Dowry death case: High court orders release of exMP, wife on bail

ALLAHABAD : The Allahabad high court has directed that former Rajya Sabha member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Narendra Kashyap and his wife Devendri Kashyap be released on bail in the dowry death case of their daughter-in-law.

Kashyap and his wife had filed criminal appeal before the high court challenging the sentence awarded to them by Ghaziabad sessions court for abetment of suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Directing for the appellants’ release, justice Vijay Lakshmi observed: “After perusing the record in the light of the submissions made by the counsel, considering the entire facts and circumstances and without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, this court is of the view that the appellants may be enlarged on bail during pendency of the appeal”.

Kashyap’s daughter-in-law was found dead in her house on April 6, 2016. Her in-laws claimed that she had shot herself using the revolver of her husband while her parents and relatives alleged she was killed by Kashyap and his family for dowry.

An FIR was lodged at Kabir Nagar police station in Ghaziabad on April 6, 2016 against six people. Kashyap was arrested on April 7, 2016 and sent to jail.

In January this year, the sessions court acquitted them on charges of dowry death (Section 304B) of IPC but convicted them for abetment of suicide (Section 306 of IPC) and awarded a sentence of three-and-a-half years to the couple. During the hearing of criminal appeal, the counsel for the appellants submitted before the court that the former MP and his wife were innocent.