Husband may have called wife on phone to prevent her from taking extreme step: Delhi High Court grants bail in dowry death case

The Delhi High Court, last week, granted bail to a person accused of dowry death of his wife, observing that the last telephone call made by the accused to wife could have been to persuade her to not take any adverse steps. (Amit Sharma v. State of NCT Delhi)..Single-judge Justice Mukta Gupta allowed the bail application of one Amit Sharma (petitioner) subject to furnishing personal bond of Rs. 50,000."The prosecution claims that this last call from the petitioner to the deceased instigated her to commit suicide, for which there is no evidence. it could be to persuade not to take any extreme step, because immediately thereafter the petitioner made a call to the complainant informing him that she has locked from inside," the Court observed in its order.The petitioner, accused of dowry death (Section 304B of Indian Penal Code) and subjecting wife to cruelty (Section 498A of IPC) had contended that even as per the complaint lodged by the father of the deceased, allegations had been levelled only against the mother and sister of the petitioner and not against the petitioner.It was also pointed out that the mother and sister of the petitioner had already been granted anticipatory bail.It was submitted that no overt act or any role was attributed to the petitioner alleging abetment of suicide and merely because just before the death, the petitioner and the deceased spoke on the mobile phone, it cannot be said to raise a suspicion that the petitioner instigated the deceased to commit suicide.It was the case of the complainant (father of the deceased) that his daughter had committed suicide after she spoke on phone with her husband. The Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for State had also supported the same, claiming that the conduct of the petitioner by making a phone call to the deceased soon before she committed suicide itself showed the conflict going on between the petitioner and the deceased which instigated the deceased to commit suicide. He further argued that there were allegations of demand of dowry at the time of marriage and hence, no bail be granted to the petitioner..The Court after examining various phone call records between the petitioner and the deceased and the other family members of the deceased and petitioner, concluded that it would be fit to grant bail to the petitioner. The Court further ordered that the petitioner cannot leave the country without the prior permission of the Court;In case he decides to change his residence or contact number, he should do so after intimating the Court by way of an affidavit. .[Read Order]