Penal Code, 1860 – s.498A – Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 – s.4 – Dowry demand – Unlawful demand for the gold sovereigns and continued harassment meted out to the girl-wife on failure to meet the said demand – Complaint by the wife against her husband and in-laws alleging offences punishable u/ss.498A, 406, 420, 506(2) IPC and s.4 of the DP Act – Conviction of the husband for offence u/s.498A IPC and s.4 of the DP Act and and sentenced to three years imprisonment and fine for offence u/s.498A, and one year SI for offence u/s.4 of the DP Act – High Court, while confirming the conviction, modified the sentence from three years imprisonment to two years imprisonment u/s.498A and sentence of one year imprisonment for offence u/s.4 of the DP Act – Interference with:
Held: In view of the evidence, interferance with the concurrent conviction u/ss.498A IPC and s.4 of the DP Act, not called for – Ingredients of s.498-A fully satisfied – Husband subjected the wife to harassment with a view to coerce her and her mother to meet the unlawful demand for the gold sovereigns and continued to harass her when the wife and her relatives failed to meet such demand – Ingredients of s.498-A IPC and s.4 DP Act clearly made out – However, the quantum of sentence is interfered with – Sentence imposed is set aside – Husband sentenced to the period already undergone directing him to pay a sum of three lakhs within the stipulated period in the trial court as compensation, to be payable to the wife, since the husband has undergone approximately 3 months in custody, the couple lived together exactly for three days, the de facto complainant-wife is married and settled abroad, the case is pending for nearly 19 years, both the parties have moved on in life, and the husband is willing to render appropriate community service in the field of information and technology. [Paras 12-18]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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