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Ajit Singh V. State of Himachal Pradesh (1999)

Citations: Ajit Singh Vs State of Himachal Pradesh, HP/0043/1999

Date of judgment: 07.12.1999

Equivalent citations: 2000CriLJ2370, II(2000)DMC591, 2000(2)HRL567, 2000(3)RCR(Criminal)273

Case No.: 96 of 1966

Case type: Criminal Appeal

Appellant: Ajit Singh

Respondent: State of Himachal Pradesh

Bench: Hon’ble Justice M.R. Verma

Court: High Court of Himachal Pradesh

Statues referred:

  • Indian Penal Code, 1860; Sections- 34, 306, 498A

Facts:

  • Usha Devi was married to the accused, Ajit Singh. Whereas Usha Devi was being harassed and tortured by her husband Ajit Singh regularly.
  • On 05.04.1994, dead body of Usha devi was found at Naseri Het Jungle.
  • First Information Report was registered against the Appellant and after conducting the investigation by the investigating officer, a charge sheet against the Appellant was submitted.
  • Ajit Singh (husband), and Nathi Devi (in law) were convicted under Section 498-A (husband or relative of husband subjecting a woman to cruelty) read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and Ajit Singh was also convicted under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

Issues involved:

  • Whether Usha Devi’s committed suicide due to harassment and torture caused by her husband Ajit singh?

Contention of Appellant:

The counsel for the Appellant contended that:

  • The deceased committed suicide because of her forcible marriage with the accused by her parents as she was in love with someone else. The deceased wanted to marry Bhushan Kumar whom she loved.

Contention of Respondent:

The counsel for the State contended that:

  • The Suicide of Usha devi was due to the ill treatment and harassment meted out to her by the accused which led her to take the extreme step of Sucide.
  • The marriage between Usha and Ajit was a love marriage. There is no evidence to the contrary; the contention for the accused that Usha was married by her parents to the accused against her wishes is not sustainable.

Judgment:

There was no merit found in the appeal and it was accordingly dismissed by the learned court.

Ratio decidendi:

  1. It was established that the marriage between the deceased, Usha Devi, and Ajit Singh was not forced upon her by her parents.
  2. The court found the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses, who were close family members of the deceased, to be credible and reliable.

Obiter dicta:

N/A

Conclusion:

We can Conclude by saying that, the Court found that the deceased had been harassed and tortured by the accused, which led to her suicide. The court rejected the Appellant arguments about the deceased’s alleged love affair, stating that there was no evidence to support such claims. The court also noted that the deceased’s father did not attend her marriage, suggesting a lack of enthusiasm for the match.

Drafted by : Devanshi Saxena, Manipal University, Jaipur

Edited By Bharti Verma, Associate Editor at Law Insider

Published on: October 11, 2023 at 17:28 IST