Onus Does Not Get Discharged With False Explanation Rather It Can Be Treated As Additional link In Chain Of Circumstances- Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has upheld the life imprisonment awarded to a man, who failed to render a plausible explanation on the homicidal death of his wife on the day of their wedding anniversary.

The Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice Poonam A Bamba observed that “In the present case, the appellant failed to provide any plausible explanation about the facts of the case, when murder of his wife took place within the house. Onus on the appellant does not get discharged with the false and frivolous explanation rather the false and frivolous explanation can be treated as an additional link in the chain of circumstances.”

Advocate Kanhaiya Singhal appeared for the Appellant and APP Laksh Khanna appeared for the State-respondent.

In this case, the appellant has challenged his conviction and life imprisonment awarded by a trial court for murdering his wife and assaulting his daughter with a knife. The appellant to save himself had scattered currency notes at the scene of the crime and concocted a story about robbers killing his wife.

It was contended by the prosecution that appellant used to doubt the wife’s character and intended to murder her for which he had procured a knife and surgical blades on the day of the incident and had inflicted repeated blows on the deceased.

The Court noted that the appellant had two mobile phones but rather than making a PCR call immediately, he knocked at the door of the neighbours and then asked him to make a PCR call and further said that “This Court is of the considered opinion that this conduct of the appellant is highly unnatural particularly when his wife was injured, he was injured, and his daughter was also injured.”

On considering the testimony of two eye-witnesses, the Court noted that there was a quarrel between the appellant and the deceased when he tried to strangulate the deceased and on being unsuccessful, the appellant stabbed her.

The Court said that “Since the quarrel took some time, Khushi went outside weeping and again came back inside and after sometime the incident took place, it cannot be said that the stab injuries were inflicted by the two thieves.”

“Thus, from the facts noted above, it is evident that the prosecution has been able to complete the chain of circumstances. Consequently, this Court finds no merit in the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the appellant and no ground for appellant‟s acquittal is made out.” observed the Court.

Accordingly, the Appeal was dismissed.

Cause Title- Hari Om v. State of NCT of Delhi (Neutral Citation No.- N.C. 2023:DHC:1962-DB)

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