KALU ALIAS LAXMINARAYAN versus STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

Citation: [2019] 14 S.C.R. 327 · Decided: 07-11-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: NAVIN SINHA · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 3 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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KALU ALIAS LAXMINARAYAN
v.
STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH
(Criminal Appeal No. 1677 of 2010)
NOVEMBER 07, 2019
[NAVIN SINHA AND B.R. GAVAI, JJ.]
Penal Code, 1860: s. 302 – Homicidal death within the
confines of house – Prosecution case was that appellant husband
strangulated his wife to death – Trial court held that the victim-
deceased was strangulated to death while High Court opined that
she was hanged to death – Both the courts unanimously held that
deceased did not commit suicide but it was a homicidal death –
Conviction under s.302 – Appeal against conviction – Held: There
was evidence as to strained relations between appellant and his
wife (deceased) – Prosecution sufficiently established that there was
cow dung on the hands of the deceased indicating that she was
engaged in household chores when the assault was made – Injuries
on the person of the deceased as also in the post mortem report,
were clearly indicative of a struggle or resistance put up by deceased
in the last hour – The fact that the neck of deceased was not found
stretched and elongated, considering that the body was still fresh,
ruled out any possibility of suicide by her – The view of trial court
that the deceased was strangulated to death acceptable as it was
not possible for appellant to hang the deceased alone – The body
was also found lying on the ground – The conduct of the appellant
in not conveying to the family members of the deceased about her
death and his absence whole night from the house and failure in
offering explanation with regard to circumstances under which the
deceased met an unnatural death inside the house would lead to
conclusion of his being the assailant of the deceased – Conviction
upheld.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court
HELD: 1.1 The deceased lived alone with the appellant
and their minor child. The evidence of the relatives of the
deceased, PW 2, PW 4 and her parents PWs.6 and 8 revealed
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 14 S.C.R.
that all was not well between the appellant and the deceased.
Because of the strained relations between them, the deceased
had stayed at her parents’ home for nearly 10 months prior to the
occurrence and had returned barely a month before the fateful
day after her father-in-law had come to take her back. There was
no reason to disbelieve this part of evidence of PWs. 6 and 8.
[Para 5][331-H; 332-A-B]
1.2 The prosecution sufficiently established that there was
cow dung on the hands of the deceased indicating that she was
engaged in house hold chores when the assault was made. The
injuries on the person of the deceased, as noticed in the inquest
report as also in the post mortem report, were clearly indicative
of a struggle or resistance put up by the deceased in the last
hour. The fact that the neck of the deceased was not found
stretched and elongated, considering that the body was still fresh,
ruled out any possibility of suicide by the deceased. The tongue
was not protruding. Scratches and abrasions would not be present
in case of a suicide. There was no fracture or dislocation of the
bones in the neck area. The saliva was not running down the face
or chest of the deceased but had flowed out at the left of the
mouth. [Paras 6, 8][332-D; 333-C-E]
Shambu Nath Mehra v. The State of Ajmer 1956 SCR
199; Sawal Das v. State of Bihar (1974) 4 SCC 193 :
[1974] 3 SCR 74; Jose v. The Sub-Inspector of Police,
Koyilandy and Ors. (2016) 10 SCC 519 : [2016] 8 SCR
115 – held inapplicable.
2. The High Court opined that the deceased had been
hanged to death. Suicide was ruled out as the wooden log in the
room used for storing grains from which a piece of a rope was
found hanging was 11 ft. 2 inches in height from the floor. The
deceased was of 5’4" and assuming that she would stretch out
another one foot six inches it would still leave gap of 4 feet
between her and the log, therefore suicide was an impossibility.
There was no reason to differ with the reasoning. The conclusion
of the High Court also did not help the appellant in the defence
of a suicide. The views taken by the Trial Court and the High
Court nonetheless both pointed towards a homicidal death clearly.
The view of the Sessions Court that the deceased was strangulated
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to death is accepted as it was not possible for the appellant to
hang the deceased alone.  The body has also been found lying on
the ground. [Para 9][333-F-G]
3. The prosecution was able to successfully e

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