No Acts Of Incitement Proximate To Date Of Suicide: SC Quashes Chargesheet U/S 306 IPC Against Accused
The Supreme Court quashed proceedings under Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) against an accused noticing that there were no acts of incitement on his part proximate to the date on which the deceased committed suicide.
The Court took note of the the four suicide notes allegedly written by the deceased which made general allegation against the appellant and her family members and a local MLA of how they were responsible for his suicide.
Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed, “Taking the charge sheet as correct, we find that there were no acts of incitement on the part of the appellant proximate to the date on which the deceased committed suicide. No act is attributed to the appellant proximate to the time of the suicide which was of such a nature that the deceased was left with no alternative but to take the drastic step of committing suicide. Therefore, no offence is made out against the appellant.”
Sr. Advocate S. Nagamuthu represented the appellant, while AOR Aravindh S. appeared for the respondents.
The complainant in the FIR had stated that her brother allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison. The deceased had a dispute with his elder brother over a property. the deceased sought help from a local MLA to no avail. The complainant had alleged that the elder brother and his family members, including the appellant, harassed the deceased for being unmarried, telling him to go anywhere else and die.
After the charge sheet was filed, the appellant filed a petition for quashing the same, which was dismissed by the impugned judgment of the Madras High Court.
The appellant argued that she had left for the USA before the deceased committed suicide and there was no record of her show that she had instigated the deceased. The State on the other hand opposed the appeal by submitting that without the Trial Court recording oral evidence, “one cannot conclude at this stage that no case of commission of the offence punishable under Section 306 of IPC was made out against the appellant.”
“Apart from a general allegation that the appellant, her father, and other family members used to insult the deceased and tell him to go out and die, there is no other allegation made against the appellant,” the Court held.
The Court noted that there was no material placed on record to show that there were any telephonic conversations that occurred between the appellant and the deceased.
The Court further held that “taking the charge sheet as correct, we find that there were no acts of incitement on the part of the appellant proximate to the date on which the deceased committed suicide.”
Accordingly, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal.
Cause Title: Amudha v. The State & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 244)
Appearance:
Appellant: Sr. Advocate S. Nagamuthu; AOR M.P. Parthiban; Advocates Priyaranjani Nagamuthu, R. Sudhakaran, Bilal Mansoor and Shreyas Kaushal
Respondents: AOR Aravindh S. and Advocate Ekta Muyal