Chambers of Ishaan Garg
Ch. No. 217, Western Wing, District & Sessions Court, Tis Hazari, New Delhi, Delhi 110054
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The prosecution has relied upon the letters and the counsel for the Appellant would argue that the letters are very stale, being of the years 1984, 1986, 1987 and 1988 whereas the incident had taken place at a much later point of time i.e. in 1994.
9. Learned counsel appearing for the Appellant had argued that the letters are antiquated and much period has passed after they were written. Perusal of the said letters would reflect the consistent conduct of the Appellant being an alcoholic, subjecting the deceased to beating on being drunk, being abusive to her and the scenario continue for over four years when the letters were addressed. In despair, she sought assistance from her father and her helplessness could be seen when she is demanding money and assistance from her father and requesting him to come to her rescue. The harassment meted out to her is spelt out from the said letters. The father of the deceased has spoken about the continuous harassment meted out to his daughter by her husband on consuming liquor and then abusing and clobbering her. PW-5 deposes that he used to meet his daughter, whenever he used to visit Thane and on such visit, Shobha used to narrate the illtreatment meted out to her by her husband. There is no challenge to the said version of PW-5.
The letters brought on record by the father of the deceased, no doubt, relate back to 5 years, prior to the incident, but the testimony of the daughter (PW-4) and the father of the deceased PW-5 speak of the continuous harassment to the deceased at the hands of the Appellant. The allegations levelled go unchallenged and there is no denial or any suggestion given that the Appellant has given up drinking and had stopped the harassment or illtreatment to his wife on consumption of liquor. The consistency in the behaviour of the Appellant clearly makes out a charge of cruelty attracting Section 498A of the IPC.
11. For the purpose of Section 498A of the IPC, cruelty has been set out as any willful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman. The conduct of the Appellant would squarely fall within the four corners of cruel treatment, which would make it punishable under Section 498A of the IPC. Cruelty can be physical or mental and merely because a woman has tolerated the harassment at the hands of her husband for a long period of time, it cannot be said that his behaviour has ceased to be cruel. Here is a woman, who suppressed her feelings and emotions stirring inside her on account of the harassment and ill-treatment at the hands of her husband, but when she is unable to escape the cruel treatment and is unable to put an end to the said treatment, she takes the extreme step of putting an end to her life. The cruelty being spread over a period of time does not make a woman numb so that she did not suffer the agony, discomfort meted out to her and the conduct continues to be cruel though it continued as a normal feature of married life of Shobha. For this reason, the submission of learned counsel for the Appellant that the letters are stale and cannot be relied upon, and deserves a rejection.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.589 OF 1998
Pandurang Ganpat Thalkar, Vs The State of Maharashtra,
CORAM : MRS. BHARATI DANGRE, J.
PRONOUNCED ON : 30TH JUNE, 2021
