6th FYLC RANKA NATIONAL MOOT COURT COMPETITION- 2016

UNIVERSITY
TEAM
CODE
uuuTEAM CODE PR-17
6th FYLC RANKA NATIONAL
MOOT COURT COMPETITION- 2016

BEFORE THE HONBLE SUPREME COURT

IN THE PROCEEDING BETWEEN

VIKRAM GUPTA AND STATE ....

.....APPELLANT

AND
DINESH GOYAL AND ORS. ...
...RESPONDENT

MEMORANDUM FOR APPELLANT

MOST RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

COUNSELS APPEARING ON BEHALF OF APPELLANT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INDEX OF AUTHORITIES
STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION
STATEMENT OF FACT
STATEMENT OF ISSUES
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS
ARGUMENTS ADVANCED
PRAYER

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INDEX OF AUTHORITIES
A. ARTICLES:

B. BOOKS AND COMMENTARIES:

C. JUDICIAL DECISIONS:

D. REPORTS

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STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION
Vikram Gupta and State, on its own behalf, has approached the Honble Supreme Court, for
seeking adequate punishment for

The Appellant humbly submits to the jurisdiction of this Court.

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STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. Mr. Suresh Goyal S/o Shri Dinesh Goyal, an industrialist and high profile person was married
to Miss Sharda Gupta D/o Shri Vikram Gupta, a businessman, having chain of departmental
stores, on 17th July, 2012 the fulfillment of the agreed dowry and all terms and conditions to the
satisfaction of the Goyal family.
The wedding reception was arranged by Shri Dinesh Goyal on 18 th July, 2012 on a grand and a
lavish scale.
2. There was a double talk regarding the expenditure on the wedding from both the parties for
which appeals are pending.
3. Further, Mrs. Sharda Goyal did not receive proper treatment from her in-laws subsequent to
which her mother-in-law tendered a written apology to her.
4. Mrs. Sharda Goyal gave birth to a baby girl which further made the relation estranged. As a
result of which she was sent back to her parental house. Later, Suresh Goyal apologized for the
wrong doing and brought her back to the Goyal palace with her consent but their relation remain
estranged due to excessive dowry demands and drinking habits of Suresh Goyal.
5. On 24 May, 2015, Goyal family planned and Mr. Dinesh Goyal purchased Organo Phosphrus
(NUVAN). On 25th May, 2015, Mrs. Shalini Goyal forcibly administered poison to Mrs. Sharda
Goyal to kill her. Shrinks and cries of the deceased and extreme weeping of the child were heard
by the servants working in the Goyal Palace. According to witnesses articles of the room were
scattered and deceased was lying having bruises and contusions on her face.
6. The deceased was taken to the hospital after some time of which she died at the hospital. The
anti-mortem and post-mortem revealed several injuries on her body.
7. Mr. Vikram Gupta, the father of the deceased lodged at the police station mentioning the
harassment for dowry to the deceased.
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8. The Honble Trial Court acquitted the mother-in-law and the husband as there was no direct
evidence against them. But the father in law was convicted and awarded imprisonment of 7 years
with no fine.
9. State and Vikram Gupta filed the appeal before the Honble Rajasthan High Court pleading for
life imprisonment for Mr. Dinesh Goyal, 7 years imprisonment for Mrs. Shalini Goyal and 5
years imprisonment for Mr. Suresh Goyal.
10. The Honble High Court set aside the conviction stating that when two views are possible,
one favorable to the accused is required to be adopted.
11. The State as well as Shri Vikram Gupta has now filled and appeal against all the three
accused setting aside conviction and non-levy of maximum imprisonment with fine as also
awarding the exemplary costs all throughout.

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STATEMENT OF ISSUES

I. WHETHER THE JUDGMENTS GIVEN BY THE TRIAL COURT AND HONBLE

HIGH COURT WERE JUSTIFIED?
A. Whether the judgment of Honble Trial Court was justified?
B. Whether the judgment of Honble High Court was justified?

II. WHETHER MRS. SHARDA WAS SUBJECTED TO CRUELTY AND DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE?

III. WHETHER THE DEATH OF MRS. SHARDA GOYAL WAS MURDER?

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SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS

I. THE JUDGMENT GIVEN BY TRIAL COURT AND HONBLE HIGH COURT WERE
NOT JUSTIFIED.

II. ACTIONS OF THE RESPONDENT AMOUNT TO CRUELTY AND DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE OF THE DECEASED.

III. THE DEATH OF MRS. SHARDA GOYAL WAS MURDER.

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ARGUMENTS ADVANCED

I. THE JUDGEMENT GIVEN BY TRIAL COURT AND HONBLE HIGH COURT

WERE NOT JUSTIFIED.

II. ACTIONS OF THE RESPONDENT AMOUNTED TO CRUELTY AND DOMESTIC

VIOLENCE OF THE DECEASED.
The definition of Cruelty as stated in Blacks Law Dictionary is the intention and malicious
infliction of mental and physical suffering on a living creator, especially a human; abusive
treatment.1
The most landmark case of Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddy2, in this case, the learned Chief
Justice observed that, The word cruelty has not been defined. Indeed it could not have been
defined. It has been used in relation to human conduct or human behavior. It is the conduct in
relation to or in respect of matrimonial duties and obligations. It is a course of conduct of one
which adversely affecting the other.
In the case of Inder Raj malik v. Sumita Malik 3, it was held that the word cruelty is defined in
the explanation which inter alia says that harassment of a woman with a view to coerce her or
any related persons to meet any unlawful demand for any property or any valuable security is
cruelty.
In Bhaskar Lal Sharma & Anr vs Monica, 2009, the Supreme Court examined the ingredients of
cruelty to determine which acts would fall within the ambit of the offence of cruelty by the
husband or his relatives, under Section 498 A of the IPC.

1 Bryan A. Gaener, Blacks Law Dictionary, 9th edition, 2009, P.434

2 1988 SCC (1) 105 JT 1987 (4) 433
3 1986 Cr LJ 1510

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The Supreme Court observed that, in order to constitute cruelty under the provision, the husband
and relatives conduct should be such as to be likely to drive the woman to suicide or cause grave
injury or danger to her life, limb or to her mental or physical health.

The term used to describe the exploding problem of violence within our homes is Domestic
violence.
Women are always considered as a physically and emotionally weaker than males. Behind closed
doors of homes all across our country, people are being tortured, beaten and killed. It is
becoming a legacy being passed on from one generation to another.
According to a latest report prepared by Indias National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a
crime has been recorded against women in every three minutes in India.
According to United Nation Population Fund Report, around two-third of married Indian women
are victims of domestic violence attacks. Women are often exploited for demanding more dowry.
Sustained unjustifiable and reprehensible conduct affecting physical and mental health of the
women may lead to mental cruelty. With mental disturbance and non-congenial atmosphere Mrs.
Sharda Goyal could not conceive. Her mother-in-law continuously threatened her to give birth to
a baby boy, within one year, else she would be thrown out and she would re-marry her son. Plus
she was also sent back to her parental house when she gave birth to a baby girl.
In the case of Public Prosecutor OP High Court v. T. BasavaPunnaiah 4, the death of the married
woman occurred on account of asphyxia due to hanging within three years of her marriage and is
otherwise than under normal circumstances, it would still be a death coming within the scope of
Sec. 304-B5 when cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband in
connection with any demand for dowry is proved. As in the case at hand, Mrs. Sharda died
within 3 years of her marriage the presumption of harassment for dowry is assured.

4 1989 Cr. L. J. 2330 (AP)

5

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In Rajesh Bhatnagar v. State of uttarkhand6 and Sharad v. state of Maharashtra7, when the brides
are burnt alive with reference to the demand of dowry and their failure in fulfilling the demand,
one can very well understand the stand of cruelty in demand of dowry.
These types of cases can give us a clear picture of how the demand for dowry can become a
cruelty issue. Demand of dowry can cross any level of cruelty. At the case in hand, Smt. Shalini
Goyal was continuously making dowry demands for Mercedes Benj Classic Car and for a fixed
deposit of Rs. 1 crore. However, a fixed deposit of Rs. 25 lacs was given in the name of Mrs.
Sharda Goyal.
The word dowry has to be understood as it is defined in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition
Act, 1961. Thus, there are three occasions related to dowry, i.e., before marriage, at the time of
marriage and at an unending period. The customary payment in connection with the birth of child
or other ceremonies, are not involved within ambit of dowry.8
Matrimonial cruelty in India is a cognizable, non-bailable and non-compoundable offence. It is
defined in chapter XXA of IPC under Sec 498A asHusband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty- Whoever, being the
husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be
punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable
to fine. For the purpose of this section, cruelty means(a) Any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit
suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or
physical) of the woman; or

6 (2012) 7 SCC 91
7 (2012) 5 SCC 548
8 Satvir Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 2001 SC 2828;(2001) 8 SCC 633

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(b) Harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any
person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security
or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.9
In the case of Jagdish Chander v. State of Haryana 10, it was held that the drinking and late
coming habits of the husband coupled with beating and demanding dowry have been taken to
amount to cruelty within the meaning of Section 498A of IPC. With reference to present case,
Mr. Suresh Goyal was also addicted drinking and he also started abusing and beating Mrs.
Sharda in the presence of servants.
At last, showing any mercy to abusers or giving them the benefit of Doubt when some proof to
torture at their hand is present is completely wrong. Like, In the case of Ashok Batra & ors. V.
State11, even though the letter of the deceased stating that harassment had taken place was
present, not treating them as strong evidence and giving the appellants a benefit of doubt without
ordering for a further investigation into the matter is wrong.
A. Soon before death
Further, the Indian Penal Code in Section 304B12 stipulates that for a death of a married woman
to be considered as dowry related, an act of cruelty, amongst other requirements, should precede
death. The phrase in the Section requiring a causal link between the act of cruelty and the death
is soon before death.
In the IPC, Section 304(B)13 deals with dowry death and cruelty towards a woman by her
husband and his relatives. Cruelty under this section is same defined by Section 498(A) of the
9 The Indian Penal Code, Ratanlal and dhirajlal, 30 th edition reprint, 2008, pg. 917
10 1988 Cr LJ 1048 (P&H)
11 1 (2003) DMC 287
12
13

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IPC. Under 498(A)14, unlawful demand for property, including demand for dowry, is considered
as cruelty.
Section 113(B)15 of the Indian Evidence Act also deals with death occurring due to demand of
dowry. Section 113(B)16 is presumptive in nature. This implies that if the prosecution is able to
establish the elements of a dowry related death then the court, in accordance with this section,
shall presume it to be so and the burden would be on the accused to rebut the presumption dowry
related death.17 Section 113(B)18 works in conjucation with Section 304(B) of the IPC.19
Section 304B20 of the Indian Penal Code 1860, deals with deaths that occur due to incidents
concerning a demand for dowry. The section stipulates that for a death to be considered as dowry
related, it should be preceded by an act of cruelty against the deceased woman. Furthermore, the
act of cruelty should be related to demand for dowry and should be soon for death. However,
neither the IPC nor the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 lay out any specific timeframe or guidelines
for ascertaining what constitutes soon after death. The legislature has not provided any strait
jacketed formula for interpreting the phrase soon Before death either21.

14
15
16
17 PSA Pillai, Criminal Law (Kl Vibhute(ed), !!th edn, Lexis
NexisButteworthsWadhwa)600.
18
19 ibid
20
21RatanlalRanchhoddas and DhirajlaThakore, The indian Penal Code (VR
Manohar(ed), 33rdedn, LexisNexisButterworthsWadhwa Nagpur 2010)

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The Honble Supreme Court in Uday Chakrborty v. State of West Bengal 22 stated that the
demand for dowry had taken place immediately after marriage and the woman had entered her
life within two years, her entire marriage of two years could be treated as soon before death.
The inclusion of the phrase soon before death shows that there should be proximity between
the act of cruelty and the death that occurred. The expression soon before her Death used in the
substantive section 304B23 of the IPC and Section 113B24 of the Indian Evidence Act is pregnant
with the idea of a proximity test25. The proximity test is also a measure of mensrea.
In Krishan Lal v. Union of India26, validity of the dowry protection laws was under challenge on
the grounds that there was no assessment for mensrea in the law. The High Court stated that the
phrase soon before death essentially assessed whether the accused had any intention of causing
death. If harassment continued to the point of death, then the accused should be treated as having
been involved in causing death of the women. In other words, the mensrea is to be ascertained
using the proximity test.27 Therefore, the phrase soon before death essentially assesses the
mensreaelement in case of dowry death.
Soon before is a relative term and would have to be applied individually to each case. It would
be hazardous to indicate any fixed period.28
22 (2010) 7 SCC 518
23
24
25Keshab Chandra Panda v. State of Orrisa, (1995) 1 Cr. LJ 174 (Ori.)
26 1994 CriLJ 3472
27RatanlalRanchhoddas and DhirajlaThakore, The indian Penal Code (VR
Manohar(ed), 33rdedn, LexisNexisButterworthsWadhwa Nagpur 2010)
28 Vidhya Devi v. State of Haryana, AIR 2004 SC 476; Keshab Chandra Panda v.
State of Orrisa, (1995) 1 Cr LJ 174 (Ori.); Kans Raj. V. state of Punjab, AIR 2000 SC
2324; DeenDayal v. State of UP, (2009) 11 SCC 157

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Therefore, it is humbly submitted that Mrs. Sharda was subjected to cruelty. The clear evidence
of this is the daily diary which was maintained by the deceased noting every incident minutely.
Honble Supreme Court in the case of Sunil Bajaj v. State of M.P.29, after noticing the provisions
of section 304B had opined that in order to establish an offence u/s 304B IPC,, following
ingredients must be established before any death can be termed as dowry death1. The death of a woman must have been caused by burns or bodily injury or otherwise than
under normal circumstances.
2. Such death must have occurred within 7 years of the marriage.
3. Soon before her death, the woman must have been subjected to cruelty or harassment by
her husband or by relatives of her husband.
4. Such cruelty or harassment must be for or in connection with demand of dowry.
Soon before death is largely a relative term and as such its application cannot be uniform.

29 Sunil Bajaj v. state of M.P., (2001) 9 SCC 417,

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III. THE DEATH OF MRS. SHARDA GOYAL WAS MURDER.

Murder is defined in Section 30030 of IPC as
There was struggle and application of violence on the deceased in the room where she was
forcibly taken for being done to death. To incapacitate her of any meaningful resistance, the
accused persons interfere with her breathing process by holding her body physically and also
evident from the post-mortem report prepared by Dr. Piyush Kapila in association with Dr. V.K.
Mishra that the reason for death of Mrs. Sharda Goyal was suffocation and to further extent
asphyxia
Section 304B31 was added to the Indian Penal Code, which made dowry death a specific offence
punishable with a minimum sentence of imprisonment for 7 years and a maximum imprisonment
for life. It provided that if the death of a woman is caused by burns or physical injury or occurs
in doubting circumstances within 7 years of her marriage, and there's evidence to show that
before her death, she was subjected to cruelty by her husband or his relative for demand of
dowry, then the husband or the relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.
Further, section 113B of the Evidence Act, 1872, creates an added presumption of dowry death
when it is shown that before her death, the woman had been subjected to cruelty in connection
with dowry demand.

30 Murder.--Except in the cases hereinafter excepted, culpable homicide is murder, if the act by which
the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or- 167 2ndly.-If it is done with the
intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person
to whom the harm is caused. or- 3rdly.-If it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any
person and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause
death, or- 4thly.-If the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in
all probability, cause death, or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death, and commits such act without
any excuse for incurring the risk of causing death or such injury as aforesaid.
31

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To attract the provisions of section 304B, one of the main ingredients of the offence which is
required to be establish is that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty and
harassment in connection with the demand of dowry.32
The dowry deaths, therefore, she observes, do not occur because there is a mismatch between
gifts demanded by in-laws and presents received, but because young married women customarily
have no political significance in their new families. The continuous demand for dowry is but one
of the ways in which the deficient political status is exploited. This deficiency is used to maltreat
her in countless other ways too. Therefore, she says, the term 'dowry-deaths' is a misnomer
because dowry related harassment occurs as part of a larger mandate to oppress a human with
zero-political status. Dowry is hardly ever the single cause of so called dowry deaths. In other
words, even if demands for dowry were to be satisfied fully, young women would continue to
face torture and harassment in their in-laws homes because of their custom-sanctioned-inferiority
that robs them of their basic human rights.
This resistance proves extremely provocative to authoritarian family members of the husband's
family, not so much because of the monetary deprivation, but because of its real potential for
destabilizing the power structure which sanctions exploitative behavior within the family. The
young woman's subdued non-cooperation with the demand for extortion of dowry from her
parents might not be the solitary issue on which she resists blind authority, but there might be
some other issues, which expose her as opinionated, as for instance, the desire to work or study,
despite family opposition. All such actions are regarded as signals of disrespect and revolt. When
a young woman, who is a political amputee by tradition, resists prestigious traditions such as
dowry, she is a logical candidate for retaliation by the in-laws. Dowry death are a manifest
example of this retaliation by the flag-bearers of patriarchal authority. In some cases, the
retaliatory wrath of the in-laws expresses itself in murders of the young women by burning with
kerosene (most frequent in urban areas) or drowning (common in rural areas). Other methods
employed to murder include poisoning and physical battery.

32 Prema S. Rao v. Yadla Srinivasa, AIR 2003 SC II

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PRAYER
In light of the issues raised, arguments advanced and authorities cited, respondents most humbly
request this Tribunal to adjudge and declare that:
I The judgments of the HonBle Trial court and the HonBle High court be quashed.
II. All the three accused be charged u/s 304B and be punished for the same.
III. All the three accused be punished for brutally murdering Mrs. Sharda Goyal for which
Dinesh Goyal be awarded imprisoned for life,
Shalini Goyal and Suresh Goyal he awarded rigorous imprisonment.

AND/OR
Pass any other order that it deems in the interest of Justice, Equity and Good conscience and for
this, the appellant as in duty bound, shall humbly pray.

COUNCELS ON BEHALF OF THE APPELLANT

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