Dhanpuri, district Shahdol (MP).\n\n                                                Versus\n\n                               The State of Madhya Pradesh\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nFor the Appellant:               Shri Akhil Singh and Shri Praveen Dubey, Advocates\nFor the Respondent:              Shri J.K. Jain, Dy. Advocate General.\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nPRESENT:\n                HONOURABLE SHRI JUSTICE RAKESH SAKSENA\n                HONOURABLE SHRI JUSTICE N.K. GUPTA\n------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nDate of hearing:                  06\/05\/2010\nDate of Judgment:                 14\/05\/2010\n\n                                     JUDGMENT\n<\/pre>\n<p>Per: Rakesh Saksena, J.\n<\/p>\n<p>        Appellants have filed this appeal against the judgment dated 3.5.2002,<\/p>\n<p>passed by Special &amp; Additional Sessions Judge, Shahdol, in Sessions Trial<\/p>\n<p>No.179\/2001, convicting them under Sections 302\/34, 304-B\/34 and 498-A of<\/p>\n<p>the Indian Penal Code and sentencing them to imprisonment for life, rigorous<\/p>\n<p>imprisonment for 10 years and rigorous imprisonment for 2 years with fine of<\/p>\n<p>Rs.500\/-, on each count respectively.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.      Facts, as alleged by the prosecution, are that Sonika, the deceased, was<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                      2<\/span><\/p>\n<p>married to appellant Ram Bhadra on 4th June 1997. Appellant Deowati was the<\/p>\n<p>mother-in-law of Sonika. After marriage, Sonika went to her nuptial house and<\/p>\n<p>kept on visiting her mother&#8217;s house. After sometime, she complained about<\/p>\n<p>harassment meted out to her by her husband and mother-in-law for not<\/p>\n<p>bringing a scooter in dowry. On 3.6.2001, at about 5.15 in the morning, Vidya<\/p>\n<p>Sagar (PW-1), brother of Sonika, received information on telephone that<\/p>\n<p>Sonika had died. Vidya Sagar alongwith his elder brother Rajaram Pathak went<\/p>\n<p>to village Garfandia where accused resided and saw the dead body of Sonika<\/p>\n<p>lying in the courtyard of their house. There were injuries on her face. None<\/p>\n<p>disclosed to them how Sonika died. On the same day, at about 8.30 a.m.,<\/p>\n<p>Vidya Sagar (PW-1) lodged a report with Police Dhanpuri. Sub Inspector M.S.<\/p>\n<p>Karchuli (PW-11) registered a Murg (Ex.P\/1). Police, in the presence of<\/p>\n<p>Executive Magistrate, Jaithpur, conducted the inquest of the dead body and<\/p>\n<p>prepared memorandum (Ex.P\/3). Executive Magistrate sent the dead body to<\/p>\n<p>community Health Centre, Dhanpuri for postmortem examination. Dr.<\/p>\n<p>K.K.Gautam (PW-5) alongwith Dr. B.N. Sharma and Dr. Richa Gupta conducted<\/p>\n<p>postmortem examination at about 5.00 p.m. on the same day. He found that<\/p>\n<p>deceased was carrying pregnancy of 32 to 36 weeks. She had injuries on her<\/p>\n<p>face. There was bleeding from her nose and mouth. The injuries found on the<\/p>\n<p>body of the deceased were ante mortem in nature and were caused within 24<\/p>\n<p>hours of the postmortem examination. Postmortem examination reports are<\/p>\n<p>Ex.P\/9-A and Ex.P\/10.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.    In the course of investigation, investigating officer prepared the spot<\/p>\n<p>map, arrested the accused persons and at the instance of accused Ram Bhadra<\/p>\n<p>on 7.6.2001 seized a stone and a &#8216;Danda&#8217; kept under his cot. In the Murg<\/p>\n<p>enquiry, it was revealed that accused persons subjected the deceased to<\/p>\n<p>cruelty for not meeting the demand of a scooter in dowry and that on some<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                            3<\/span><\/p>\n<p>dispute, on not allowing her to go to her parents&#8217; house, assaulted her, as a<\/p>\n<p>result of which she died.\n<\/p>\n<p>4.     After investigation, charge sheet was filed in the Court of Judicial<\/p>\n<p>Magistrate First Class, Budhar and the case was committed for trial to the<\/p>\n<p>Court of Sessions, Shahdol.\n<\/p>\n<p>5.     On charges being framed, accused abjured their guilt and stated that<\/p>\n<p>witnesses spoke false against them due to enmity. They were falsely<\/p>\n<p>implicated. No evidence in their defence was adduced.\n<\/p>\n<p>6.     Relying on the evidence of Vidya Sagar (PW-1), Pushpa Pathak (PW-2),<\/p>\n<p>Kalpana (PW-3), Hirawati (PW-6), Chintamani Yadav (PW-7), Suryakant Tiwari<\/p>\n<p>(PW-8), Rajnikant (PW-12), Dr. K.K. Gautam (PW-5) and the Investigating<\/p>\n<p>Officer M.S. Karchuli (PW-11), learned trial judge held accused persons guilty<\/p>\n<p>and convicted and sentenced them as mentioned above.\n<\/p>\n<p>7.     We have heard the learned counsel for the parties.\n<\/p>\n<p>8.     Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that it was not established<\/p>\n<p>by the prosecution evidence that the deceased met with a homicidal death.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, she had fallen down from the staircase and contracted<\/p>\n<p>injuries, which resulted into her death.\n<\/p>\n<p>9.     On perusal of the evidence of Dr. K.K. Gautam (PW-5), it is revealed<\/p>\n<p>that on postmortem examination of the dead body of the deceased he found<\/p>\n<p>following injuries:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>       (1)    Haematoma on left side forehead with black eye left in<br \/>\n       area of 10 cms x 12.5 cms.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>       (2)    Multiple abrasions over both cheeks, chin with clotted dark<br \/>\n       red blood.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>       (3)    Fracture of clavicle bone, left lateral with dislocation of left<br \/>\n       shoulder.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>       (4)    Abrasion at left forearm near wrist .4 cm x 1 cm.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                           4<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>      On dissection-       Dark tan clotted blood under haematoma.<br \/>\n      Brain tissue left frontal injured, sub dural clotted blood at middle<br \/>\n      and left side frontal cranial cavity. Heart right full, lung<br \/>\n      congested. Fracture of left clavicle and lateral with collection of<br \/>\n      blood.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      32-36 weeks&#8217; size, full term female child found cynosed in uterus.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      In the opinion of doctor, the injuries were ante mortem in nature.<br \/>\n      Head injury was caused by hard and blunt object within 24 hours.<br \/>\n      Cause of death was coma due to anti mortem head injury.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      Cause of death of foetus was anorexia due to cessation of blood<br \/>\n      supply.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      The head injury of the deceased was sufficient in ordinary course<br \/>\n      of nature to cause her death.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In cross examination, Dr. K.K. Gautam (PW-5) admitted that injuries found on<\/p>\n<p>the body of deceased might have been accidental if she struck against some<\/p>\n<p>stone or fallen down from stairs.\n<\/p>\n<p>10.   It is true that Dr. K.K. Gautam (PW-5) did not specifically state that the<\/p>\n<p>injuries found on the body of the deceased were homicidal in nature and<\/p>\n<p>expressed the possibility of them being caused in an accident, but, in our<\/p>\n<p>opinion, it can be gathered from the nature of injuries that they could be<\/p>\n<p>homicidal also. Since doctor is not an eyewitness, for establishment of the fact<\/p>\n<p>that the injuries were homicidal or accidental in nature, appreciation of the<\/p>\n<p>surrounding circumstances is essential.\n<\/p>\n<p>11.   In the statement of accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal<\/p>\n<p>Procedure, none of the accused stated that the deceased had fallen down from<\/p>\n<p>any staircase. It was not even reflected from the spot map (Ex.P\/21) drawn<\/p>\n<p>by Inspector M.S. Karchuli (PW-11) that there had been any staircase in the<\/p>\n<p>courtyard. On the contrary, it was revealed from the spot map that the house<\/p>\n<p>where the incident took place was a &#8216;Kachcha&#8217; house having roof of earthen<\/p>\n<p>tiles (Khaprel). There was nothing on record to indicate that the house of the<\/p>\n<p>appellants was a double storeyed house.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">                                          5<\/span><\/p>\n<p>12.   Suryakant (PW-8) and Rajnikant (PW-12) though in cross-examination<\/p>\n<p>admitted that they heard in village that deceased had died by a fall from the<\/p>\n<p>staircase, but they did not disclose from whom they heard it.              They were<\/p>\n<p>declared hostile. Thus, in the absence of any evidence on record to the effect<\/p>\n<p>that deceased fell from stairs coupled with the statement of accused wherein<\/p>\n<p>they did not say that deceased fell from stairs, it cannot be held that the<\/p>\n<p>deceased suffered injuries by an accidental fall. Therefore, the natural corollary<\/p>\n<p>is that the injuries and the death of deceased were homicidal in nature.<\/p>\n<p>13.   <a href=\"\/doc\/845834\/\">In Trimukh Maroti Kirkan vs. State of Maharashtra-<\/a>(2006) 10<\/p>\n<p>SCC 681 the Apex Court observed that:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>           If an offence takes place inside the privacy of a house<br \/>\n           and in such circumstances where the assailants have all<br \/>\n           the opportunity to plan and commit the offence at the<br \/>\n           time and in circumstances of their choice, it would be<br \/>\n           extremely difficult for the prosecution to lead evidence<br \/>\n           to establish the guilt of the accused if the strict principle<br \/>\n           of circumstantial evidence is insisted upon by the courts.<br \/>\n           A judge does not preside over a criminal trial merely to<br \/>\n           see that no innocent man is punished. A judge also<br \/>\n           presides to see that a guilty man does not escape. The<br \/>\n           law does not enjoin a duty on the prosecution to lead<br \/>\n           evidence of such character which is almost impossible to<br \/>\n           be led or at any rate extremely difficult to be<br \/>\n           led&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.Where an offence like murder is committed in<br \/>\n           secrecy inside a house, the initial burden to establish the<br \/>\n           case would undoubtedly be upon the prosecution, but<br \/>\n           the nature and amount of evidence to be led by it to<br \/>\n           establish the charge cannot be of the same degree as is<br \/>\n           required in other cases of circumstantial evidence. The<br \/>\n           burden would be of a comparatively lighter character. In<br \/>\n           view of Section 106 of the Evidence Act there will be a<br \/>\n           corresponding burden on the inmates of the house to<br \/>\n           give a cogent explanation as to how the crime was<br \/>\n           committed. The inmates of the house cannot get away<br \/>\n           by simply keeping quiet and offering no explanation on<br \/>\n           the supposed premise that the burden to establish its<br \/>\n           case lies entirely upon the prosecution and there is no<br \/>\n           duty at all on an accused to offer any<br \/>\n           explanation&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;Where an accused is alleged to have<br \/>\n           committed the murder of his wife and the prosecution<br \/>\n           succeeds in leading evidence to show that shortly before<br \/>\n           the commission of crime they were seen together or the<br \/>\n           offence takes place in the dwelling home where the<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                        6<\/span><\/p>\n<p>          husband also normally resided, it has been consistently<br \/>\n          held that if the accused does not offer any explanation<br \/>\n          how the wife received injuries or offers an explanation<br \/>\n          which is found to be false, it is a strong circumstances<br \/>\n          which indicates that he is responsible for commission of<br \/>\n          the time.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>14.   Now, the question before us is whether on the basis of facts brought on<\/p>\n<p>record, the husband of the deceased viz. Ram Bhadra only or both the accused<\/p>\n<p>would be liable for causing injuries to deceased. The indication given by the<\/p>\n<p>Apex Court in Trimukh Maroti (supra) appears to be that where an accused<\/p>\n<p>is alleged to have committed murder of his wife and prosecution succeeds in<\/p>\n<p>leading evidence to show that shortly before commission of crime they were<\/p>\n<p>together in the dwelling home, it has to be held that if accused husband does<\/p>\n<p>not offer any explanation, how the wife received injuries or offers a false<\/p>\n<p>explanation, it would be a strong circumstance indicating that he is responsible<\/p>\n<p>for commission of the crime. Thus, it appears to indicate the responsibility of<\/p>\n<p>the husband only and not of other members of the family except where there<\/p>\n<p>is clear evidence of their involvement. In the opinion of doctor, the cause of<\/p>\n<p>death of deceased was coma due to ante mortem head injury. The head injury<\/p>\n<p>was a haematoma on the left side of forehead with black left eye. On the<\/p>\n<p>basis of the evidence adduced in the case, it is not possible for us to hold all<\/p>\n<p>the persons in the house including Deowati liable for causing injuries to<\/p>\n<p>deceased in view of the ratio of Trimukh Maroti (supra). However, it can<\/p>\n<p>safely be held that the injury was caused by accused Ram Bhadra as his<\/p>\n<p>presence in the house stood established by the evidence of Rajnikant (PW-12).<\/p>\n<p>Rajnikant, though did not toe the line of prosecution, but he stated that after<\/p>\n<p>return from the house of Ganga Singh in the night, Ram Bhadra went to his<\/p>\n<p>house. Apart from that, from the evidence of Kalpana (PW-3) also, the<\/p>\n<p>presence of Ram Bhadra in the house is clearly established. It is true that<\/p>\n<p>circumstances give rise to suspicion against appellant Deowati also, but the<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       7<\/span><\/p>\n<p>suspicion howsoever great; cannot take place of proof. Merely a single stray<\/p>\n<p>line appearing in the evidence of Kalpana (PW-3), a child witness of 8 years,<\/p>\n<p>that Deowati grappled with the deceased cannot be accepted because of it<\/p>\n<p>being merely a suggestion by the prosecution to which she innocently yielded.<\/p>\n<p>15.   In these circumstances, we are of the definite view that it has been<\/p>\n<p>satisfactorily established by the prosecution evidence that it was only accused<\/p>\n<p>Ram Bhadra, who caused the death of deceased. The evidence however does<\/p>\n<p>not appear to us sufficient against accused Deowati to hold her guilty under<\/p>\n<p>Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. As such she deserves to be acquitted.<\/p>\n<p>16.   Learned counsel for the appellant strenuously urged that the conviction<\/p>\n<p>of accused Ram Bhadra under Section 302 IPC is not justified as the origin or<\/p>\n<p>the genesis of the occurrence, which resulted into the death of deceased, has<\/p>\n<p>not been proved.    It is true that no evidence has been adduced by the<\/p>\n<p>prosecution to indicate, under what circumstances injuries were caused to<\/p>\n<p>deceased. There was only one injury on the forehead, which was the cause of<\/p>\n<p>death. There were some abrasions on the cheek and chin and a fracture of<\/p>\n<p>clavicle bone of the shoulder. It can, therefore, be inferred that there must<\/p>\n<p>have been a scuffle between deceased and the accused. Since accused did not<\/p>\n<p>offer any explanation for that, and there is no evidence on record from which<\/p>\n<p>the exact situation under which the incident occurred can be gathered, this<\/p>\n<p>Court is left with the option only to conjecture the probabilities.   It is also<\/p>\n<p>significant to note that at the time of death the deceased was carrying<\/p>\n<p>pregnancy of 32-36 weeks. There was a full term foetus in her womb.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, it does not stand to reason that her husband would take up in his<\/p>\n<p>mind to deliberately kill her. The prosecution has tendered no evidence to<\/p>\n<p>establish motive on the part of the accused to kill his wife. In these<\/p>\n<p>circumstances, we are of the definite opinion that the conviction of<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                        8<\/span><\/p>\n<p>accused\/appellant Ram Bhadra under Section 302 IPC is not justified.<\/p>\n<p>However, since the act by which he caused the death of the deceased was<\/p>\n<p>done by him with the intention of causing such bodily injury to deceased as<\/p>\n<p>was likely to cause her death, he is liable to be convicted under Section 304-I<\/p>\n<p>of the Indian Penal Code.\n<\/p>\n<p>17.   As far as conviction of accused\/appellants under Section 304-B and 498-<\/p>\n<p>A of the India Penal Code is concerned, from the evidence of Vidya Sagar<\/p>\n<p>(PW-1) and Pushpa Pathak (PW-2) it stands established that deceased Sonika<\/p>\n<p>was married to accused Ram Bhadra on 4 th June 1997 and she died a homicidal<\/p>\n<p>death in the house of her husband during the intervening night of 2 nd and 3rd<\/p>\n<p>June 2001. Thus, it has been proved that deceased died otherwise then under<\/p>\n<p>normal circumstances in the house of her husband within seven years of her<\/p>\n<p>marriage. The question now remains to be answered is whether soon before<\/p>\n<p>her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any<\/p>\n<p>relative of her husband for, or in connection with any demand of dowry. Vidya<\/p>\n<p>Sagar (PW-1), brother of deceased deposed that whenever deceased came to<\/p>\n<p>his house, she told that her in-laws used to manhandle her and ask her to<\/p>\n<p>bring a scooter. This demand was being made by her husband, mother-in-law<\/p>\n<p>and father-in-law. The evidence of Vidya Sagar (PW-1) finds support from the<\/p>\n<p>evidence of Pushpa Pathak (PW-2), mother of the deceased, who deposed that<\/p>\n<p>for about one year after the marriage of Sonika, her in-laws kept her well, but,<\/p>\n<p>thereafter, whenever she came to her house, she complained that accused<\/p>\n<p>persons made demand of a scooter. There is nothing in the evidence of these<\/p>\n<p>witnesses to indicate that the accused persons caused the death of deceased<\/p>\n<p>for not meeting the demand of dowry. There is also no evidence on record to<\/p>\n<p>indicate that the accused persons harassed or subjected the deceased to<\/p>\n<p>cruelty for or in connection with any demand of dowry soon before her death.<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                       9<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/doc\/1267807\/\">In Kailash vs. State of M.P.<\/a> (2006) 12 SCC 667 the Apex Court, affirming<\/p>\n<p>the law laid down in <a href=\"\/doc\/1263837\/\">Kans Raj vs. State of Punjab and others<\/a> (2000) 5<\/p>\n<p>SCC 207, held:\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>       &#8220;9. <a href=\"\/doc\/1263837\/\">In Kans Raj v. State of Punjab<\/a> a three-Judge Bench of<br \/>\n       this Court dealt with the presumption available in terms of<br \/>\n       Section 113-B of the Evidence Act, 1872 (in short &#8220;the<br \/>\n       Evidence Act&#8221;) and its effect on finding persons guilty in terms<br \/>\n       of Section 304-B IPC. It was noted as follows: (SCC P.217),<br \/>\n       para 9)<\/p>\n<p>            &#8220;9.   The law as it exists now provides that where the<br \/>\n            death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury<br \/>\n            or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances<br \/>\n            within 7 years of marriage and it is shown that soon<br \/>\n            before her death she was subjected to cruelty or<br \/>\n            harassment by her husband or any relative for or in<br \/>\n            connection with any demand of dowry such death shall<br \/>\n            be punishable under Section 304-B. In order to seek a<br \/>\n            conviction against a person for the offence of dowry<br \/>\n            death, the prosecution is obliged to prove that:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                          (a) the death of a woman was caused by<br \/>\n                   burns or bodily injury or had occurred otherwise<br \/>\n                   than under normal circumstances;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                          (b) such death should have occurred within<br \/>\n                   7 years of her marriage;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                          (c) the deceased was subjected to cruelty<br \/>\n                   or harassment by her husband or by any relative<br \/>\n                   of her husband;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                          (d) such cruelty or harassment should be<br \/>\n                   for or in connection with the demand of dowry;<br \/>\n                   and\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                          (e) to such cruelty or harassment the<br \/>\n                   deceased should have been subjected soon before<br \/>\n                   her death.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>        10. No presumption under Section 113-B of the Evidence Act<br \/>\n        would be drawn against the accused if it is shown that after<br \/>\n        the alleged demand, cruelty or harassment the dispute stood<br \/>\n        resolved and there was no evidence of cruelty or harassment<br \/>\n        thereafter. Mere lapse of some time by itself would not<br \/>\n        provide to an accused a defence, if the course of conduct<br \/>\n        relating to cruelty or harassment in connection with the dowry<br \/>\n        demand is shown to have existed earlier in time not too late<br \/>\n        and not too stale before the date of death of the victim. This<br \/>\n        is so because the expression used in the relevant provision is<br \/>\n        &#8220;soon before&#8221;. The expression is a relative term which is<br \/>\n        required to be considered under specific circumstances of<br \/>\n        each case and no straitjacket formula can be laid down by<br \/>\n        fixing any time-limit. The expression is pregnant with the idea<br \/>\n        of proximity test. It cannot be said that the term &#8220;soon<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                        10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>         before&#8221; is synonymous with the term &#8220;immediately before&#8221;.<br \/>\n         This is because of what is stated in Section 114 Illustration\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>         (a) of the Evidence Act. The determination of the period<br \/>\n         which can come within the term &#8220;soon before&#8221; is left to be<br \/>\n         determined by the courts, depending upon the facts and<br \/>\n         circumstances of each case. Suffice, however, to indicate that<br \/>\n         the expression &#8220;soon before&#8221; would normally imply that the<br \/>\n         interval should not be much between the cruelty or<br \/>\n         harassment concerned and the death in question. There must<br \/>\n         be existence of proximate and live link (see <a href=\"\/doc\/1949931\/\">Hira Lal v. State<br \/>\n         (Govt. of NCT), Delhi-<\/a>(2003) 8 SCC 80.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>18.   On examining the factual position in the present case in the light of<\/p>\n<p>above proposition of law, we find that prosecution failed to establish that death<\/p>\n<p>of the deceased was caused in connection with demand for dowry that too<\/p>\n<p>soon before the death of deceased. Since, no nexus could be established by<\/p>\n<p>the prosecution evidence between demand of scooter and the death of<\/p>\n<p>deceased, the provision relating to presumption under Section 113-B can also<\/p>\n<p>be not made applicable. As such the conviction of accused persons under<\/p>\n<p>Section 304-B of Indian Penal Code cannot be sustained. However, from the<\/p>\n<p>evidence of Vidya Sagar (PW-1) and Pushpa Pathak (PW-2) it can be gathered<\/p>\n<p>that after the marriage, both the accused persons had harassed and subjected<\/p>\n<p>Sonika to cruelty to meet their unlawful demand of a scooter. Therefore, their<\/p>\n<p>conviction by the trial Court under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code<\/p>\n<p>deserves to be affirmed.\n<\/p>\n<p>19.   In view of the above discussion, conviction and sentence of both the<\/p>\n<p>appellants under Section 302\/34 of the Indian Penal Code is set aside.<\/p>\n<p>Appellant No.1 Ram Bhadra is, however, convicted under Section 304-I of the<\/p>\n<p>Indian Penal Code and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.<\/p>\n<p>Conviction of both the appellants under Section 304-B\/34 of the Indian Penal<\/p>\n<p>Code is set aside. They are acquitted of that charge. Conviction of both the<\/p>\n<p>appellants under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code is affirmed. However,<\/p>\n<p>in view of the old age of appellant No.2 Deowati, who must be of around 70<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                               11<\/span><\/p>\n<p>         years of age now, and long lapse of time after the incident, sentence of both<\/p>\n<p>         the appellants on that count is reduced from 2 years to rigorous imprisonment<\/p>\n<p>         for six months only. It has been pointed out that appellant No.2 Deowati has<\/p>\n<p>         already suffered custody for a period of six months, therefore, she need not<\/p>\n<p>         surrender.\n<\/p>\n<p>         20.   Appeal partly allowed.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<pre>          (RAKESH SAKSENA)                                         (N.K. GUPTA)\n               JUDGE                                                  JUDGE\n\n\n\n\nshukla\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">                                    12<\/span>\n\n                HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH\n                  PRINCIPAL SEAT AT JABALPUR\n\n                   Criminal Appeal No. 744\/2002\n\n                       Ram Bhadra Tiwari &amp; Anr\n\n                                  Versus\n\n                      The State of Madhya Pradesh\n\n\n\n                           JUDGMENT\n\n\n                                           For consideration\n\n\n\n                                           (Rakesh Saksena)\n                                                  JUDGE\n                                                __\/05\/2010\n\n\n\n\nHon'ble Shri Justice N.K. Gupta\n\n\n\n          JUDGE\n        __\/05\/2010\n\n\n\n                                           POST FOR    \/05\/2010\n\n\n\n\n                                              (Rakesh Saksena)\n                                                   Judge\n                                                ___\/05\/2010\n <\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madhya Pradesh High Court Ram Bhadra Tiwari vs The State Of M.P on 14 May, 2010 1 AFR HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH PRINCIPAL SEAT AT JABALPUR DIVISION BENCH Criminal Appeal No. 744\/2002 1. Ram Bhadra Tiwari, aged about 24 years, son of Shri Sukhdeo Prasad Tiwari, Occupation Agriculturist. 2. Deowati, w\/o Shri Sukhdeo Prasad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-madhya-pradesh-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ram Bhadra Tiwari vs The State Of M.P on 14 May, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/ram-bhadra-tiwari-vs-the-state-of-m-p-on-14-may-2010\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ram Bhadra Tiwari vs The State Of M.P on 14 May, 2010 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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