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PETITIONER: MANGAT RAI

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: STATE OF PUNJAB

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       09/07/1997

BENCH: M. M. PUNCHHI, S. B. MAJMUDAR

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                       J U D G M E N T S.B. Majmudar, J.      The appellant who was convicted by the Trial  Court for murder for  his wife  unsuccessfully carried  the matter  in appeal before the High Court having lost there has landed in this Court  by way  of this  appeal by  special leave. A few relevant facts  leading to  these proceedings  deserve to be noted at the outset.      Introductory Facts      The  appellant   is  a  practising  doctor  having  two clinics, one is at Village Pakhopura in Amritsar District in State of  Punjab. That  clinic is  run  as  a  part  of  his residential house  where his  wife Madhu  Bala aged 24 years met a  tragic end.  His other  clinic is  at Village  Ratoke situated at  a distance  of about  one  kilometre  from  his residential house.  The appellant  was married  to aforesaid Madhu Bala  about one  and a half year prior to the incident that took  place on  04th September  1985. The  case of  the prosecution is  that after his marriage with said Madhu Bala neither the  appellant nor his mother got satisfied with the dowry which  she  brought  and  they  continuously  went  on complaining about  its insufficiency.  On that  account they used to  ill-treat. About  four and a half months earlier to the date  of the  incident Madhu  Bala relations  about ill- treatment and  the demand for T.V. set, a refrigerator and a scooter and also about their complaining that Madhu Bala had not been presented with a watch by per parents. The evidence led by the prosecution at the stage of the trial showed that P.W. 4  Brij Bhushan  brother of  Madhu Bala  accompanied by this maternal-uncle  Roshan Lal and Des Raj who had acted as a go-between  for getting  the appellant  married  to  Madhu Bala, contacted the appellant-accused and the other accused, his mother  Indra Wati, who is acquitted by the Trial court, and talked  to them  and informed  them that  they could not meet the  demand as  they were  poor and  accused should not ill-treat Madhu  Bala on  that score.  The prosecution  case further is  that  the  accused  confessed  their  quilt  and promised not  to repeat  such demands  in  future  and  also promised not  to ill-treat Madhu Bala. In the meantime Madhu Bala gave  birth to  a son.  That happened  about two months

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prior to  the date  of the  incident. An intimation was sent about the birth of the child to the appellant but he did not visit the  house of his  in-law. About 16-17 days before the occurrence  Madhu   Bala’s  mother-in-law  Indra  Wati,  the acquitted accused,  visited the  house of  parents of  Madhu Bala to  take her  back. While taking her back she expressed dissatisfaction about  the customary  presents made  to  the child and  remarked, addressing Madhu Bala, that her parents has not  given her anything at the time of marriage and even after the birth of the son she was going empty-handed.      Now came  the date  of the  occurrence, that is, 04 the September 1985  on which  day Madhu  Bala met  and unnatural death at  the residential house of the accused, her husband. Intimation about  the same  was conveyed  on 05th  September 1985, that  is on  the next  day, to  the relations of Madhu Bala about her death. They started for village Pakhopura and on reaching  Sirhali, on  way to  Pakhopura,  they  received information that  dead body  of Madhu  Bala had already been removed to  Tarn Taran.  They then  visited the  hospital at Tarn Taran  where they felt that the post-mortem examination as Tarn Taran might not be fair. An application was moved by them to Sub-Division Magistrate for carrying out post-mortem examination by  doctors at  Amritsar. Under direction of the Sub-Divisional  Magistrate,   therefore,   post-mortem   was carried out  by a  Board of Doctors at Amritsar. P.W. 4 Brij Bhushan gave  his statement to the police authorities on the basis of which First Information Report was recorded and the case was registered against the appellant and his mother.      Previous to the registration of the said case appellant accompanied by  Sarpanch Sohan  Singh  had  already  visited Police Station  Chola Sahib  and had lodged Report No. 18 on the night  of 04th  September  1985 itself alleging that his wife  had   committed  suicide   by  hanging  herself.  When Assistant Sub-Inspector  Balbir Singh  visited the  place of incident pursuant  to the  aforesaid report by the appellant he found  the dead body of Madhu Bala hanging with ‘dupatta’ around and  the neck  and her  legs were tied to the foot of the cot.  Usual steps towards investigation were undertaken. Post-mortem examination  on the  dead body of Madhu Bala was carried out  by a Board of Doctors consisting of Dr. Jagdish Gargi. P.W.  1, Dr.  H. Rai  and Dr. R.K. Goria. Out of them Dr. Gargi  was examined  as P.W.  1. Other were tendered for cross examination.  Dr. Gargi,  P.W. 1  stated that he along with Dr.  H. Rai  and Dr.  R.K. Goria  carried out the post- mortem on  the dead  body of Madhu Bala on 06 September 1985 at 11.15  a.m. He  found that  there was a brownish ligature mark 2  cm broad  encircling the  neck horizontally, sparing the skin  below the  right angle  of the mandible as well as interiorly 4  cm below  the remus  of the  mandible. He also found two further injuries on the dead body as under : 1.   A reddish  brown abrasion  20 x  2 cm on the right side      and front  of the  abdomen, extending horizontally from      the right iliac fossa forward and medially. 2.   Reddish brown  abrasion 0-3  x 0.2  cm on the dorsum of      the right  foot, 3  cm proximal  to the base of the big      toe.      According to  Dr. Gargi the aforesaid two injuries were ante-mortem while ligature mark on the neck was post-mortem.      Viscera of  the deceased  was  preserved  and  sent  to Chemical Examiner  for analysis.  The Skin  removed from the side of  the ligature  mark was  also  preserved  for  being pathologically examined  by the  Professor and  the Head  of Pathology Department, Amritsar. The Chemical Examiner in his report stated that there  was blood alcohol concentration of estimated  322.0   mgms/100  mls   of  blood.   Alcohol  and

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organophosphorus compound  were detected in the viscera. The pathologist  confirmed   that  there   was  no  evidence  of congestion and  inflammatory exudate  in the  section of the skin. On the basis of this report the doctors confirmed that the ligature  mark around the neck of the deceased was post- mortem and  other injuries  were ante-mortem. In the opinion of Dr. Gargi the death was due to organophosphorus poisoning and alcohol.  Dr. Prem Wadhera, P.W. 12 who had examined the piece of  skin taken  out from  the  neck  of  the  deceased confirmed that  the examination  of the skin showed that the ligature mark  at the seat of the skin indicated that it was a post-mortem mark.      In the  light of  this evidence  led at  the trial  the learned Sessions  Judge, to  whom the  case was committed by the  Committal  Court,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the prosecution had  brought home the offence under Section 302. Indian Penal  Code to  the appellant-accused.  But so far as his mother,  accused  no.2  was  concerned,  she  was  given benefit of  doubt. Learned  Trial Judge  rejected the theory propounded by  the defence  that  the  deceased  the  theory propounded by  the defence  that the  deceased had committed suicide and  had got  herself strangulated.  It was  on  the other had found that it was the accused who had administered poison to  the deceased  by mixing it with alcohol which the deceased was  made to  drink and  consequently the appellant was sentenced  to imprisonment  for life.  As noted earlier, the appellant  carried the  matter  in  appeal  without  any success and that i how he is before us in these proceedings. Rival Contentions      Learned senior  counsel for  the  appellant  vehemently submitted that this is a case of circumstantial evidence and the chain  of circumstances  is not  complete. He  submitted that the appellant was at his clinic at the other village at the relevant  time. That  as he  was recently blessed with a male child there was no occasion for him to murder his wife. That on  the contrary the evidence  showed that she was in a depressed state  of  mind  and,  therefore,  there  was  all possibility of her committing suicide by hanging herself. It was  next  contended  that  in  any  case  it  was  for  the prosecution to  bring home  the  charge  of  murder  to  the appellant. That  there  are  varieties  of  organophosphorus compound and  all may  not be  equally lethal.  In any  case there was  no evidence  no record  to show that the trace of organophosphorus compound  detected in  the viscera  of  the deceased was sufficient to prove fatal and in the absence of such evidence  led by  the prosecution  the benefit of doubt must go  to the  accused and  not  to  the  prosecution.  In support of  this  contention  reliance  was  placed  on  two decision of  this Court in the case of Jose alias Kolli Jose v. The  State of  Kerala (1973) 3 SCC 472 at page 474 para 5 and in  the case  of Smt.  Phino v. State of Punjab (1975) 4 SCC 119  at page  122 as well on a decision of the Allahabad High Court  in the case of State v. Fateh Bahadur & Ors. AIR (45) 1958  Allahabad  1  at  para  10  of  the  Report.  He, therefore, submitted  that  the  appellant  deserves  to  be acquitted of the charge of murdering his wife.      On the  other hand  learned counsel  for the respondent submitted that  both the courts below have concurrently held on  appreciation  of  relevant  evidence  that  it  was  the appellant and no one else who could commit the murder of his wife. That  she had  died at  his own residence. That he was having his  other clinic  only one  kilometer away  from his residence and  it was  very easy for him to go to his clinic at the  relevant time  after liquidating  the deceased. That the theory  of suicide by the deceased was patently false as

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the ligature mark was found to be post-mortem by the doctors and it is impossible to even allege that a dead person would hang herself and, therefore, it was a false case tried to be made to  misled the  investigating agency  and precisely for that reason  the appellant  rushed to the police authorities and gave  a wrong  version about  the incident.  That as the appellant resided  with the deceased at the relevant time in his residential house where his wife met her untimely death, the inference  drawn by  both the  courts below  against the appellant that  is was  he and no one else who had committed the murder  of his wife, can be said to be well justified on record of  the case.  That his  earlier conduct of harassing the deceased  an nagging  her in  connection with  the dowry demand, his  conduct of  not even  visiting his in-law house when he was blessed with a son and his subsequent conduct of giving false  version of  the incident before the police and not intimating  the in-laws  on the  date  of  the  incident itself and  subsequently his  absconding from  the place  of occurrence  are   all  pointer   to  his  guilty  mind  and, therefore, his appeal deserves to be dismissed.      We have  given our anxious consideration to these rival contention. Certain  salient features  of the case which are well established on record and which, in our view, project a complete  chain   of  circumstantial  evidence  against  the accused deserve to be noted at this stage - 1.   The death of Madhu Bala had occurred at the residential      house of the appellant. 2.   The appellant  was not  happy with the dowry brought by      Madhu Bala  at the  time of  marriage and had motive to      get rid  of Madhu  Bala  who  instead  of  forcing  her      parents to  give articles  demanded by the accused, had      sent her  relations to prevail upon him to withdraw the      demand and  accused also  had given promise of treating      her properly in future. This aspect of the case is well      established by  the evidence  of P.W.  4 Brij  Bhushan.      Nothing has  been brought  out in his cross-examination      to falsify his version. 3.   A false  version was  given by the appellant before the      police that  Madhu Bala had died by committing suicide.      That  version   is  completely   falsified  by  medical      evidence of Dr. Jagdish Gargi, P.W. 1. Dr. Gargi in his      evidence stated that there is normally trickling of the      saliva from  the angle  of the  mouth of  the  deceased      which  stains  the  cloths  of  the  deceased.  He  had      specifically observed  the cloths  worn by the deceased      in this  case. He found no stains of saliva on the body      of the  deceased. This version could not be effectively      challenged in  the cross-examination of the witness. It      is also  pertinent to  note that  a young  girl  of  24      years, mother  of an  infant of  two and  a half months      having allegedly  taken half  a bottle  of liquor could      not have  remained in sense to hang herself later on by      self-strangulation. The  entire defence  version to say      the least was preposterous and violated all basic norms      of probabilities  and was  an affront  to common sense.      Once the  theory of  suicide is  ruled out it has to be      held that  deceased  died  a  homicidal  death  in  the      residence of  appellant who  himself  is  a  practising      doctor. The  medical evidence  and the  report  of  the      Chemical Examiner clearly show that deceased Madhu Bala      lost  her   life  as  a  result  of  administration  of      organophosphorous compound  mixed with  alcohol. It  is      required to  be noted  that Madhu  Bala who was a young      Brahmin girl  aged 24  and who had recently given birth      to a  mala child  who was two and a half months old, is

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    found to  have consumed  half a  bottle of liquor which      contained the  mixture of  organophosphorous  compound.      The Chemical  Examiner’s Report  showed that  the blood      alcohol concentration was estimated as 322 mgms/100 mls      and, therefore,  on a rough estimate the deceased could      be said  to have consumed about 400 cc of alcohol. Such      type of  dose would  not have been voluntarily taken by      her but would have been administered the dose. 4.   The Chemical Examiner’s Report also shows that once the      organophosphorus compound  along with 400 cc of alcohol      was administered  to the deceased, the concentration of      said compound  went to  such  a  high  degree  that  it      travelled in  the blood  stream and poison was detected      in her  blood sample  no. IV  which was a sealed bottle      containing blood  of the deceased. Thus it could easily      be  seen   that  sufficient   quantity  of  poison  was      administered to the deceased so that it could enter her      blood stream  and result  in  her  death.  Under  these      circumstances it  is not  possible to  agree  with  the      contention of  learned senior counsel for the appellant      that the  prosecution had  failed to  bring home to the      accused the  charge of  having administered  sufficient      quantity of  poison which could prove fatal. In fact it      has proved fatal. 5.   The administration  of poison to the deceased could not      be treated by way of accident or a voluntary act on her      part as she by herself would have no occasion to commit      suicide leaving  her male  son of two and a half months      in the lurch. 6.   It is  also well  established that  the appellant was a      medical practitioner  having  two clinics. Therefore he      had every  facility and  opportunity coupled  with  the      knowledge that  the lethal  dose of  huge  quantity  of      poison which by itself was very pungent was required to      be diluted by mixing it up with alcohol before it could      be administered to anyone. 7.   The two ante-mortem injuries detected by the doctors on      the body of the deceased clearly indicated that she had      resisted before  the in-take  of aforesaid  quantity of      alcohol mixed with poison. In this connection Dr. Gargi      stated that  he could  not rule  out the possibility of      these  injuries  being  result  of  a  scuffle  if  the      deceased resisted  the  administration  of  alcohol  or      organophosphorous compound.  Consequently the aforesaid      circumstance clearly  proved that  death of  Madhu Bala      was result  of administration  of alcohol  and adequate      quantity of  organophosphorous  compound  which  proved      fatal. 8.   The accused   had  created a false  evidence of hanging      by rushing  to the  police on  the same  night  of  the      incident which  obviously was  an attempt to side-track      the investigating  agency. This  was a strong indicator      about  his   guilty   mind.   Furnishing   such   false      information to  the police  about the  cause  of  death      inevitably pointed to his guilt. 9.   His subsequent conduct of not immediately informing his      in-law and relatives of the deceased and his absconding      from the  scene of  offence for  couple of days till he      was ultimately  arrested which conduct though by itself      might  not   be   conclusive,   becomes   a   clinching      circumstance in  the light  of the  aforesaid tell-tale      pre-existing circumstances  well established  on record      and which  clearly point  an  accusing  finger  to  the      appellant and no one else. 10.  In the  household to the appellant apart from his wife,

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    the deceased  and the  co-accused, his  mother  who  is      acquitted, there  was his  younger brother  who  in  no      circumstance could  be alleged  to have  committed this      heinous crime.  By a process of elimination, therefore,      it was appellant-doctor who being dissatisfied with his      in-laws  and   with  his  wife  can  be  said  to  have      liquidated her.      All the  aforesaid circumstances,  therefore,  must  be treated  to   have   represented   a   complete   chain   of circumstantial evidence leading to the inevitable conclusion that it  was the accused and no one else who was responsible for this  heinous crime  which deprived  a young woman of 24 years of  her life at the threshold of existence and also in turn deprived  a two  and a  half months  old infant  of his mother. Consequently  there is no escape from the conclusion that the  prosecution has  brought home  to  the  appellant- accused the  charge of  murdering his  wife beyond shadow of any reasonable doubt.      In the result this appeal fails and is dismissed.