32yrs after wife's death, Chamoliman acquitted of dowry charges
Dehradun: First he lost his wife, and then Ram Shankar Gupta had to fight for 32 years to exonerate himself from the charge of killing her. On Thursday, Uttarakhand high court (HC) found Chamoli resident Gupta 'not guilty' of dowry death allegations levelled at him by the family of his wife, who had died in 1993.
The HC also took note of the woman's dying statement to the SDM, in which she had said that "she got burnt by accident, and her husband was not to be blamed".
Gupta, who was convicted by the trial court in 2007 under section 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, had contested the verdict in the HC. Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the single bench of Justice Pankaj Purohit stated: "Trial court committed grave illegality and irregularity in convicting the accused as the conviction is based upon hearsay and on basis of photostat copies of alleged letters (written by the woman), completely ignoring the settled law that photocopy in the absence of original is not admissible.
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Moreover, the court noted that the statements regarding the supply of the original letter to the investigating officer made by the prosecution witnesses were "only bald statements and were not supported by any evidence". Consequently, the court acquitted Gupta of all charges 32 years after his wife's death.
As per the case file, Kanchan Gupta had married Ram Shankar Gupta on May 2, 1993. She was found dead on Oct 19, 1993.
Her brother, Alok Kumar Gupta, alleged her death was due to unfulfilled dowry demands. He claimed that cash, a scooter, a fridge and gold ornaments were sought as dowry from their family.
Kanchan's cousin, Ashok Gupta, testified to submitting original letters about dowry demands to the investigating officer.
Ram Shankar Gupta maintained his innocence, stating the accusations stemmed from his in-laws wanting him to marry his deceased wife's elder sister.
He affirmed having good relations with his wife and denied any dowry demands. His brother, Ram Dev Gupta, testified that Kanchan was content in her marriage and had holidayed in various places during honeymoon with her husband. He added they informed her family about the accident and conducted final rites with their consent.
The investigating officer confirmed receiving the case after a 1.5-year delay and collecting witness statements.
The defence counsel argued that there was an unexplained delay in lodging the FIR, which created serious doubt over the entire prosecution's story. He stressed the SDM-recorded dying declaration where the wife stated she accidentally caught fire while cooking at home.
The defence counsel noted that while the trial court acquitted the appellants under sections 498-A (criminalises cruelty by a husband or his relatives towards a woman) and 304-B (dowry death) of IPC, they were convicted under section 3/4 (penalty for demanding dowry) of the Dowry Prohibition Act. Gupta, now in his late 50s, was out on bail.
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