S.106 Evidence Act | Husband Can’t Be Asked To Explain Wife’s Death In Their House Unless Prosecution Establishes Prima Facie Case
Case: Suresh Ladak Bhagat v The State of Maharashtra
Coram: Justices Sadhana S. Jadhav and Milind N. Jadhav
Case No.: Criminal Appeal No.9 Of 2014
Court Observation: “Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act does not discharge the initial burden on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Unless the prosecution is able to stand on its own legs and give a conclusive proof of the fact that the accused is the author of the injuries sustained by his wife the onus would not shift upon the accused to explain the circumstances in which his wife has died, and her dead body is found in the house occupied by the accused and the deceased.”
“An accused can be convicted only in read in evidence. In the present case, in view of the nature of the evidence adduced by the prosecution, it would be difficult to act upon the supposition that the fact of homicidal death at the hands of the accused is proved.”
“It is a settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that an accused has a right to maintain silence and it is for the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. In the present case, the defence has given suggestions that the deceased was addicted to alcohol and that on her way home she had fallen in the nullah and had sustained the said injuries.”
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Keywords
S.106 Evidence Act, Prima Facie Case
