An order of the Nanded Sessions court in a case of dowry death, in which the accused of a family were cleared of charges of inciting a woman to commit suicide within three years of marriage, has been quashed and reversed by the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court. According to the woman’s parents, she was abused and had a dowry asked of her.
The Sessions Judge in Nanded has also been given a new opportunity to hear from the parties, and the high court has remanded the case back to him for a decision that will be made ‘as expeditiously as possible, but within a period of six (06) months from the date of receipt of the writ from this court.’
All of the accused were also ordered by Justice BP Deshpande to show up in front of the Sessions Court in Nanded on August 22, 2022. ‘In order to rely on a dying declaration, the court has to keep in view the circumstances like an opportunity for a dying person for observation. Hence, in order to pass the test of reliability, the dying declaration has to be subjected to very close scrutiny, keeping in view with the fact that the statement has been made in the absence of the accused, who had no opportunity to test the veracity of such a statement by cross examination.’
The Nanded sessions judge ruled on the case in 2004, finding that the prosecution had failed to establish the allegations made against the accused persons. As a result, the three defendants were cleared of the offences covered by Sections 498A (husband or relative of husband subjecting woman to cruelty), 304-B (dowry death), and 306 (abetment to suicide) read with 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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