The Delhi High Court delivered a significant ruling on Thursday, overturning the life sentences of family members in a dowry death case dating back to 1988. The Division Bench, comprising Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja, acquitted the surviving defendants who had been convicted over two decades ago. The original trial court verdict, which sentenced them to life imprisonment, was set aside due to insubstantial evidence.
The case involved the death of Kamlesh, who tragically passed away from severe burn injuries at her matrimonial home in Samaypur Badli on October 30, 1988. She succumbed to her injuries the same day. The prosecution alleged that her in-laws were responsible for setting her on fire due to dowry-related harassment. Kamlesh had allegedly made declarations to a magistrate and a relative implicating her in-laws, which formed the crux of the prosecution’s case.
However, the High Court found inconsistencies in the deceased’s declarations. Notably, her initial medical statement suggested the burns were accidental, incurred while cooking. A subsequent statement made to a sub-divisional magistrate accused her in-laws of intentional harm. These contradictions, along with the lack of support from Kamlesh’s parents regarding dowry harassment claims, led the court to question the reliability of these declarations.
The Court remarked, “We find that the alleged dying declarations made by the deceased are not wholly reliable and have an element of doubt. The other surrounding circumstances alleged by the prosecution also do not form a complete chain that can persuade us to form an opinion that the appellants are guilty of the offence charged beyond reasonable doubt.” Thus, the court concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Originally, in 2002, five members of the family were convicted by the trial court for murder and cruelty under Sections 302 and 498A of the Indian Penal Code. During the appeal process, two of the accused, Kamlesh’s husband, Raj Pal, and her mother-in-law, Phoolwati, passed away, resulting in the abatement of proceedings against them. The recent judgment acquitted the remaining family members: the brother-in-law, Jaswant, and the two sisters-in-law, Suresh and Dhanpati.
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The defendants were represented by Advocates Naveen Yadav and Thakur Sumit, while Additional Public Prosecutor Aman Usman, along with advocates Manvendra Yadav and Atiq Ur Rehman, represented the state.
The ruling underscores the importance of reliable evidence and the standard of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt in criminal cases. The acquittal provides closure to a legal battle that persisted for nearly a quarter of a century.
