Dowry case 8212; three acquitted

CHANDIGARH, JULY 23: In an interesting case here, three dowry accused were let off by a local court here in view of dearth of prosecution...

CHANDIGARH, JULY 23: In an interesting case here, three dowry accused were let off by a local court here in view of dearth of prosecution evidence against them.

The accused, Jasbir Singh husband, Sarup Singh and Raghbir Kaur in-laws, were acquitted by UT Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate H. S. Madaan, who observed that the prosecution had not been able to prove the charge against the accused beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt.

The case under Sections 406, 498-A of IPC was registered against the accused on the complaint of one Jatinder Kaur on November 28, 1990. The girl had submitted a written complaint addressed to the SSP, requesting the registration of the case against the said accused. She had stated that at the time of marriage she was told that there would be no material demand by her in-laws and that her husband was educated up to Class XII. She stated that later things turned out to be different and her parents had to give a number of dowry articles besides Rs 12,000. The girl further alleged that her in-laws maltreated her.

The Magistrate observed that as regards maltreatment of the complainant, the same was not proved convincingly. Besides, in his earlier judgment, the UT Additional District and Sessions Judge had found these allegations to be false and observed that Jitender had been treating her husband cruelly. It was further held that there was no evidence to show that the accused had pressed for dowry either before or after the marriage. The case of accused was that registration of the said FIR was a counter-move against the filing of divorce petition against Jatinder Kaur.

Dacoity accused out on bail
Ut Additional District and Sessions Judge G. S. Sandhu today granted bail to a local resident, Brij Mohan, who, along with five others, was charged with planning dacoity in Sector 15 in 1998.

Observing that the prosecution had not been able to bring forth enough evidence to establish direct involvement of the accused in the said dacoity, the judge allowed bail to the accused, subject to furnishing a bail bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount. It was further observed that the accused deserved the concession of bail on grounds that other accused in the case were already out on bail.

Brij Mohan was booked along with Om Prakash, Harvinder Singh, Jasbir Singh and Pinder. According to prosecution, sub-inspector Tarsem Singh received secret information that some people were planning to conduct a dacoity in Sector 15 and that they were present in Sector 25 cremation grounds. He conducted a raid and found five people who were all armed.

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The case was subsequently registered against the accused, four of whom were granted bail by the court The prosecution opposed the bail plea on grounds that two .12 bore pistols and a scooter had been recovered from the possession of Brij Mohan subsequent to his arrest.