Doctor, parents cleared in dowry law abuse

 
The apex court minced no words in expressing displeasure at the manner in which the high court had convicted Dr Sunil Kumar Sambhudayal Gupta by erroneously reversing the acquittal order passed by the Sessions Court. “The high court dealt with the case very casually, adopting a very superficial approach to the whole matter and brushed aside the allegation of an illicit relationship for which there had been documentary evidence on record,” a Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan said.

The apex court said the manner in which the doctor and his parents were framed by the in-laws revealed the extent to which the anti-dowry laws were being abused in the country.
“It is a clear-cut case of gross abuse of dowry laws. The HC did not make any attempt to appreciate the evidence with accuracy and reversed the findings of the trial court which were based on the evidence on record and for which detailed reasons had been assigned,” the court said.

The court ruling came on an appeal by the doctor, a Mumbai-resident, and his parents. Married in December 1978, Gupta’s wife committed suicide in September 1985 by hanging herself.