For conviction in dowry death, establish cruelty first: SC
18 March 2013 8:01 AM IST
The SC has said that for seeking the conviction of a person accused of causing dowry death, the prosecution has to produce evidence that establishes that the demand for dowry was coupled with acts of harassment and cruelty.
For the court to draw the presumption that the accused had caused the dowry death, the ‘prosecution has to prove, besides the demand of dowry, harassment or cruelty caused by the accused to the deceased soon before her death’, the apex court bench of Justice AK Patnaik and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said in a recent judgment. Speaking for the bench, Justice Patnaik said: ‘In any case, to hold an accused guilty of both the offences under Sections 304B (dowry death) and 498A (cruelty), IPC, the prosecution is required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased was subjected to cruelty or harassment by the accused.’
The court said this while setting aside the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh HC and that of the trial court by which Vipin Jaiswal was convicted for committing cruelty on wife Meenakshi Jaiswal on account of alleged physical and mental torture for her failure to bring Rs 50,000 from her parental home.
For the court to draw the presumption that the accused had caused the dowry death, the ‘prosecution has to prove, besides the demand of dowry, harassment or cruelty caused by the accused to the deceased soon before her death’, the apex court bench of Justice AK Patnaik and Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya said in a recent judgment. Speaking for the bench, Justice Patnaik said: ‘In any case, to hold an accused guilty of both the offences under Sections 304B (dowry death) and 498A (cruelty), IPC, the prosecution is required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased was subjected to cruelty or harassment by the accused.’
The court said this while setting aside the judgment of the Andhra Pradesh HC and that of the trial court by which Vipin Jaiswal was convicted for committing cruelty on wife Meenakshi Jaiswal on account of alleged physical and mental torture for her failure to bring Rs 50,000 from her parental home.
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