Bombay High Court
The State Of Maharashtra vs Dipak Dattattaya Thombare on 6 June, 2022
Bench: C.V. Bhadang
2-apeal-1344-06.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1344 OF 2006
The State of Maharashtra ..Appellant
Vs.
Dipak Dattatraya Thombare
Age 49 years,
MAMTA
Digitally signed
by MAMTA
R/o. Subhash Nagar - Koregaon,
Presently residing at Kavathe
AMAR KALE
AMAR Date:
2022.06.06
KALE 14:32:38
+0530 Tal.-Wai, District - Satara. ..Respondent
----
Mr. Y. Y. Dabke, APP for the Appellant / State.
Mr. Hrishikesh Kale i/b. Mr. V. V. Purwant, for the Respondent.
----
CORAM : C.V. BHADANG, J.
RESERVED ON : 23 NOVEMBER 2021
PRONOUNCED ON : 06 JUNE 2022
Judgment :
. By this Appeal, State is challenging the acquittal of the
Respondent, from the offence punishable under Section 498-A, 306
and 504 of IPC.
Mamta Kale page 1 of 11
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2. The prosecution case may be briefly stated thus-
That on 13 March 2004, at about 9.00 a.m. Balutai alias
Vrunda, wife of the Respondent, committed suicide by consuming
poison. According to the prosecution, she was subjected to mental
and physical ill-treatment by the Respondent on account of non-
satisfaction of illegal demand of Rs.1 Lakh from her brother. It is
claimed that from the year 2000, the deceased was subjected to
cruelty on account of non-fulfillment of such demand, which led her
to commit suicide.
3. The incident took place in the Government Quarter at Village
Kavathe. The deceased was working as a midwife. After she was
found to have consumed poison, she was taken to Babar Hospital at
Wai where she expired. Police registered a case of accidental death
and drew an inquest panchanama of the dead body in presence of
the panchas. The dead body was sent for post mortem examination
and it was handed over to her brother Rajendrakumar Salunkhe for
funeral. During the inquiry, P.W.7 Rajendrakumar filed a complaint
on 13 March 2004 in Police Station Bhuinj alleging ill-treatment to
the deceased.
4. The Appellant had married the deceased in the year 1995.
The Respondent was serving as a driver on a private vehicle and
although the deceased was treated well initially, subsequently from
the year 2000 she was subjected to ill-treatment on account of the
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illegal demand. On the basis of the complaint lodged by the
Complainant Rajendrakumar, offence at Crime No.39/2004 came
to be registered with the concerned Police Station and upon
investigation, a chargesheet was filed. The case was committed to
the Court of Sessions and was registered as Sessions Case
No.96/2004.
5. The learned Sessions Judge framed charge against the
Respondent for the aforesaid offence. The Respondent pleaded not
guilty to the charge and claimed to be tried. The defence of the
Respondent is of total denial and false implication.
6. At the trial, the prosecution examined in all nine witnesses and
produced the record of investigation. The Respondent led the
defence evidence of Mr. Nilesh Bhasme (D.W.1) and Mr.
Abhinandan Patil (D.W.2). The learned Sessions Judge by a
judgment and order dated 15 February 2005 has acquitted the
Respondent. Hence, this appeal.
7. I have heard Mr. Y. Y. Dabke, the learned APP for the
Appellant / State and Mr. Hrishikesh Kale, the learned counsel for
the Respondent.
Mamta Kale page 3 of 11
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8. The learned APP for the Appellant submitted that the learned
Sessions Judge was in error in acquitting the Respondent. The
learned APP has taken me through the prosecution evidence and
particularly of P.W.1 and P.W.5 to 7 in order to submit that there is
sufficient evidence to show that the deceased was subjected to
physical and mental cruelty by the Respondent on account of non
satisfaction of the demand of Rs.1 Lakh for purchasing a flat.
Learned APP has taken exception to the manner in which the
evidence of these witnesses has been appreciated. It is submitted
that the learned Sessions Judge was in error in holding that the
evidence of these witnesses is not reliable. In the submission of
learned APP, the evidence of P.W.5 Sunanda, who is the sister of the
deceased, P.W.7 Rajendrakumar, who is the brother of the deceased
and P.W.6 Sunita, who is the sister-in-law of the deceased is
consistent, cogent and reliable on the point of ill-treatment meted
out to the deceased. The learned APP pointed out that even P.W.1
Shivam, who is the son of the Respondent and the deceased has also
supported the prosecution. It is submitted that P.W.1 Shivam has
specifically stated about quarrel having taken place between the
Respondent and the deceased in the night on 12 March 2004, in
which the deceased was assaulted by the Respondent and the
following morning she committed suicide by consuming certain
tablets. It is submitted that the reasoning articulated by the learned
Sessions Judge by accepting the defence is also perverse and not
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acceptable. It is submitted that there are no circumstances brought
on record to hold that P.W.7 Rajendrakumar was harbouring any
grudge against the Respondent. It is thus submitted that the learned
Sessions Judge, was in error in holding that possibility of false
implication, cannot be ruled out. It is submitted that merely because
the flat was already purchased in January 2004 is not sufficient to
discard the otherwise consistent evidence of the prosecution
witnesses. The learned APP also pointed out the evidence of P.W.8
Jayashree Kadam, who is an independent witness working in
Primary Health Centre (P.H.C.). It is thus submitted that the
finding of acquittal recorded by the learned Sessions Judge is based
on misappreciation of the evidence and is against the weight of the
evidence on record. It is submitted that the view taken by the
learned Sessions Judge is perverse and is an impossible view, which
requires interference.
9. The learned counsel for the Respondent has supported the
impugned judgment. It is submitted that the learned Sessions Judge
was justified in holding that the required degree of ill-treatment in
order to drive the deceased Vrunda to commit suicide is not
established on record. It is submitted that the learned Sessions
Judge, on appreciation of the evidence, has rightly come to the
conclusion that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses and
particularly P.W.1 Shivam and P.W.5, P.W.6 and P.W.7 is not reliable.
Mamta Kale page 5 of 11
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It is submitted that the deceased was in Government service and
quite to the contrary the Respondent was running an Auto-rickshaw
and even according to the prosecution, at the time of incident was
not doing any job. He submitted that the deceased was financially
independent. The Respondent and the deceased had jointly applied
for obtaining a loan for purchase of the flat to ICICI Bank and upon
sanction of the loan, the flat was already purchased in January 2004,
i.e. prior to the commission of the suicide by the deceased. He
therefore submitted that the view taken by the learned Sessions
Judge is a plausible view which does not require interference. It is
submitted that there is no acceptable evidence of the Respondent
having abetted the deceased to commit suicide. No complaint of
such ill-treatment was lodged prior to the incident. The allegations
of cruelty are of general nature. He pointed out that P.W.1 Shivam
was admittedly staying with P.W.7 Rajendrakumar after the incident
and thus the possibility of tutoring the child witness cannot be ruled
out. He also pointed out that although P.W.1 Shivam claimed that in
the previous night, that of the incident, the deceased was allegedly
assaulted by the Respondent, the Inquest Panchanama and the Post
Mortem report does not reveal that the deceased had any external
injuries on her person.
10. I have carefully considered the rival circumstances and the
submissions made. It has come on record that the deceased was
Mamta Kale page 6 of 11
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earlier married to one Dattatray Bhosale in the year 1994 and the
marriage of the deceased with the Respondent in the year 1995 was
her second marriage. It has also come on record that the deceased
was serving in the health department since the year 1998 and at the
time of the incident was working as a midwife in P.H.C. Kavathe.
She alongwith Respondent and their son was residing in the
Government quarter at Kavathe. According to the prosecution, the
Respondent was not doing any work. According to the defence, he
was working as a driver. Be that as it may, it has clearly come on
record that the deceased being in Government service was
financially independent. The Respondent has examined D.W.1
Nilesh Bhasme and D.W.2 Abhinandan Patil from ICICI Bank and
it has come in their evidence that the deceased and the Respondent
had made a joint application for obtaining financial assistance from
the said Bank for purchase of a flat at Satara. It has also come on
record that the earnest amount was paid by the deceased and after
sanction of the loan, the flat was purchased on 28 January 2004 i.e.
prior to the incident. The principal reason, according to the
prosecution, for which the deceased was being ill-treated was that
the Respondent was asking her to bring an amount of Rs.1 Lakh
from her brother for purchase of the flat. I will revert back to this
aspect a little later.
Mamta Kale page 7 of 11
2-apeal-1344-06.doc
11. In this case, although the aspect of the deceased having
suffered a suicidal death, is not disputed, there is one circumstance
which needs to be noted in this regard. The prosecution case is that
the deceased had consumed certain tablets. The evidence of P.W.8
Jayshree Kadam who was working as a lady attendant in P.H.C.
Kavathe shows that at about 9.30 a.m. she was informed that the
deceased had consumed tablets of Clorophine. The evidence of
P.W.3 Dr. Madanrao Jadhav who conducted autopsy on the dead
body of the deceased and the Post Mortem report shows that cause
of death is respiratory failure due to pulmonary oedema secondary
to unknown poisoning. However, viscera was preserved for
chemical analysis. The Chemical Analyst report (Exh.38) of the
viscera shows that the general and specific chemical testing did not
reveal any poison. Thus, notwithstanding the fact that the aspect of
suicidal death was not disputed, there is a serious doubt as to
whether Vruda died of consuming poison. However, I will leave this
aspect at that, as the suicidal death of Vrunda is not disputed even
by the defence. The question is whether the deceased committed
suicide on account of the ill-treatment meted out to her by the
Respondent on account of her failure to bring Rs.1 Lakh from her
brother.
12. I have gone through the evidence of P.W.1 and P.W.5 to 7 who
are the relevant witnesses on the point of ill-treatment. As noticed
Mamta Kale page 8 of 11
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earlier, the principal reason, according to the prosecution, for the
Respondent having ill-treated the deceased is that the Respondent
was asking her to bring Rs.1 Lakh from her brother for purchase of a
flat. It has clearly come on record that the deceased was in
Government service since the year 1998 and the Respondent was
serving as a driver on a private vehicle. It has also come on record
that the deceased had applied alongwith the Appellant to the ICICI
Bank for obtaining the loan and the flat was indeed purchased prior
to the incident of suicide by the deceased. This is one of the reasons
articulated by the learned Sessions Judge for not accepting the
prosecution evidence on the point of ill-treatment. There is nothing
on record to show that there was any prior complaint lodged of any
such ill-treatment. It is all along the prosecution case that after their
marriage in 1995, the deceased was treated well till the year 2000,
after which the ill-treatment started. There is no specific reason why
after treating the deceased well for initial five years, the Respondent
started physically and mentally ill-treating her. As noticed earlier,
the reason for such ill-treatment about the failure of the deceased to
bring Rs.1 Lakh from her brother for purchase of a flat has rightly
not been accepted by the learned Sessions Judge as the flat was
already purchased. It can be seen that the deceased who was
financially independent and in all probability, it was on the strength
of her salary certificate that she obtained financial assistance from
the ICICI Bank and the flat was purchased in January 2004.
Mamta Kale page 9 of 11
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13. The learned Sessions Judge has articulated some other reasons
for not accepting the prosecution evidence. However, I do not find
it necessary to go into the same as the very purpose of the alleged
demand of Rs.1 Lakh by the Respondent falls through in view of the
fact that the flat was purchased prior to the incident. P.W.1 Shivam
is the son of the deceased and admittedly since the date of the
incident is residing with her maternal uncle i.e. P.W.7
Rajendrakumar and therefore the possibility of tutoring cannot be
ruled out. It is significant to note that P.W.1 Shivam states that in
the night prior to the date of the incident i.e. on 12 March 2004
about 7.00 p.m., there was a quarrel between the Respondent and
the deceased in which she was assaulted by means of a belt.
However, there are no external injuries noted in the Inquest
Panchanama nor in the Post Mortem Report.
14. I find that the view taken by the learned Sessions Judge based
on these circumstances is a plausible view. It is well settled that in an
Appeal against acquittal, this Court would not interfere unless and
until the finding recorded by the trial Court is perverse or is against
the weight of the evidence on record or is an impossible view. If the
view taken by the learned Sessions Judge is a plausible view, this
Court would not re-appreciate the evidence to come to a different
conclusion in an Appeal of the present nature (See the decision of
Mamta Kale page 10 of 11
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the Supreme Court in Chandrappa and Ors. Vs. State of Karnataka
).
15. Considering the over all circumstances, no case for
interference is made out. The Appeal stands dismissed. Bail bonds
of the Appellant stand cancelled.
C.V. BHADANG, J.
1(2007) 4 SCC 415
Mamta Kale page 11 of 11
