Penal Code, 1860 – s.306 – Abetment of suicide – Victim-deceased was an employee of a company for past twenty-three years – It is alleged that company wanted some of its employees to opt for Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) – As all those employees were not ready to opt for the VRS scheme, they were being harassed in some manner or the other – It is further alleged that in a course of a office meeting the deceased was humiliated by the appellants and he felt very bad about it – Later, in a hotel room he committed suicide – Charge-sheet was filed – The High Court declined to quash the proceedings:
Held: The test that the Court should adopt in this type of cases is to make an endeavour to ascertain on the basis of the materials on record whether there is anything to indicate even prima facie that the accused intended the consequences of the act, i.e., suicide – Over a period of time, the trend of the courts is that such intention can be read into or gathered only after a full-fledged trial – In the case on hand, the entire approach of the High Court could be said to be incorrect – The High Court should have examined the matter keeping in mind the following: (a) On the date of the meeting, i.e., 03.11.2006, did the appellants create a situation of unbearable harassment or torture, leading the deceased to see suicide as the only escape – To ascertain this, the two statements of the colleagues of the deceased referred were sufficient; (b) Are the appellants accused of exploiting the emotional vulnerability of the deceased by making him feel worthless or underserving of life leading him to commit suicide; (c) Is it a case of threatening the deceased with dire consequences, such as harm to his family or severe financial ruin to the extent that he believed suicide was the only way out;
(d) Is it a case of making false allegations that may have damaged the reputation of the deceased & push him to commit suicide due to public humiliation & loss of dignity – In the overall view of the matter, putting the appellants to trial on the charge that they abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased will be nothing but abuse of process of law – In opinion of this Court, no case worth the name against the appellants is made out. [Paras 22, 23, 25] Penal Code, 1860 – s.306 – Ingredients to constitute an offence u/s.306:
Held: The ingredients to constitute an offence under Section
306 of the IPC (abetment of suicide) would stand fulfilled if the suicide is committed by the deceased due to direct and alarming encouragement/incitement by the accused leaving no option but to commit suicide – Further, as the extreme action of committing suicide is also on account of great disturbance to the psychological imbalance of the deceased such incitement can be divided into two broad categories – First, where the deceased is having sentimental ties or physical relations with the accused and the second category would be where the deceased is having relations with the accused in his or her official capacity – In the case of former category sometimes a normal quarrel or the hot exchange of words may result into immediate psychological imbalance, consequently creating a situation of depression, loss of charm in life and if the person is unable to control sentiments of expectations, it may give temptations to the person to commit suicide – In the case of second category the tie is on account of official relations, where the expectations would be to discharge the obligations as provided for such duty in law and to receive the considerations as provided in law – In normal circumstances, relationships by sentimental tie cannot be equated with the official relationship – The reason being different nature of conduct to maintain that relationship – The former category leaves more expectations, whereas in the latter category, by and large, the expectations and obligations are prescribed by law, rules, policies and regulations. [Para 21] Penal Code, 1860 – s.306 – Understanding of Courts – Unnecessary prosecutions:
Held: The test that the Court should adopt in this type of cases is to make an endeavour to ascertain on the basis of the materials on record whether there is anything to indicate even prima facie that the accused intended the consequences of the act, i.e., suicide – Over a period of time, the trend of the courts is that such intention can be read into or gathered only after a full-fledged trial – The problem is that the courts just look into the factum of suicide and nothing more – Such an understanding on part of the Courts is wrong – In cases of abetment of suicide by and large the facts make things clear more particularly from the nature of the allegations itself – The Courts should know how to apply the correct principles of law governing abetment of suicide to the facts on record – It is the inability on the part of the courts to understand and apply the correct principles of law to the cases of abetment of suicide, which leads to unnecessary prosecutions – It is ultimately for the police and the courts of law to look into the matter and see that the persons against whom allegations have been levelled are not unnecessarily harassed or they are not put to trial just for the sake of prosecuting them. [Para 22]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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