Asking Son's Lover To End Life If She Can't Live Without Him Not Abetment Of Suicide : Supreme Court Quashes Case Against Mother

The Supreme Court today (Jan. 21) quashed a criminal case for the offence of abetment to suicide against a woman for asking her son's lover to end her life if she could not live without him. The bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice SC Sharma was hearing the case arising out of the Calcutta High Court's decision refusing to quash the FIR under Sections 306 r/w 107 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against the Appellant. Setting aside the High Court's decision to the extent that the charges against the Appellant herein were upheld by the High Court, the Court observed that the acts of the Appellant refusing his son's marriage with the deceased, and thereupon asking to end her life if she was not able to live without him are too remote and indirect to constitute the offense under Section 306 IPC The Court explained that 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. The Court noted all the aforementioned ingredients of the offence were absent to attract liability for abetment to suicide. “It is discerned from the record that the Appellant along with her family did not attempt to put any pressure on the deceased to end the relationship between her and Babu Das. In fact, it was the deceased's family that was unhappy with the relationship. Even if the Appellant expressed her disapproval towards the marriage of Babu Das and the deceased, it does not rise to the level of direct or indirect instigation of abetting suicide. Further, a remark such as asking the deceased to not be alive if she cannot live without marrying her lover will also not gain the status of abetment. 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.”, the Court observed. In terms of the aforementioned observation, the appeal was partly allowed.Related - 'Abetment Of Suicide' Offence Can't Be Invoked Only To Assuage Feelings Of Family; High Time To Sensitise Police : Supreme Court Case Title: LAXMI DAS VERSUS THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS.Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 88 Click here to read/download the orderAppearance: For Appellant(s) Mr. Kunal Chatterji, AOR Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Adv. Mr. Rohit Bansal, Adv. Ms. Mrinalini Mukherjee, Adv. For Respondent(s) Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik, Adv. Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Mr. Simranjeet Singh Rekhi, Adv. Ms. Shriya Mishra, Adv. M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR Mr. Subhasish Bhowmick, AOR Ms. Manisha Pandey, Adv. Mr. Shubhankar, Adv. Mr. M.K.Rathor, Adv. Mr. Rahul Kushwaha, Adv. Mr. Reegan S Bel, Adv. Mr. Ashutosh Singh, Adv.

Asking Son's Lover To End Life If She Can't Live Without Him Not Abetment Of Suicide : Supreme Court Quashes Case Against Mother

Yash Mittal

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