LI Network
Published on: 17 September 2023 at 13:30 IST
The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of the accused in a dowry death case, even in the absence of a positive viscera report. The case involved the death of Tuli Shah, who was allegedly driven to suicide due to dowry-related harassment.
The Court emphasized that the absence of poison detection in the viscera report should not be considered conclusive evidence that the victim did not die from poisoning.
It noted that when a person dies due to poisoning, isolating and identifying the poison can be challenging. Therefore, the lack of positive evidence of poison in the viscera report should not invalidate the entire prosecution case if other circumstances point to the accused’s guilt.
The bench, consisting of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Prashant Kumar Mishra, was reviewing an appeal against a Calcutta High Court judgment that had sentenced the appellants to seven years for committing dowry death under Section 304-B IPC (Indian Penal Code) and three years for cruelty under Section 498-A IPC.
The case originated from an FIR filed by Uma Shankar Shah, the complainant, who alleged that the appellants had harassed Tuli Shah for additional dowry after receiving cash and gold ornaments at the time of her marriage. The prosecution’s case was based on the claim that Tuli Shah had consumed poison and committed suicide due to continuous harassment.
The Supreme Court noted that both the post-mortem report and the viscera report did not specify the exact cause of death or the presence of poison in the victim’s body. However, the Court referred to findings from the trial court and the High Court, which strongly suggested that Tuli Shah had died from poison consumption. Symptoms consistent with poisoning, such as froth from the mouth and nose, were noted in the inquest report.
The Court also cited a previous case, Bhupendra v. State of Madhya Pradesh, which held that the chemical examination of viscera is not mandatory in every dowry death case. The absence of a viscera report should not be fatal to the prosecution’s case, particularly when there is evidence of poisoning.
The Medical Officer who conducted the post-mortem testified that a pungent-smelling substance was found in the stomach, which is often associated with poison consumption. However, he admitted that if there is a delay in sending viscera samples for chemical examination, poison detection may be compromised. In this case, the viscera was sent for examination five months after the incident.
The Court referred to the case of Mahabir Mandal v. State of Bihar (1972), which highlighted that traces of poison may not be found in the body due to various factors like evaporation, vomiting, purging, and detoxification processes.
Case Title: Buddhadeb Saha v. State of West Bengal
