Presumption in dowry death to be backed by cruelty proof: SC

November 20, 2016

New Delhi, Nov 20: The presumption of culpability against an accused in a dowry death case under the Evidence Act would be "activated" only when there is a proof that a deceased woman had been subjected to cruelty for demand of dowry, the Supreme Court has ruled.

DowryThe provision to secure convictions in dowry death cases was inserted in the Evidence Act, which provides that instead of presumption of innocence, the accused would be presumed prima facie guilty in such homicides if a woman dies within seven years of marriage and there is proof of cruelty.

In a major verdict, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy has said if prosecution fails to prove by coherent evidence that an accused charged in a dowry death case has harassed the woman to demand dowry, the person cannot be held guilty by taking refuge of presumption under the Act.

"The presumption (under section 113B of the Evidence Act) as to dowry death thus would get activated only upon the proof of the fact that the deceased lady had been subjected to cruelty or harassment for or in connection with any demand for dowry by the accused and that too in the reasonable contiguity of death," the bench said.

"Such a proof is thus the legislatively mandated prerequisite to invoke the otherwise statutorily ordained presumption of commission of the offence of dowry death by the person charged therewith," it said, while acquitting some in- laws of a woman who was found hanging in her matrimonial house in 1996.

The petitioners, who were initially acquitted by the trial court, had approached the apex court against their conviction by the Madhya Pradesh High Court under sections 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 304-B (dowry death) of the IPC.

The husband of the deceased woman had committed suicide in June 1998 when the case was pending before the trial court. The prosecution had claimed that the husband and in-laws of the deceased woman were demanding dowry and had subjected her to harassment and torture.

In its judgement, the apex court also said that proof of cruelty or harassment by the husband, his relatives or persons charged in dowry death cases was a 'sine qua non' (indispensable condition) to inspirit the statutory presumption.

"If the prosecution fails to demonstrate by cogent, coherent and persuasive evidence to prove such fact, the person accused of either of the above referred offences cannot be held guilty by taking refuge only of the presumption to cover up the shortfall in proof," it said.

In the present case, the bench said the prosecution had failed to prove the crucial ingredient of cruelty and harassment by direct and cogent evidence and conviction of these persons on the basis of materials on record "would not be out of risk".

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Agencies
July 17,2020

New Delhi, Jul 17: The first FIR against Volkswagen and Audi in India for installing cheat devices in their cars to misrepresent emissions has been filed in Noida.

The FIR was filed by Noida resident Aniljit Singh against the top officials of Volkswagen and Audi in India and their headquarters in Germany. These include Rahil Ansari, Brand Director, Audi India, Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, and Bram Schot, Chairman, Audi AG.

The FIR reviewed by media agency cites forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The complaint has cited the global emissions scandal where VW was found to be installing a cheat device in its cars, in the absence of which, the cars produced 10-40 times emissions beyond the permissible limits.

The complainant said that in 2018 he had purchased seven Audi cars worth crores of rupees. At the time of taking the delivery, the complainant said that he inquired if the cheat devices were installed in India and he was told by the company that they were not, as in India's emission norms were not as stringent and the country being a growing market for Audi, no such device was implanted.

The complaint said that the authorities in India observed that Audi cars' emissions for nitrogen oxide were 5-8 times the permissible limits and after the National Green Tribunal imposed a penalty of Rs 500 crore on VW, the complainant realised that he had been duped of his hard earned money.

He alleged that the accused persons had misrepresented the complainant by forging the documents and devices and caused wrongful gains to themselves and wrongful losses to the complainant. These officials had made wrong records to capture the market, with malafide intent and under a pre-planned conspiracy had induced and defrauded the complainant.

The accused persons are guilty of cheating the customers and have induced the complainant to part with hard earned money for sub-standard cars. The accused are also guilty of forging the documents on which they had sought various clearances.

The complainant has demanded that the allegations may be thoroughly investigated by a senior official.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Gonda, Apr 9: A man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his room as he was missing his wife stuck at her parents' place due to the lockdown, police said.

The incident took place in Radha Kund locality here on Wednesday, they said, adding the deceased has been identified as Rakesh Soni, 32.

As per information, Soni's wife had gone to her parents' place and was stuck there due to the lockdown and he was missing her due to which he committed suicide, Inspector Alok Rao said.

A probe is on in the mater, he said.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

Mumbai, May 10: A 32-year old man, running a bakery here has been arrested for alleged promotion of products using a tagline that said his firm does not employ Muslims, police said on Sunday.

The man, who is also selling his products online had allegedly said "made by Jains on orders, no Muslim staff" for promotion purposes in his WhatApp group.

A complaint was lodged against him saying the words depicted Muslims in a bad light and Mambalam police registered a case and arrested him, a release said adding a probe was on.

Recently, a man was arrested in Mumbai after he allegedly refused to collect groceries he had ordered online since the delivery person was a Muslim.

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