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A division bench of Supreme Court consisting of Justice S.K Kaul and Justice K.M Joseph held that cruelty which is not related to dowry demand cannot be considered as the basis for the conviction under Section 304 B of the Indian Penal Code. The court clarified the provision of Section 304B.It was observed by the court that conviction under the said provision can only be made if the woman was subjected to harassment or cruelty by her husband or his relatives for or in connection with any demand for dowry soon before her death. The bench said “It is not any cruelty that becomes the subject matter of provision but it id the cruelty or harassment for or in connection with, demand for dowry”
The present case is an appeal against the judgement of the High Court. To affirm the conviction under Section 304 B, the High Court had noted the evidence that the accused (father-in-law) harassed the victim by asking her for liquor and under the state of Intoxication he used to ask her to sleep with him which caused mental cruelty to the deceased. However, the Supreme Court did not approve with this approach of the High Court. The court said that the above instance does not relate to any demand of dowry so, it is totally outside the scope of Section 304 B. Therefore, the court set aside the concurrent conviction.
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