Dowry death strikes at foundation of dignity but no blanket prohibition on bail: Delhi HC
New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI): Offence of dowry death strikes at the foundations of dignity, equality and justice in domestic life, but there is no blanket prohibition against the grant of bail in such cases, the Delhi High Court has said.
Justice Sanjeev Narula, while granting the relief of bail to a dowry death accused, said the Court was fully conscious of the societal gravity and enduring prevalence of such incidents but a decision of bail must rest on the individual facts and circumstances of each case.
In the present case, the wife of the accused applicant passed away in November 2023 after she allegedly hung herself from a ceiling fan in the bathroom.
Justice Narula observed that the death of a young woman within a year of marriage under unnatural circumstances inevitably invited serious legal scrutiny, but the material on record, in this case, prima facie revealed significant ambiguities and lacked the specificity that section 304B (dowry death) IPC demanded.
"This Court remains fully conscious of the societal gravity and enduring prevalence of dowry deaths. Such offences strike at the foundations of dignity, equality, and justice in domestic life," said the Court in a judgement dated April 22.
"However, the observations (of the Supreme Court) in (the case of) Shabeen Ahmad cannot be read as laying down a blanket prohibition against the grant of bail in every case under Section 304B IPC. Rather, the (top) Court reaffirmed that bail decisions must rest on the individual facts and circumstances of each case, the nature and weight of the evidence, and the overall context in which the allegations are situated," it stated.
In the present case, the Court asserted that the absence of any "proximate allegation" shortly before the death created a doubt, and the statements of the deceased’s family members were devoid of specific details, particularly with respect to the date, time or frequency of the alleged demands.
It added that the alleged demand for a car was mentioned only in the post-incident statements made by the family of the deceased, and there was no contemporaneous complaint during her lifetime alleging harassment or demand for dowry.
With respect to section 306 (abetment of suicide) IPC, the Court said mere suspicion of an extramarital affair did not per se amount to abetment of suicide and prima facie, there was no allegation that the applicant engaged in any behaviour to trigger the deceased’s suicide.
An extramarital relationship per se may not come within the ambit of Section 498-A (cruelty) IPC, it further stated.
Noting that the chargesheet was filed after the completion of the investigation and the trial was unlikely to conclude shortly, the Court opined that the continued incarceration of the applicant would serve no fruitful purpose.
It also observed that the father-in-law and brother-in-law of the deceased had already been discharged, and the sister-in-law, who faced identical charges as the applicant, was on bail.
The Court released the applicant subject to certain conditions and said, "The object of granting bail is neither punitive nor preventative. The primary aim sought to be achieved by bail is to secure the attendance of the accused person at the trial."
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I leave it up to sensible people of Karnataka to decide who is at fault: Sonu Nigam
New Delhi, May 5 (PTI): Popular singer Sonu Nigam in a statement on Monday reiterated his love for the Kannada people but felt compelled to confront the young men who "threatened" him during a live concert over language issues.
His statement comes after the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) announced a 'non-cooperation' campaign against the singer for his allegedly controversial remark which hurt the sentiments of the Kannadaigas during a recent concert in Bengaluru.
An FIR was also registered at the Avalahalli Police Station in Bengaluru on May 3 against Nigam for reportedly retorting, "Kannada. Kannada. This is the reason behind the incident in Pahalgam," in response to an audience member's request to sing in Kannada last month at a concert in the city.
In the statement posted on Instagram, the singer said he will cooperate with the police authorities of Karnataka in the matter and always "cherish the love" he has received from the people of the state irrespective of the verdict.
"I leave it up to the sensible people of Karnataka to decide who is at fault here. I will accept your verdict gracefully. I fully respect and trust the law agencies and Police of Karnataka and will comply with whatever is expected from me," Nigam wrote.
Regardless of the love he has received from the people of Karnataka, the playback singer said he was not some "young lad" who would take humiliation from anyone.
"I am 51 years old, in the second half of my life and am entitled to take offence for someone as young as my son threatening me directly in front of thousands in the name of language that too Kannada which is my second language when it comes to my work. That too right after my first song of the concert! He provoked a few more. Their own people were embarrassed and were asking them to shut up..
"I told them very politely and lovingly the show has just started, it's my first song and that I will not let them down, but they have to let me continue with the concert the way I have planned. Every artiste has a song list prepared so the musicians and technicians are in sync. But they were hell bent on creating ruckus and threatening me wildly. Tell me who is at fault?" he asked.
As a patriot, Nigam said, he loathes anyone trying to create hate in the name of "language, caste or religion", especially after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam which claimed the lives of 26 people, including two from Karnataka.
"I had to school them, and I did, and thousands of students and teachers cheered me for it. The matter got over and I sang Kannada for more than an hour. It's all there on social media," he added.
On Saturday, Nigam shared a video on Instagram in which he defended himself after an FIR was filed against him for allegedly offending the sentiments of Kannadigas during the concert.
In the clip, the singer said he was "threatened" by a small group of boys to sing in Kannada at the event. He, however, also urged people "not to generalise" or hold the entire community responsible for the actions of a few.
The incident occurred during a live concert on April 25 at a college in Bengaluru. Nigam paused his performance when someone from the audience loudly demanded that he sing in Kannada. Frustrated by the repeated shouts of "Kannada, Kannada," the singer responded sharply from the stage.
In a video that went viral on social media, Nigam is also heard saying that some of the best songs of his career are in Kannada and that Karnataka has always treated him like family, but he was irked by how the demand was made.
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