SYED GANI vs STATE OF MAHARASHTRA (2002)

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FACTS OF THE CASE

The victim’s mother, Sonerabi, was married to a man named Mehboob. She became pregnant shortly after they got married and was found to be well along in the pregnancy. She admitted that she had a child with the accused, Syed Gani, who was also related to her. Mehboob and Syed Gani consented to have Sonerabi’s marriage to Mehboob dissolved by Talaq. 

After this divorce, Sonerabi and Syed Gani then had their Nikah ceremony. Sonerabi gave birth to a boy three months after they got married. However, the accused, Syed Gani, insisted that she should kill the child, which she refused to do. Syed Gani killed the 15-day-old victim by pulling him by his leg and squeezed his neck on July 9, 1994, in Sonerabi’s presence. He then went on to threaten Sonerabi that if she disclosed the act to anyone, then she would also be killed. The dead body of the child was then buried, and the accused claimed that the child had died of natural causes. 

ISSUES

1. Whether the accused, Syed Gani, was liable for the death of the victim or not?

ARGUMENTS

When the appeal was scheduled to be heard in the court, the accused, Syed Gani, pleaded that he was not guilty on the grounds that Sonerabi and her father had filed a false case against him. He also stated that one of the prosecution witness was making false claims as they had been on hostile terms with each other in the past. The accused lawyer stated that the child died because he was weak from birth and was not fed properly, and that he died because a heavy object fell on him. The learned cousel of the accused stated that if he had accepted the child and had married the complainant, Sonerabi, there was no reason for him to kill the child.

However, the court found evidence that what Sonerabi said was consistent and corroborated with the oral evidence by the witnesses as well as the medical evidence. 

JUDGMENT

The Hon’ble Court, after hearing arguments by counsels of both the sides, the court believed that the oral arguments of the complainant, Sonerabi, are natural, consistent, and corroborated by the witnesses and medical evidence. Thus, the Court believed the oral and documentary evidence given by the prosecution, and convicted the accused, Syed Gani, under Section 302, 201, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced him accordingly. 

REFERENCES

Indian kanoon – search engine for Indian law. Available at: https://indiankanoon.org/  (Accessed: 02 September 2023).  

Syed Gani S/O. Syed Abdul Raheem v. State of Maharashtra, Bombay High Court, judgment, law, Casemine.com (no date) https://www.casemine.com. Available at: https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/56b4938f607dba348f007702 (Accessed: 03 September 2023).  

Written by Chahat Kanchan an intern under legal vidhiya.

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