Do You Want An Association For People Who May Commit Suicide In Future: SC Asks While Dismissing PIL Seeking Commission For Men

The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation seeking framing of guidelines to deal with suicide by married men subjected to domestic violence and the constitution of a 'National Commission for Men' to safeguard their interests.

The Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta remarked that the PIL was one-sided and allowed withdrawal of the Petition. The Bench in its order observed that "We have heard the Senior Counsel for the Petitioner. We are not inclined to entertain this petition purportedly filed with the public interest." Thereafter, permitting withdrawal of the petition, the Bench said in its order,"The petitioner seeks to withdraw this petition with the liberty to pursue remedies with the competent authority."

Appearing for the Petitioner, Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha submitted that the Petitioner is an Advocate-on-Record of the Apex Court and had earlier filed a plea regarding commercial surrogacy law which led to the enactment of a legislation. Further, referring to the guidelines in the Vishakha case, he submitted "Milords may also have Vishaka Judgment in mind. The NCRB report is glaring. I am not saying this, the Government report is saying."

While considering the data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) published in 2021 on accidental deaths in India, which said 1,64,033 people died by suicide across the country that year, Justice Kant remarked "Wherever you want to go, go there and show this data, if you expect us to hold that these husbands have died or committed suicide because of harassment caused by the wife, you are certainly mistaken."

Justice Kant further said that in an individual case where a husband is harassed by his wife, which leads to suicide, his family members can file a case and prosecute the accused. The Judge further said the law takes care of such situations and that there are adequate provisions in the law.

Responding to the remarks, Senior Advocate Sinha said that his prayer is related to the absence of any provision for the men. "Before committing suicide we don't have any avenue or forum to vent our grievances", submitted Sinha. He also quoted as example, an instance where a woman had filed a case under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, where the entire family was arrayed as accused and it led to the suicide of 10 people.

Expressing the disclination to entertain the matter, the Bench asked, "You want to have an association for people who commit suicide in future?".

Commenting on the data of the NCRB, the Bench said that the data on suicide pertains to 'family problems'. The Bench said that the data does not indicate that the wife is responsible for every case. 

On the repeated request of the Counsel to look at the data which shows that around 33.2 per cent of those who committed suicide are men, the Bench replied, "Can you give us the data on how many young girls in the Country are dying within 1-3 years of marriage?".

Further, while dismissing the matter, the Bench observed that in cases where it finds merit, it intervenes and that the petitioner is projecting a one-sided picture, which it will not accept. "We will not say anything to the government..this is one-sided, we will not become a party to this." said the Bench. 

The plea filed by Advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari cited the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data published in 2021 on accidental deaths in India which said 1,64,033 people died by suicide across the country that year. Out of these, 81,063 were married men, while 28,680 were married women, the petition said.

"Around 33.2 per cent men ended their lives because of family problems and 4.8 per cent due to marriage related issues in the year 2021. In this year total 1,18,979 men have committed suicides which are about (72 per cent) and total 45,026 women have committed suicides which are about 27 per cent," the plea said while referring to data provided by the NCRB.

The petition also sought direction from the National Human Rights Commission to deal with the issue of suicide by married men and accept the complaints of men suffering domestic violence.

Cause Title: Mahesh Kumar Tiwari v. Union of India and Anr. [Diary No. 10740-2023]