Full Judgment Text
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
th
Nandyala Venkataramana-Appellant on 27 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
th
the way she was being maltreated. On the 10 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.