Sarjerao S/O. Vithoba Harde vs The State Of Maharashtra
2021 Latest Caselaw 4171 Bom

                                                                                4-CrA-543-21.odt


               IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                          BENCH AT AURANGABAD

                     CRIMINAL APPLICATION NO.543 OF 2021
                      IN CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.816 OF 2019

                       SARJERAO S/O. VITHOBA HARDE
                                   VERSUS
                        THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
                                       ...
               Advocate for Applicant : Shri Narayan B. Narwade
               APP for Respondent - State : Shri R. V. Dasalkar
                                       ...


                                    CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE AND
                                            B. U. DEBADWAR, JJ.

                                    DATE     : 08TH MARCH, 2021

PER COURT :


1.                 The      applicant      herein     has     preferred        this     second

application praying for suspension of the substantive sentence and

for being enlarged on bail. He has been convicted by the judgment

dated 14-08-2019, delivered by the learned trial Court in Sessions

Case No.292 of 2013, vide which he has been held guilty of

committing an offence of murdering his daughter-in-law and is,

therefore, sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life. He has also

been sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for two years under

Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code. Both the sentences are to

run concurrently.

2. The learned advocate for the applicant fairly submits

that both the convicts, who are father and son duo, had moved

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Criminal Application No.2753 of 2019 for seeking suspension of

substantive sentence and for being enlarged on bail. Vide order

dated 25-11-2019, the said application was rejected. Both

approached the Hon'ble Apex Court and by order dated

24-02-2020, the Special Leave Petition, filed by these two convicts,

has been dismissed. The Hon'ble Apex Court, however, granted

liberty to the convicts to renew their application for substantive

sentence after one year.

3. The learned advocate for the applicant, who is a 70 year

old convict, frankly submits that though there are no change in

circumstances, this application has been filed as the applicant is 70

years of age and is already behind bars since 2013. He was refused

bail as an under trial and the time spent by him in jail as an under

trial, has been set off under Section 433-A of the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973.

4. The learned advocate has strenuously canvased this

application and has drawn our attention to the appeal paper-book.

We have perused the impugned judgment threadbare. We have

also perused the testimonies of the witnesses examined by the

prosecution.

5. It is quite obvious from the evidence available before

the trial Court, which has been analysed in the impugned judgment,

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that the present applicant, who is father of accused No.1, has been

held guilty of committing the crime of murdering the daughter-in-

law. On the date of the incident, 6 th July, 2013, at around 05:15

p.m. accused No.1 Govind informed his parents-in-law that his wife

was missing since 04:00 a.m. and they are unable to trace her. The

relatives of his wife, from the parents side, immediately proceeded

to the village where the deceased was residing with her husband in

her marital home. They found blood stains in the front courtyard

(Varanda) of the marital home of the deceased and her clothes like

petticoat, etc., found at that place, were also having blood stains.

Naturally, on account of serious suspicion, the father of the

deceased requested the villagers to take search of the missing

daughter and ultimately, within a few hours, the dead body of the

deceased was found in a well. An insecticide viz. Endosulfan of

about half liter quantity was found near the well in which the dead

body of the deceased was located.

6. It has come in the evidence before the trial Court that

there were, in all four family members, inclusive of the deceased,

residing together. The applicant herein and the husband of the

deceased, have been convicted for the murder of the deceased.

The mother-in-law of the deceased, accused No.3 was acquitted as

the trial Court did not find that the prosecution has proved the

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offence against her. After considering the entire evidence before

the trial Court, it was concluded that the prosecution has

established the following circumstances :

a) There were blood stains on the floor of the front room, the

middle room and the Varanda.

b) The C.A. report established that the blood (stains) was of

human origin.

c) The clothes of the present applicant and the husband

Govind were seized, as they were found to have blood

stains. The C.A. report also indicates that those blood

stains were human blood.

d) The wooden log having blood stains was seized from the

room which is adjacent to the house of the accused, at the

instance of the husband Govind. The blood stains on the

said wooden log were also found to be of human origin.

e) It is not the case of the accused that the blood was

planted by the prosecution.

f) A deep head injury was found on the occipital region which

was ante-mortem.

g) The cause of death was mentioned by the Autopsy

Surgeon as being 'due to Endosulfan poisoning'. The said

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doctor ruled out that the deceased may have died due to

drowning.

h) The blood stains found in the three parts of the house, on

the clothes of the deceased, on the clothes of the accused,

on the injury on the occipital region of the head of the

deceased and on the wooden log, as well as, the death

due to consumption of Endosulfan poison, would establish

that the two accused had earlier clobbered the deceased

and the death occurred due to poisoning.

i) The bottle of poison was systematically placed on the

parapet wall of the well to create a make believe picture

that the deceased consumed poison, kept the poison

bottle on the edge of the well and then jumped inside the

well. If that would have been so, the death would not

have occurred due to consumption of poison and would

have occurred due to drowning. Consumption of poison

and jumping into the well simultaneously would not allow

the effect of poison, so as to kill the deceased instantly

before she could jump into the well.

j) It was, therefore, circumstantially proved that the body of

the victim was dragged from her house upto the well and

dumped into the well, which also establishes that the

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deceased was initially beaten up and then administered

poison. She was thrown into the well to create a scene of

suicide.

7. Considering the barbaric way in which the deceased was

made to face death, does not convince us a bit to suspend the

substantive sentence, merely because the applicant is a 70 years

old man. In view of the above, this application, being devoid of

merit, is therefore, rejected.

(B. U. DEBADWAR, J.) (RAVINDRA V. GHUGE, J.)

SVH

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