Dowry Death: S.113B Of Evidence Act Casts A Reverse Burden On Accused To Disprove Prosecution Case
Case: Ajayakumar & Anr. v. State of Kerala
Coram: Justice A. Badharudeen
Case No.: CRL.A NO. 500 OF 2007
Court Observation: “An initial burden exists upon the prosecution and only when it stands satisfied, the reverse burden would arise and the standard of proof required to prove the guilt of the accused on the prosecution is `beyond all reasonable doubt’. But it is `preponderance of probabilities’ on the accused. Thus the law is clear on the point that proof of reverse burden shall be discharged on the basis of `preponderance of probabilities’.”
“Merely because an accused has been held liable to be punished under Section 498A IPC, it does not follow that on the same evidence he must also and necessarily be held guilty of having abetted the commission of suicide by the woman concerned.”
“The said procedure adopted by the learned Sessions Judge is illegal. It is to be borne in mind that when the statute imposes imprisonment and fine, the same shall be read in `conjunctive’ and not `disjunctive’. Therefore, both forms of punishment shall be imposed. Since there is no statutory minimum sentence for the offence under Section 306 of I.P.C, I am inclined to reduce the said sentence for a period of 2 years and impose a fine of Rs.20,000.”
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Keywords
Dowry Death, S.113B Of Evidence Act
