Case Note & Summary
The present appeal was filed before the Bombay High Court against the judgment and order dated 18.12.2007 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Pune, in Sessions Case No. 452 of 2005, convicting the appellants for the offences under Sections 302 and 498-A read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The appellants, Sachin Vitthal Borhade (husband) and Suman Vitthal Borhade (mother-in-law), were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and rigorous imprisonment for two years for cruelty. The prosecution case was that Sarika, the wife of appellant No.1 and daughter-in-law of appellant No.2, was subjected to harassment and cruelty due to the appellants' unlawful demand for gold ornaments of at least 1½ tola. They also suspected the paternity of the child in her womb. On the night of 21st February 2005, after a quarrel over the visit of a neighbourhood boy, Mukund, the appellants beat Sarika, poured kerosene on her shoulders, and appellant No.2 threw a lit matchstick, causing severe burns. Sarika was taken to YCM Hospital and later to Sasoon Hospital. Two dying declarations were recorded: one by PW4 PSI Yadav (also treated as FIR) and another by PW2 the Executive Magistrate. Sarika died on 25th February 2005 due to septic shock from burns. The trial court, after evaluating the evidence, concluded that the prosecution had proved homicidal death and convicted the appellants, rejecting their defence of accidental fire. In the High Court, the appellants contended that the dying declarations were unreliable, pointing to variance and interpolation regarding timings, and argued that the defence version—that Sarika accidentally caught fire while lighting a stove—was probabilized by the burn injuries on appellant No.1’s hands. The appeal was heard and reserved on March 22, 2013, and pronounced on June 11, 2013; however, the provided judgment text is incomplete and does not include the High Court’s final reasoning or decision.
Issue of Consideration
Whether the conviction and sentence of the appellants for the offences under Sections 302 and 498-A read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code is sustainable in law, particularly in light of the challenge to the dying declarations recorded.
Law Points
- conviction based on dying declarations
- offence under Section 302 IPC
- offence under Section 498-A IPC
- common intention under Section 34 IPC
- appreciation of evidence in burn cases
