Abetment Of Suicide | Instigation Must Be In Close Proximity To Suicide : Supreme Court Quashes Case Under S.306 IPC

The Supreme Court, while quashing a case for abetment of suicide against an accused, discussed the essentials to convict a person under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code(IPC). It is pertinent to note that “Abetment” is defined under section 107 IPC. The Court explained that, for the first part of Section 107 to apply, the accused must have intentionally encouraged and pushed the person intensely to commit suicide. He must have planned it and his act should be very close to the time when the person actually committed suicide.

It observed “To attract the first clause under section 107 IPC, there must be instigation in some form on the part of the accused to cause the deceased to commit suicide. Hence, the accused must have mens rea to instigate the deceased to commit suicide. The act of instigation must be of such intensity that it is intended to push the deceased to such a position under which he or she has no choice but to commit suicide. Such instigation must be in close proximity to the act of committing suicide.”

The Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal was hearing an appeal against a Uttarakhand High Court judgment which dismissed a plea seeking to quash the offence related to a suicide case.

The case revolved around the suicide of the deceased, Ashok Kumar, allegedly due to threats, assault, and a financial dispute between him and the first appellant, the son of a money lender, Sandeep Bansal. In this case, the widow of the deceased had borrowed a sum of Rs.40,000 from Sandeep Bansal and later another sum of Rs.60,000. The deceased was allegedly under tension due to a legal notice issued by Sandeep regarding dishonored cheques. The deceased, distressed by the events, purportedly committed suicide on July 4, 2017.

The prosecution relied on a suicide note written by the deceased on June 30, 2017. The High Court, rejected the plea to quash the offence, allowing the case to proceed.

The question before the court was whether the appellants instigated the deceased to commit suicide?

The Court scrutinized Sections 306 and 107 IPC, emphasizing that for abetment, there must be a specific act of instigation with mens rea, pushing the deceased to a point where suicide becomes the only option.

The Court highlighted the timeline of events, noting an incident of threat and assault by the accused on June 15, 2017, followed by a legal notice issued under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act on June 27, 2017. The suicide note was written on June 30, 2017, and the deceased committed suicide three days later.

Crucially, the Court observed that the alleged acts of the accused took place over two weeks before the suicide, and there was no evidence of subsequent contact or instigation in close proximity to the suicide.

The Court observed :

"In the present case, taking the complaint of the third respondent and the contents of the suicide note as correct, it is impossible to conclude that the appellants instigated the deceased to commit suicide by demanding the payment of the amount borrowed by the third respondent from her husband by using abusive language and by assaulting him by a belt for that purpose."

The Court opined “The said incident allegedly happened more than two weeks before the date of suicide. There is no allegation that any act was done by the appellants in close proximity to the date of suicide. By no stretch of the imagination, the alleged acts of the appellants can amount to instigation to commit suicide.”

Therefore, it concluded that the acts of the accused, as described, did not amount to instigation under Section 306. The Court allowed the appeal and quashed the summoning order, observing that the the continuation of the prosecution will be "nothing but an abuse of the process of law."

Case title: Mohit Singhal v. State of UttarakhandCitation: CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 3578 OF 2023

Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 1035

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