SC transfers dowry death case from Unnao to Delhi

The Supreme Court came to the rescue of a man by transferring the dowry death case of his daughter from Uttar Pradesh's Unnao to Tiz Hazari here, taking note of his plea which said the accused were politically influential persons.

The plea in the top court alleged that victim Jyoti Singh died of bullet injuries at her matrimonial home in Unnao on May 14, 2019 and the Uttar Pradesh Police has been "portraying the murder case as a suicide".

Moreover, the father-in law of the victim and one of the accused, Munnu Singh Chauhan, have been trying to influence the probe as he is a politically influential person and serving as the 'block pramukh', it said, adding that Munnu is also a close associate of sacked BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

Sengar was convicted in the Unnao rape case by a Delhi court.

A bench of Justice V Ramasubramanian took note of the submissions of lawyer Aldanish Rein, appearing for the victim's father Rakesh Singh, that he feared for his life in pursuing the case at Unnao court and ordered its transfer to a court in Tis Hazari here.

"Having heard counsel for the petitioner and for the State and having considered the facts and circumstances of the case, I deem it fit and proper to allow this transfer petition. Accordingly, Criminal Case pending before Chief Judicial Magistrate, District and Sessions Court, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh titled as is transferred to a competent Court in Tis Hazari Courts in Delhi," the top court said in the order.

A day after the victim was found dead, an FIR was lodged at Kotwali police station in Unnao under various provisions of the IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act relating to offences, including dowry death, subjecting women to cruelty and demanding dowry.

It was alleged that despite getting adequate dowry at the time of marriage in 2017, the accused were demanding a car and Rs 10 lakh cash, and when their demands were not met, they killed her.

The father of the victim had made allegations against her daughter's husband Golu Singh Chauhan, her father-in-law, mother-in-law and two other relatives. The father of the victim has also sought transfer of probe from the Uttar Pradesh Police to the CBI besides the custody of his grand-daughter.

"The police has finally filed its charge sheet against the father in law, husband and the mother-in-law of the deceased despite it being a clear case of 302 IPC (murder) and have further given a clean chit to the other three accused under political and financial influence. The charge sheet is not available with the present petitioner. The petitioner, being the complainant in the present case, is scared of all the accused. The accused persons have threatened the petitioner and his family members of dire consequence," the plea alleged.