Addressing Panchayat Secy As 'Tum-Tam' Or 'Mere-Tere' Is Not Instigation To Commit Suicide: Jharkhand High Court Quashes FIR Against BDO
The Jharkhand High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a Block Development Officer accused of abetting the suicide of a Panchayat Secretary, holding that merely addressing the deceased as “tum-tam” or “mere-tere” does not constitute instigation to commit suicide. The Court observed that even if the allegations in the FIR were accepted in their entirety, they failed to satisfy the ingredients of the offence of abetment of suicide under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary was hearing a petition seeking quashing of the FIR and the entire criminal proceedings arising out of Dumri P.S. Case No. 70 of 2025, registered under Sections 108, 61, 316, 351 and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The petitioner was posted as the Block Development Officer, Dumri, at the relevant time. The allegation against her was that she had misbehaved with the deceased Panchayat Secretary, Sukhlal Mahato, by addressing him as “tum-tam” and “mere-tere.”
Before the High Court, the petitioner contended that even if the allegations in the FIR were accepted as true, none of the offences alleged were made out. It was further argued that a casual remark likely to cause harassment, by itself, would not amount to instigation within the meaning of Section 108 of the BNS, corresponding to Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. The petitioner also relied on Supreme Court decisions to contend that there must be a proximate nexus between the alleged act of instigation and the suicide.
Examining the legal position, the High Court observed that “instigation” under Section 108 BNS requires a person to goad, urge, provoke, incite or encourage another to commit an act. Referring to the decisions of the Supreme Court in Chitresh Kumar Chopra v. State and Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh, the Court observed that instigation must be suggestive of the consequence and there must be a continued course of conduct creating circumstances leaving the deceased with no option except to commit suicide.
Applying these principles, the Court noted that the only allegation against the petitioner was that she addressed the deceased using the expressions “tum-tam” and “mere-tere.” It further recorded that even this allegation was found to be untrue from the statements of witnesses examined during investigation, as reflected in paragraph 14 of the State's counter affidavit. The Court held that even assuming the allegation to be true, merely using such expressions could not amount to instigation to commit suicide. It observed:
“Merely using the words Tum Tam and Tere Mere, to the Panchayat Secretary by the Block Development Officer cannot be termed as instigation to commit suicide.”
Holding that none of the offences alleged in the FIR were made out even if the entire prosecution case was accepted at face value, the High Court concluded that continuation of the criminal proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of law.
Accordingly, the Court quashed the FIR and the entire criminal proceedings against the petitioner.
Case Title: Anvesha Ona v. State of Jharkhand.
Case Number: Cr.M.P. No. 1731 of 2025.
Appearance: Senior Advocate Mr. J.S. Singh, assisted by Mr. Utpal Kant for the Petitioner. Mr. Manoj Kumar for the State.