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PETITIONER: VASANT NARAYAN PAWAR

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

DATE OF JUDGMENT19/12/1979

BENCH: KRISHNAIYER, V.R. BENCH: KRISHNAIYER, V.R. PATHAK, R.S.

CITATION:  1980 AIR 1270            1980 SCR  (2)1209

ACT:      Dying declaration-Relevancy-Even  though  the  deceased has been  set fire  to her husband, while making a statement she pleads  that her  husbands should  not be beaten-Whether such a  request could  be converted  into one exculpative of the accused-Section 32 of the Evidence Act.

HEADNOTE:      Dismissing the special leave petition, the Court ^      HELD: The  statement by the dying tragic woman that her husband should  not be  beaten, even  though she  was  dying having been  burnt, cannot be converted into one exculpative of the  accused. This  is a sentiment too touching for tears and stems  from the  values of  the culture  of  the  Indian womanhood. [1210A-B] Observation:      Police  sensitisation  mechanisms  which  will  prevent commission of  crimes like  wife burning  must be  set up if these horrendous crimes are to be avoided. Likewise, special provisions facilitating  easier proof  of such special class of murders  on establishing  certain  basic  facts  must  be provided for  by appropriate  legislation. Law  must rise to the  challenge  of  shocking  criminology,  especially  when helpless women are the victims and the crime is committed in the secrecy of the husband’s home. [1210C-E]

JUDGMENT:      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 2636 of 1979.      From the  Judgment and  Order dated  25-4-1979  of  the Bombay High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 822/77.      Pramod Swarup (Amicus Curiae) for the Petitioner.      H. R. Khanna and M. N. Shroff for the Respondent.      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by      KRISHNA IYER, J.-Shri Pramod Swarup appearing as amicus curiae has  presented the case of the accused as effectively as the  record permits. Indeed, he has gone to the extent of pressing into  service points  which do  not appear to us to have any  force. Moreover,  he has  tried to  persuade us to believe that  a dying  declaration made  by the lady who was

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burnt to  death by the husband-accused-that is the charge on which the  trial court  and the  High Court  have found  the petitioner guilty-is  exonerative of the accused-husband and does not  implicate him  as the  Court  has  construed.  The declarant as she was dying was 1210 conscious enough  to make  a statement  and in  one  of  the several statements  she made, it would appear, she said when her husband  was being  beaten up  that even  though she had been burnt,  her husband  should not  be beaten.  This is  a sentiment too  touching for  tears and stems from the values of the  culture of the Indian womanhood. A wife when she has been set fire to by her husband, true to her tradition, does not want  her husband  to be  assaulted brutally. It is this sentiment which prompted this dying tragic woman to say that even if  she was dying having been burnt, her husband should not  be  beaten.  We  are  unable  to  appreciate  how  this statement can  be converted  into  one  exculpative  of  the accused. Anyway,  we are mentioning these facts only because Shri  Pramod   Swarup  contended   that  they  were  weighty circumstances sufficient to cancel the conviction.      Wife burning  tragedies are  becoming too  frequent for the  country   to  be   complacent.   Police   sensitisation mechanisms which  will prevent the commission of such crimes must be set up if these horrendous crimes are to be avoided. Likewise, special  provisions facilitating  easier proof  of such special  class of murders on establishing certain basic facts must  be provided  for by appropriate legislation. Law must  rise   to  the   challenge  of  shocking  criminology, especially when helpless women are the victims and the crime is committed  in the  secrecy of the husband’s home. We hope the State’s concern for the weaker sections of the community will be  activised into appropriate machinery and procedure. We dismiss the special leave petition. S.R.                                     Petition dismissed.

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