The State of Madhya Pradesh vs Deepak

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

13 March 2019

Case No.

Criminal Appeal No. 485 of 2019

Result

Allowed

Bench

D.Y. Chandrachud, Hemant Gupta

Citation

[2019] 2 S.C.R. 1055 : 2019 INSC 360

Headnote

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973:

s.397 r/w s.401 – Revisional jurisdiction – Exercise of, scope – Discussed – In the instant case, the prosecution case was that the victim-deceased and the respondent were employees in the Central Bank – The deceased was subjected to harassment by the respondent which led to her committing suicide by consuming poison – Charges were framed against the respondent under s.306 IPC and s.3(2)(v) of SC & ST Act by the Special Judge – High Court discharged the respondent from charges on the ground that there was no evidence with regard to provocation, incitement or encouragement which led to commission of suicide by the deceased – On State’s appeal, held: High Court evidently ignored what had emerged during the course of the investigation – The material indicated that several complaints were filed by the deceased alleging harassment caused to her by the respondent – The last of them was filed a few days before she committed suicide – It was alleged that the respondent had taken a loan of Rs 5 lakhs through fraudulent means in the name of the deceased and an altercation took place between him and the deceased in that regard – Moreover, the respondent was alleged to have got the deceased evicted from a rented house as well as terminated her from employment at Central Bank – There was a dying declaration also to that effect – Sufficient material was on record to uphold the order framing charges by the Special Judge – Therefore, discharge of the accused was not justified – High Court’s order set aside – Penal Code, 1860 – s.306 – The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Acts, 1989 – s.3(2)(v).

Amit Kapoor v. Ramesh Chander (2012) 9 SCC 460 : [2012] 7 SCR 988; State of Rajasthan v. Fatehkaran Mehdu (2017) 3 SCC 198 : [2017] 2 SCR 491; Chitresh Kumar Chopra v. State (NCT) of Delhi (2009) 16 SCC

605 : [2009] 13 SCR 230; Rajbir Singh v. State of U P (2006) 4 SCC 51 : [2006] 2 SCR 1134 – relied on.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DR. DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, J. 1. Leave granted. 2. The present appeal arises from a judgment dated 31 January, 2018 of a learned Single Judge of the Indore Bench of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh1 discharging the Respondent from charges framed by the Special Judge, Neemuch. The Special Judge, Neemuch had by an order dated 13.10.17 in Special Case No. 51 of 2017 framed charges against the respondent under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 18602 and Section 3(2)(V) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) A

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