REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1 OF 2006

NANDYALA VENKATARAMANA         ...APPELLANT

Versus

STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH       ...RESPONDENT

O R D E R

HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J.

1. This appeal, by way of special leave, arises out of the  

following facts :

The  deceased,  Bhavani  by  name,  was  married  to  

Nandyala  Venkataramana-Appellant  on  27th April,  1992  

and at the time of marriage, the appellant had been given a  

dowry of Rupees one lakh in cash and other presents as  

well.   On the  night  of  the  marriage  itself,  the  appellant  

demanded some additional costly items from his wife.  After  

the marriage, the deceased resided with her husband and  

in-laws  at  Cuddapah  but  the  four  accused  that  is  the  

appellant, his parents and brother continued to harass her  

for  money  and  other  goods.  A  Panchayath  was  

subsequently held in which the elders were involved and it

was decided that the deceased and her husband would live  

separately  and  that  the  husband  would  seek  a  transfer  

from Cuddapah.  The in-laws, nevertheless, continued to  

harass the deceased and to interfere in their private life.  It  

appears,  however,  that  despite  the  appellant  and  the  

deceased living in a separate house, the demands for dowry  

continued unabated and this information was conveyed by  

the  deceased  to  her  mother,  other  relatives  and  her  

colleagues.  About two days prior to the date of occurrence,  

the deceased visited her mother’s home and told her as to  

the way she was being maltreated.  On the 10th of April,  

1993 at about 8:30 a.m., the deceased committed suicide  

by hanging herself  in the main hall  of  the  house  of  her  

mother leaving behind three dying declarations in the form  

of  letters  Exhibits  P-2  to  P-4.  PW-1  (the  mother  of  the  

deceased) who had gone to the market returned and found  

her daughter hanging from the ceiling fan. The body was  

taken  down  and  was,  thereafter,  subjected  to  a  post-

mortem and it was reported that she had died of asphyxia  

due to hanging.  During the course of the investigation, the  

letters  Exhibits  P-2 to P-4 were referred to a hand-writing  

expert who opined that the English sentences in the letters  

were in the handwriting of the deceased but he could not  

compare  the  Telugu  sentences  for  want  of  admitted  

specimens.

The  husband  A-1,  his  parents  and  brother  were  

accordingly brought to trial for offences punishable under  

Sections 304-B and 498-A of the Indian Penal Code.  The  

Trial Court on a consideration of the evidence convicted the  

appellant  and  his  parents  but  as  the  mother  had  died  

during  the  course  of  the  trial,  no  sentence  could  be  

awarded to her.   The brother  of  the  appellant,  A-4 was,  

however, acquitted.   

The matter was, thereafter, taken in appeal before the  

High  Court  which  too  confirmed  the  conviction  and  

sentence awarded by the Trial Court.

2. This appeal has been filed by A-1 (the husband of the  

deceased).

3. We have  heard  learned counsel  for  the  parties  and  

gone through the  record.   In addition to the evidence of  

PWs.1 to 12 with regard to the repeated demands for dowry  

and  harassment  to  the  deceased,  we  have  three  letters  

Exhibits  P-2 to P-4 written by the deceased shortly before  

her  death  which  speak of  the  harassment  that  she  was  

undergoing.  PW-8, the hand-writing expert to whom the  

letters  had been referred for  the  purpose of  comparison,  

opined that the English sentences in the letters were in the  

handwriting of  the deceased but he could give no report  

with  respect  to  the  Telugu  writings  as  there  were  no

admitted writings of the deceased.  Exhibit P-2 is a letter  

addressed to the Collector.  In this letter, the deceased has  

stated that she had been harassed and demands for dowry  

had been made right from the beginning of the marriage.  

Likewise  Exhibit  P-3 and P-4  refer  to  the  facts  that  she  

continued to be harassed for dowry, cash and other articles  

and that she was feeling frustrated as she was not in a  

position to ask her mother for any more dowry or cash.  We  

are,  therefore,  of  the  opinion  that  the  letters  aforesaid  

clearly inculpate the appellant in the incident.

4. The learned counsel  for the appellant has, however,  

pointed  out  that  there  were  discrepancies  inter  se  the  

statements  of  PW’s-1  to  10,  and as  such their  evidence  

could not be accepted without corroboration.  We find no  

merit in this submission as some discrepancies are bound  

to occur where a large number of witnesses appear for the  

prosecution.   In  this  case,  several  of  the  prosecution  

witnesses were completely independent and we can find no  

reason  to  disbelieve  their  testimonies.   In  any  case,  

corroboration (if any is required), can be found in Exhibits  

P-2 to P-4, which, as per the evidence of PW-8, were in the  

handwriting of the deceased.   

5. We,  thus,  find  no  merit  in  the  appeal.   It  is  

accordingly dismissed.

……………………………..J. (HARJIT SINGH BEDI)

………………………… …..J.

(CHANDRAMAULI KR. PRASAD)

OCTOBER 26, 2010 NEW DELHI.