Lucy Marandi Vs. State of Jharkhand and ors. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
- what remains to be seen is as to whether pinki died an un-natural death within seven years of her marriage and whether her death was attributable to the demand of dowry and further whether she was dealt with cruelty soon before her death. if these ingredients are proved by the prosecution then the conviction of the accused under section 304b, ipc will be complete.[para 9] the question is, in the absence of corpus delicti, could it be presumed that the accused persons alone were responsible for the death of pinki. we must hasten to add here that the accused persons have already been acquitted of the murder charge. [para 9] it is clear that pinki's death was caused because of the burns and not in the normal circumstances. the finding of the trial court and the appellate court in that behalf is correct. for this reason we are not impressed by the argument of the learned counsel that in the absence of corpus delicti, the conviction could not stand. [para10] it is clear that the prosecution has not only proved the offence under section 304b, ipc with the aid of section 113b, indian evidence act but also the offence under section 201, ipc. [para 15] held: we have gone through the judgments of the trial court as well as the appellate court carefully and we find that both the courts have fully considered all the aspects of this matter. we, therefore, find nothing wrong with the judgments and confirm the same. the appeal is, therefore, dismissed.[para 16]d.n. patel, j.1. i have heard mr. din dayal saha, learned counsel for the petitioner, who has submitted that the petitioner was appointed as anganbari sevika with effect from 26th june, 2007, which is at annexure-1 to the memo of petition, thereafter, the petitioner had undergone training, successfully and the training certificate is also annexed at annexure-2 to the memo of petition, thereafter, the petitioner has worked successfully for several months, for which, even salary has also been paid to the petitioner and the services of the petitioner have been terminated by respondent no. 5 vide order dated 22nd april, 2008 (annexure-3 to the memo of petition) without giving any opportunity of being heard to the petitioner and without giving any notice to the petitioner. looking to the impugned order, it appears that some inquiry was conducted, but, the petitioner was never given any notice by the inquiry officer nor the copy of the inquiry report was given to the petitioner. likewise, the petitioner was not given the copy of the complaints. thus, everything has gone ex-parte in this matter and the services of the petitioner have been terminated vide order dated 22nd april, 2008 in gross violation of principles of natural justice and, hence, the impugned order passed by respondent no. 5 dated 22nd april, 2008 at annexure 3 to the memo of petition deserves to be quashed and set aside.2. i have heard learned counsel for the respondents, who has submitted that there were some complaints against the present petitioner and upon receiving complaints, inquiry was conducted and on the basis of inquiry, the services of the petitioner have been brought to an end by respondent no. 5 vide order dated 22nd april, 2008 at annexure-3 to the memo of petition and, therefore, the petition deserves to be dismissed. 3. having heard learned counsels for both the sides and looking to the facts and circumstances of the case, i hereby quash and set aside the order passed by respondent no. 5 vide order dated 22nd april, 2008 at annexure-3 to the memo of petition, mainly for the following facts and reasons:(i) the petitioner was appointed as anganbari sevika with effect from 26th june, 2007. the appointment letter is at annexure-1 to the memo of petition.(ii) it appears that, thereafter, the petitioner had undergone training, successfully and to that effect, a certificate has also been issued by the respondents the said certificate is at annexure-2 to the memo of petition.(iii) it also appears that, thereafter, the petitioner has worked for several months to the satisfaction of the respondents, for which, salary has also been paid to the petitioner by the respondents,(iv) thereafter, it appears that respondent no. 5 has terminated the services of the petitioner vide order dated 22nd april, 2008 without giving any notice and without giving any opportunity of being heard to the petitioner i.e. there is gross violation of principles of natural justice(v) looking closely to the impugned order at annexure-3 to the memo of petition, it appears that some complaints were received by respondent no. 5 and some ex-parte inquiry has been conducted privately. neither the copy of the complaints nor the inquiry report has been given to the petitioner, though much and heavy reliance has been placed upon this inquiry report by the child development project officer, taljhari, district-sahibganj (respondent no. 5). thus, (inquiry has been conducted, ex-parte and the report of the inquiry officer has never been given to the petitioner, therefore also, there is violation of principles of natural justice.4. as a cumulative effect of the aforesaid facts and. reasons, i hereby quash and set aside the order passed, by respondent no. 5 dated 22nd april, 2008 at annexnre-3 to the memo of petition, reserving liberty with the respondents to initiate action, in accordance with law and at least after following the principles of natural justice.5. the petition is, hereby, allowed and disposed of, in view of the aforesaid observations.