Delhi Court Acquits Man Of Dowry Death, Cites “Must Be True” Standard

Delhi’s Dwarka Court has recently acquitted Satender Gautam of charges related to dowry death, citing insufficient evidence.

The court, led by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Sharad Gupta, concluded that the prosecution failed to provide convincing evidence to support the charges under Section 498A IPC (cruelty for dowry) and Section 304B IPC (dowry death).

The court emphasized that while the prosecution’s claims might seem plausible, they did not meet the standard of “beyond reasonable doubt” required in criminal cases. ASJ Gupta noted, “There is a long distance between ‘may be true’ and ‘must be true.'” He reaffirmed that the burden of proof lies with the prosecution, which must prove every element of the offense without any doubt.

The prosecution’s case rested on a quarrel between Gautam and the deceased, Poonam Sharma, the day before her death. However, the court stated that domestic quarrels are commonplace and not necessarily indicative of criminal intent. It noted that even the deceased’s friend, who testified about the fight, described it as a normal marital dispute.

Gautam was charged after a complaint was filed in 2011 by Kamlesh Devi, who claimed that her daughter, Poonam Sharma, had committed suicide due to Gautam’s harassment and dowry demands. Gautam’s lawyer, Pujya Kumar Singh, argued that these allegations were false and that Gautam had been unjustly implicated due to family conflicts over an inter-caste marriage.

Poonam Sharma committed suicide on November 26, 2011, following a love marriage to Gautam in 2009. At the time of her death, the couple was living in Najafgarh, Delhi.

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