Penal Code, 1860 – s.306 & s.107 – Abetment to Suicide – Instigation – Requirements to prove abetment of suicide – Explained – Charges quashed:
Held: When Section 306 IPC is read with Section 107 IPC, it is clear that there must be (i) direct or indirect instigation; (ii) in close proximity to the commission of suicide; along with (iii) clear mens rea to abet the commission of suicide – After referring to Rohini Sudarshan Gangurde v. State of Maharashtra & Anr., 2024 SCC OnLine SC 1701, Prakash and Others v. The State of Maharashtra & Anr. 2024 INSC 1020, Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh (2001) 9 SCC 618, Pawan Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh (2017) 7 SCC 780, it was held that the judgments of the High Court and the Trial Court are not correct – Even if all evidence on record, including the chargesheet and the witness statements, are taken to be correct, there is not an iota of evidence against the Appellant – The acts of the Appellant are too remote and indirect to constitute the offense under Section 306 IPC – There is no allegation against the Appellant of a nature that the deceased was left with no alternative but to commit the unfortunate act of committing suicide – There needs to be a positive act that creates an environment where the deceased is pushed to an edge in order to sustain the charge of Section 306 IPC – As such, the charges under Section 306 & 107 IPC were quashed. [Paras 8-15] Penal Code, 1860 – s.306 – Abetment to suicide – Instigation of suicide – Prerequisites:
Held: By referring to Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh (2001) 9 SCC 618, Pawan Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh (2017) 7 SCC 780, it was noted that to satisfy the requirement of instigation, a reasonable certainty to incite the consequence must be capable of being spelt out though it is not necessary that actual words must be used to that effect or what constitutes instigation must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequence – A word uttered in the fit of anger or emotion without intending the consequences to actually follow cannot be said to be instigation – It was noted that a mere allegation of harassment without any positive action in proximity to the time of occurrence on the part of the accused that led a person to commit suicide, a conviction in terms of Section 306 IPC is not sustainable.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Mukund P Unny, Hony. Associate Editor (Verified by: Liz Mathew, Sr. Adv.). Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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