Supreme Court upholds acquittal of man accused of setting his wife on fire
Justices Aravind Kumar & Sandeep Mehta [09-07-2024]

Read Order: STATE OF PUNJAB v. RANDHIR SINGH ETC [SC- CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(S). 660-661 OF 2015]

LE Correspondent

New Delhi, July 15, 2024: The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeals filed by the State of Punjab against the acquittal of the accused in a case concerning the murder of a woman by burning.

A bench comprising Justice Mehta upheld the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment which had set aside the conviction of the accused by the trial court. Kuldeep Kaur, who was married to the main accused Randhir Singh, had suffered 80% burn injuries on August 24, 1998 at her matrimonial home in village Panj Grain Kalan, Punjab. She succumbed to her injuries three days later at the hospital.

The prosecution's case was that Kuldeep was being harassed and maltreated by her husband and in-laws as Randhir was allegedly having an illicit affair with his sister-in-law Karamjit Kaur. On the fateful day, Randhir and the other accused allegedly poured kerosene on Kuldeep and set her on fire. The trial court had convicted Randhir and his mother Surjit Kaur for murder, and his brother Baldev Singh and sister-in-law Karamjit Kaur for murder with common intention, relying mainly on Kuldeep's dying declaration recorded by a police officer. However, the High Court set aside the conviction on appeal, holding the dying declaration to be suspicious and unreliable.

Upholding the High Court verdict, the Supreme Court held that the dying declaration recorded by the police officer seemed to be a post-investigation document prepared under influence of the deceased's brother who was also a police official. The top court noted several contradictions in the prosecution evidence and held that the probability of accidental fire while the victim was preparing tea was higher than the prosecution's theory of intentional burning. With two views possible, the top court ruled that the one favouring the accused must prevail in criminal cases.

The apex court thus gave the benefit of doubt to the accused and dismissed the state's appeal against their acquittal by the High Court. The court held that the High Court's judgment was based on proper appreciation of evidence available on record and hence, does not warrant any interference in these appeals against acquittal preferred by the State of Punjab.