“Saharanpur Court Sentences GST Officer to 10 Years RI in Wife’s Death Case, Convicts Him of Culpable Homicide and Cruelty”
In a significant verdict, a court in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district on Monday sentenced a Goods and Services Tax (GST) assistant commissioner to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in the death of his wife in 2014.
The court held him guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, along with charges of cruelty and destruction of evidence.
The convict, Ashwani Singh (35), was posted in Saharanpur at the time of the incident and was later attached to the Central GST Commissionerate in Meerut.
He had been out on bail during the trial but was taken into custody immediately after being convicted on April 30.
The court found Singh guilty under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 498A (subjecting a woman to cruelty), and Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or providing false information to shield an offender).
The matter was listed for sentencing, and the court on Monday formally pronounced the punishment.
Additional District Government Counsel Deepak Saini stated that Singh was brought from jail for the sentencing hearing, during which the court also imposed a fine of ₹1.40 lakh in addition to the prison term.
During the course of the trial, the court examined a total of eight prosecution witnesses and nine defence witnesses.
While Singh was convicted, his parents were acquitted of all charges, with the court extending them the benefit of the doubt due to insufficient evidence against them.
The defence counsel, Pramod Gupta, indicated that they intend to challenge the verdict and will file an appeal before a higher court.
According to a senior GST department official, Singh had been attached to the department’s Meerut office after securing bail earlier in the proceedings.
The case dates back to November 2014, when the family of Singh’s wife, Geeta Singh, lodged a complaint in Saharanpur alleging sustained harassment and cruelty by Singh and his parents following the couple’s marriage in 2013.
The complainant alleged that soon after the wedding, Singh and his family began demanding a dowry of ₹2 crore.
Geeta gave birth to a child in 2014, but the alleged harassment continued. The prosecution argued that whenever she resisted or objected to these unlawful demands, she was subjected to both physical and mental abuse.
According to the prosecution’s version of events, on November 16, 2014, Singh allegedly assaulted Geeta at their rented residence in the Hakikat Nagar area of Saharanpur and then pushed her from the terrace, leading to her death.
The court’s verdict brings closure to a decade-old case, underscoring the judiciary’s stance against domestic violence and dowry-related crimes, while also reaffirming the importance of due process in determining individual culpability.
