Allahabad High Court
Chitra @ Bebi vs State Of Up And Another on 16 July, 2021
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD RESERVED A.F.R. Court No. - 1 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 737 of 2020 Applicant :- Chitra @ Bebi Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Atul Kumar,Deepak Dubey,M J Akhtar Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Amit Daga Hon'ble J.J. Munir,J.
1. It is idiomatically said that 'Dead men tell no tales'. But, sometimes, before a man crosses over to the netherworld, he may speak his mind or tell the circumstances that led to his death - homicidal or suicidal. In cases of suicide, an authentic and dependable suicide note is the most sterling evidence about what drove the man to take his own life.
2. This application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 19731 seeks to challenge the impugned charge-sheet bearing number 219A of 2019 dated November the 15th, 2019 submitted in Case Crime No. 223 of 2019, under Sections 306, 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 18602, Police Station - Meerapur, District - Muzaffarnagar and the entire proceedings in Case No. 1984/9 of 2019, pending before the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Court No. 3, Muzaffarnagar, as against the applicant. This application calls in question the aforesaid charge-sheet, primarily on the ground that no prima facie case against the applicant is disclosed on the basis of material carried in the impugned charge sheet, about her involvement in abetting the suicide committed by her brother-in-law (her sister's deceased husband), the Late Mohan Kumar.
3. This prosecution commenced on a First Information Report3 lodged by the deceased's brother, Rahul Kumar Sharma, on 28.07.2019, about the suicidal death of his brother on 25th of July, 2019. The FIR nominates the deceased's in laws, numbering seven, including his wife Smt. Menka alias Monty, his mother-in-law Smt. Kusum Lata, his three sisters-in-law, to wit, Indu Sharma, Chhaya Sharma and Romika Sharma, besides his brother-in-law Rajat Sharma. Another person nominated is one Rajendra Chaudhary, said to be an uncle of sorts to the deceased's in-laws. The applicant is not named in the FIR. The substance of the information, addressed to the police, says that the named in-laws of the deceased were frequently troubling him and he was in distress. Rajendra Chaudhary had repeatedly threatened the deceased to death and demanded money of him. The deceased had shared the last mentioned fact with the informant, but his in-laws would not give up on their wayward conduct and Rajendra Chaudhary and the other in-laws would repeatedly demand money of the deceased. It is reported that distressed over this issue, on 25.07.2019, at 12 O' Clock, the deceased jumped off the bridge built over the Ganga barrage, and into the river, committing suicide. It is also said that he had left home, riding the informant's motorcycle, which was later later on found. A suicide note in the deceased's handwriting was found at the informant's Dharm Kanta, wherein the deceased had blamed harassment by his wife and in-laws as the cause driving him to commit suicide. It is said in the closing lines of the FIR that the deceased did commit suicide because of the harassment that his wife and in-laws inflicted on him.
4. Heard Mr. V.M. Zaidi, leanred Senior Advocate, assisted by Mr. Imran Khan, learned Counsel for the applicant, Mr. Amit Daga, learned Counsel appearing on behalf of opposite party no. 2, and Mr. Deepak Mishra, learned Additional Government Advocate appearing on behalf of the State.
5. Mr. V.M. Zaidi, learned Senior Advocate, has primarily submitted that no prima facie case is made out against the applicant, as the allegations and the material collected during investigation do not show that there was any act done by the applicant vis-à-vis the deceased, that may be said to constitute either ''instigation' or a ''conspiracy' with the other co-accused, or ''aid' within the meaning of Section 107 IPC that led the deceased to commit suicide. He submits that in the absence of any material about an act or omission constituting instigation, conspiracy or aid on the applicant's part, that led the deceased to commit suicide, no case worth trial against the applicant is prima facie made out. He submits that on this ground, the impugned charge-sheet, as against the applicant, deserves to be quashed, which, if not done, would be an abuse of process of Court and lead to ends of justice being defeated. It is on the aforesaid case that Mr. Zaidi has advanced his submissions before this Court.
6. The learned Senior Advocate has proceeded to point out that the applicant, much unlike the other in-laws, has not been nominated in the FIR. Her name has been introduced on the basis of a second thought by the informant and the other family members of the deceased, who, according to the learned Senior Advocate, in any case, have launched a malicious and vindictive prosecution against the deceased's wife and in-laws for an oblique motive. That oblique motive, according to the learned Senior Advocate, is that the informant wants to deprive the deceased's wife of her inheritance in her husband's property, both movable and immovable. He has pointed out that the entire prosecution is mala fide and designed to achieve the last mentioned purpose. He has been at pains to point out that the informant has launched another mala fide prosecution against deceased's in-laws, reporting them for an offence involving a murderous assault on the informant and his family, besides loot of ornaments that belonged to the deceased's wife. By a reference to the other prosecution arising from an FIR registered as Case Crime No. 224 of 2019, under Sections 395, 323, 307, 364, 506, 145 IPC, Police Station - Meerapur, District - Muzaffarnagar, learned Senior Advocate urges that it shows the underlying mala fides that animate the impugned prosecution and its oblique purpose. Mr. V.M. Zaidi, further elaborating on his submissions, says that the applicant was not named in the FIR, and also in the earlier statement of the first informant recorded on 28.07.2019, under Section 161 of the Code or the statements of the other witnesses also recorded under Section 161. It is pointed out that the applicant's name was introduced for the first time in the statement of one Sushil Kumar, about a month after the incident, as a result of the continuing efforts, to bring oblique pressure upon the wife's family in order to coerce the wife into giving up her share in the deceased's property. The learned Senior Advocate has also pointed out to the various steps taken by the informant to get his name mutated over the deceased's share in the family's agricultural land and transfer of funds done from the deceased's bank account to his own.
7. Learned Senior Counsel has drawn the Court's attention to a copy of the mutation application dated 30.08.2019 moved by the informant before the Consolidation Officer-II, Sadar, Muzaffarnagar and registered as Case no.520. This document is annexed to the supplementary affidavit dated 10.09.2020, as Annexure no. SA-4. Learned Senior Counsel has also drawn the Court's attention to a photostat copy of the deceased's bank account statement, bearing Account ID no. 1609010100512190, where transfer of funds to the informant's Account have been shown. A copy of the said statement is annexed as part of Annexure no. SA-5 to the supplementary affidavit, last mentioned.
8. Mr. V.M. Zaidi, learned Senior Counsel, in support of his submissions noticed in the opening part of this judgment about the absence of necessary ingredients to make out a prima facie case of abetment to commit suicide, has placed reliance upon the decision of the Supreme Court in Arnab Manoranjan Goswami vs. State of Maharashtra and others4 and further on a decision of the Supreme Court in Gurcharan Singh vs. State of Punjab5. Reliance has also been placed on a decision of this Court in Sudhakar Pathak vs. State of U.P.6. All these authorities have been pressed in aid of the essential submission that the three necessary ingredients to attract an offence of abetment to suicide, that is to say, instigation, aid or conspiracy are at all not discernible from the material collected during investigation.
9. It must be remarked here that in aid of the Application, the applicant has filed three supplementary affidavits, to wit, the one dated 09.10.2020, another dated 16.01.2020 and still another dated 17.02.2020. A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the complainant/ opposite party, to which the applicant has filed a rejoinder. The State have not come up with any return, but at the hearing, supported the impugned proceedings through Mr. Deepak Mishra, learned A.G.A. The learned A.G.A. says that the facts here show it to be a triable case, which ought not to be quashed.
10. Mr. Amit Daga, learned Counsel appearing for the second opposite party/ informant submits that though the applicant is not named in the FIR, but during the course of investigation, the Investigating Officer found material showing her involvement in the crime. In this regard, he has, particularly, referred to the text messages sent by the deceased through his mobile phone to the mobile phone of his relatives, while alive. These messages have also been treated as a part of the suicide note and made part of the police papers. These messages specifically carry the name of the applicant as one of the persons responsible for driving the deceased to commit suicide. Learned Counsel for the second opposite party, therefore, says that it cannot be said that there is no material against the applicant connecting her to the crime. It is emphasized that the material collected during investigation shows that the applicant along with the other co-accused - all in-laws of the deceased created such inexorable pressure, where the deceased had no option except to put an end to his life. It is pointed out with reference to the averments in paragraph no. 9 of the counter affidavit and the suicide note annexed as Annexure no. CA-1 to the said affidavit that what the applicant has annexed for the deceased's suicide note, is not the complete document. It is pointed out that the suicide note is a part of the case diary, annexed to the second parcha dated 29.07.2019.
11. Learned Counsel for the second opposite party submits that though the suicide note, a copy whereof is annexed as Annexure no. CA-1, does not specifically carry the applicant's name, but read as a whole, squarely blames all of the deceased's in-laws about that extreme position, where he was impelled to end his life. He submits that it is quite another matter that the deceased has, particularly, emphasized the malevolent role of his brother-in-law, Rajat and sister-in-law, Indu, but that, according to Mr. Daga, learned Counsel for the second opposite party, does not show that the applicant was no part of the conspiracy or instigation, that drove him to commit suicide. It is also submitted by the learned Counsel for the second opposite party, relying on averments made in paragraph no.10 of the counter affidavit that prior to scripting the suicide note, the deceased sent WhatsApp messages, carrying his photograph as well as a video from his mobile no. 9997589058 to the mobile number of the informant's elder brother, Sushil Kumar Sharma, where he specifically blamed the applicant alongwith the other co-accused as persons, who had tortured and harassed him to an extent that he had no option except to commit suicide. Copies of those WhatsApp messages are included in the case diary.
12. It is pointed out by the learned Counsel for the second opposite party that since the WhatsApp messages were sent on the WhatsApp messenger of his elder brother, Sushil Kumar Sharma, he was unaware about these messages when he lodged the FIR, or made his earlier statement to the police. It was during the course of investigation that Sushil discovered these WhatsApp messages on his phone and disclosed them to the police, who made them part of the case diary. It is these messages, which have shown the complicity of the applicant and certainly constitute material, on the basis whereof cognizance ought to be taken. It is urged with much emphasis on behalf of the second opposite party that the continued misbehaviour, torture, ill-treatment and harassment by the deceased's wife and in-laws, including the applicant, drove him to commit suicide and those acts do constitute intentional aid within the meaning of Section 107 IPC, besides conspiracy involving all the accused, so as to attract the provisions of Section 306 IPC.
13. This Court has keenly considered the submissions advanced on both sides and perused the record. It would be of seminal importance to extract the suicide note. The suicide note is part of CD no.2 dated 29.07.2019 and reads (in Hindi vernacular):
"मै मोहित शर्मा आज दुखी होकर आत्महत्या करने जा रहा हूँ, मेरी मौत की सारी जिम्मेदारी मेरी ससुराल वालो की है, मेरी सबसे बड़ी साली इन्दु शर्मा, छाया, रजत शर्मा, रोमिता और सबसे खास राजेन्द्र चौधरी उर्फ चाचा और मेरी सास कुसुमलता की है। ये सब मुझ पर नाजायज दबाव बनाते है। मुझे दिन रात धमकी देते रहते है। मुझे बहुत परेशान कर रखा है। मेरी पत्नी का मुज0नगर में नाजायज रिश्ता है। वो मुझ पर ससुराल के पास घर लेकर रहने का दबाव बनाती है। मुझे गाली देती है। खाना तक छीन लेती है। मेरी आप सबसे बिनती है कि मेरे साले रजत को फॉसी और इन्दु को सजाये मौत जरूर देना और मेरा कोई पुत्र नहीं है। मेरी सारी सम्पत्ति मेरे प्रिय भाई राहुल कुमार को दे दी जाये और गै आज दुखी होकर जिसका कारण मेरी ससुराल के समस्त व्यक्तिगण है मैं आत्म हत्या करने जा रहा हूँ।"
14. Quite apart from it, are the contents of some WhatsApp messages, still photograph and videos, sent by the deceased to his elder brother, Sushil on 25.07.2019 at 11:26 a.m. in Hindi, but written in Roman script, which read thus:
"Meri mout ki sari jimmedari meri sasural wali ki meri sali Indu, Chhaya Rajat, Chitra, romita, Rajendra Choudhary (ChaCha). Ye sab mujh par najayaj dabav banate rahten hai or Jaan se Marni ki damki deten rahten hai"
15. This message shows that the deceased was last seen on Thursday at 11:56 a.m.
16. There is yet another WhatsApp message, which carries the same suicide note, that was recovered from the informant's Dharm Kanta and made part of the case diary. There is one oddity, or at least a feature about the prosecution case, which shows that opportunity came knocking to save the deceased, but the one who could did not act. There is a statement attributed to one Faeemuddin, son of late Badaruddin recorded under Section 161 of the Code, where he says that the deceased scripted the suicide note in his presence and said that he was going to commit suicide, driven to it by his wife, Menaka and the in-laws. It is rather baffling that if the witness saw the deceased writing a suicide note, why he did not prevent him from moving away to accomplish his fatal intentions; but that is all about it. This statement under Section 161 may be true or not, but it does not, of its own, render the prosecution case incredible.
17. The material collected during investigation by the police shows that there are statements of the informant Sushil Sharma, the deceased's sister-in-law Smt. Nirupama Sharma wife of Sushil Sharma, Smt. Priyanka Sharma, another sister-in-law of the deceased, Sonu Dhimaan, an unrelated witness, who happened to pass by the deceased's residence on 25.07.2019, and another unrelated witness Akash Rastogi, who also passed by the deceased's house on 25.07.2019; and all of them saw the deceased's wife misbehave with him. The statements of the informant and the two sisters-in-law of the deceased show, amongst other things, that the deceased's wife would often stay at her parents' place, rather than her matrimonial home. She would repeatedly ask for money, apparently to meet her expenses and enforce her demand by show of anger and misbehaviour towards her husband. The deceased's wife wanted him to sell his property at Town Meerapur, District Muzaffarnagar and move over to her place at Patel Nagar, Muzaffarnagar. She was persuaded by the deceased's family not to indulge in that kind of behaviour, but she was aided in her pernicious conduct by her sisters, Chhaya, Romita, Indu, Chitra (applicant), her mother Kusum Lata and uncle Rajendra. All of them would coerce the deceased to part with money, and upon refusal, would threaten him with death.
18. There is a particular instance that appears in the statements of Smt. Nirupama Sharma, Smt. Priyanka Sharma and the two passersby, Sonu Dhimaan and Akash Rastogi, which indicate that the deceased Mohit Sharma and his wife were seen outside their house and the deceased's wife was misbehaving with him. The two sisters-in-law have said that the deceased's wife, Menaka beat him up publicly, a fact which many saw. The two public witnesses, who claimed to have witnessed the occurrence on 25.07.2019, have said that they saw the deceased, Mohit Sharma's wife misbehaving with him while they were passing by. She is alleged to have asked the deceased go somewhere and die. These witnesses also said that the deceased's wife said that when she demands money of him, he does not pay nor does he go over to Muzaffarnagar. It is said that thereafter Menaka beat him up. To the same effect is the statement of Akash Rastogi. All these statements have been recorded under Section 161 of the Code. The moot question is that, do all these statements taken together as material collected during investigation and the suicide note, besides the WhatsApp messages disclose a triable case of abetment to suicide against the applicant?
19. Gurcharan Singh vs. State of Punjab7 relied upon much by the learned Senior Counsel appearing for the applicant was a case that came up before the Supreme Court in appeal from an order of conviction for an offence punishable under Section 306 IPC. The deceased was the wife of one Dr. Jaspal Singh, whereas the appellant Gurcharan Singh was Dr. Jaspal Singh's brother. The victims were three in number, that is to say, Surjit Kaur, wife of Dr. Jaspal Singh and their two daughters, Geet Pahul and Preet Pahul. Apparently, four persons were charge sheeted after investigation, to wit, Satnam Kaur, who died pending committal proceedings, Gurcharan Singh, Ajit Kaur and Sukhvinder Singh alias Goldy. All of them were in-laws of the deceased, Surjit Kaur. At the conclusion of trial, Ajit Kaur was acquitted, whereas Gurcharan Singh and Sukhvinder Singh were convicted of the charge punishable under Section 306 IPC. The Trial Court awarded each of the accused a term of six years rigorous imprisonment. On appeal to the High Court, the conviction was upheld, but the sentences were reduced to five years' rigorous imprisonment. On appeal to their Lordships of the Supreme Court by Special Leave preferred by Gurcharan Singh, the conviction was overturned and the appellant acquitted. The facts giving rise to the prosecution can no better be described than in their Lordships' words, where these are recorded thus:
"3. The fascicule of facts, indispensable to comprehend the backdrop of the prosecution, has its origin in the inexplicable abandonment of the deceased Surjit Kaur and her two daughters, namely; Geet Pahul and Preet Pahul by Dr Jaspal Singh, their husband and father respectively, about two years prior to the tragic end of his three family members as above. The prosecution version is that Dr Jaspal Singh, who was initially in the government service, had relinquished the same and started a coal factory at Muktsar. He suffered loss in the business and consequently failed to repay the loan availed by him in this regard from the bank. As he and his brother Gurcharan Singh (appellant herein) and others succeeded to the property left by their predecessors, he started medical practice in private.
4. Be that as it may, before leaving his family, he addressed a communication to the bank concerned expressing his inability to repay the loan in spite of his best efforts as he was not possessed of any property in his name. Dr Jaspal Singh was thereafter not to be traced. Following this turn of events, according to the prosecution, his wife Surjit Kaur and his daughters shifted from Jalalabad where they used to stay to Abohar and started residing in a rented house of one Hansraj (PW 3). According to them, they had no source of income and further, they were also deprived of their share in the property and other entitlements, otherwise supposed to devolve on Dr Jaspal Singh. They were also not provided with any maintenance by the family members of her husband -- Jaspal Singh and instead were ill-treated, harassed and intimidated.
5. While the matter rested at that, on 3-10-2000 at about 10.30 p.m., Hansraj, the landlord of the deceased Surjit Kaur, being suspicious about prolonged and unusual lack of response by his tenants, though the television in their room was on, informed the brother of the deceased Surjit Kaur. Thereafter they broke open the door of the room and found all three lying dead. The police was informed and FIR was lodged.
6. In course of the inquisition, the investigating officer collected a suicide note in the handwriting of Surjit Kaur and also subscribed to by her daughter Preet Bahul. The suicide note implicated the appellant, his wife Ajit Kaur and the convicted co-accused Sukhvinder Singh alias Goldy as being responsible for their wretched condition, driving them in the ultimate to take the extreme step. A notebook containing some letters, written by deceased Geet Pahul was also recovered. On the completion of the investigation, which included, amongst others the collection of the post-mortem report which confirmed death due to consumption of aluminium phosphide, a pesticide, charge-sheet was submitted against the three persons named hereinabove along with Satnam Kaur under Sections 306/34 IPC."
20. It must be remarked here for the purpose of emphasis, though already apparent, that the decision in Gurcharan Singh came on appeal before their Lordships, where there was the advantage of all evidence recorded during trial being available and analyzed by the Courts below threadbare. The case did not arise on a petition to quash proceedings at the threshold. It was after a consideration of the evidence on record that it was held in Gurcharan Singh :
"21. It is thus manifest that the offence punishable is one of abetment of the commission of suicide by any person, predicating existence of a live link or nexus between the two, abetment being the propelling causative factor. The basic ingredients of this provision are suicidal death and the abetment thereof. To constitute abetment, the intention and involvement of the accused to aid or instigate the commission of suicide is imperative. Any severance or absence of any of these constituents would militate against this indictment. Remoteness of the culpable acts or omissions rooted in the intention of the accused to actualise the suicide would fall short as well of the offence of abetment essential to attract the punitive mandate of Section 306 IPC. Contiguity, continuity, culpability and complicity of the indictable acts or omission are the concomitant indices of abetment. Section 306 IPC, thus criminalises the sustained incitement for suicide.
22. Section 107 IPC defines "abetment" and is extracted hereunder:
"107. Abetment of a thing.--A person abets the doing of a thing, who--
First.--Instigates any person to do that thing; or Secondly.--Engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or Thirdly.--Intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that thing.
Explanation 1.--A person, who by wilful misrepresentation, or by wilful concealment of a material fact which he is bound to disclose, voluntarily causes or procures, or attempts to cause or procure, a thing to be done, is said to instigate the doing of that doing.
Explanation 2.--Whoever, either prior to or at the time of the commission of an act, does anything in order to facilitate the commission of that act, and thereby facilitates the commission thereof, is said to aid the doing of that act."
Not only the acts and omissions defining the offence of abetment singularly or in combination are enumerated therein, the explanations adequately encompass all conceivable facets of the culpable conduct of the offender relatable thereto.
27. The pith and purport of Section 306 IPC has since been enunciated by this Court in Randhir Singh v. State of Punjab [Randhir Singh v. State of Punjab, (2004) 13 SCC 129 : 2005 SCC (Cri) 56] , and the relevant excerpts therefrom are set out hereunder: (SCC p. 134, paras 12-13) "12. Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding that person in doing of a thing. In cases of conspiracy also it would involve that mental process of entering into conspiracy for the doing of that thing. More active role which can be described as instigating or aiding the doing of a thing is required before a person can be said to be abetting the commission of offence under Section 306 IPC.
13. In State of W.B. v. Orilal Jaiswal [State of W.B. v. Orilal Jaiswal, (1994) 1 SCC 73 : 1994 SCC (Cri) 107] , this Court has observed that the courts should be extremely careful in assessing the facts and circumstances of each case and the evidence adduced in the trial for the purpose of finding whether the cruelty meted out to the victim had in fact induced her to end the life by committing suicide. If it transpires to the court that a victim committing suicide was hypersensitive to ordinary petulance, discord and differences in domestic life quite common to the society to which the victim belonged and such petulance, discord and differences were not expected to induce a similarly circumstanced individual in a given society to commit suicide, the conscience of the court should not be satisfied for basing a finding that the accused charged of abetting the offence of suicide should be found guilty."
(emphasis supplied)
28. Significantly, this Court underlined by referring to its earlier pronouncement in Orilal Jaiswal [State of W.B. v. Orilal Jaiswal, (1994) 1 SCC 73 : 1994 SCC (Cri) 107] that courts have to be extremely careful in assessing the facts and circumstances of each case to ascertain as to whether cruelty had been meted out to the victim and that the same had induced the person to end his/her life by committing suicide, with the caveat that if the victim committing suicide appears to be hypersensitive to ordinary petulance, discord and differences in domestic life, quite common to the society to which he or she belonged and such factors were not expected to induce a similarly circumstanced individual to resort to such step, the accused charged with abetment could not be held guilty. The above view was reiterated in Amalendu Pal v. State of W.B. [Amalendu Pal v. State of W.B., (2010) 1 SCC 707 : (2010) 1 SCC (Cri) 896].
29. That the intention of the legislature is that in order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC, there has to be a clear mens rea to commit an offence and that there ought to be an active or direct act leading the deceased to commit suicide, being left with no option, had been propounded by this Court in S.S. Chheena v. Vijay Kumar Mahajan [S.S. Chheena v. Vijay Kumar Mahajan, (2010) 12 SCC 190 : (2011) 2 SCC (Cri) 465].
30. In Pinakin Mahipatray Rawal v. State of Gujarat [Pinakin Mahipatray Rawal v. State of Gujarat, (2013) 10 SCC 48 : (2013) 4 SCC (Civ) 616 : (2013) 3 SCC (Cri) 801] , this Court, with reference to Section 113-A of the Evidence Act, 1872, while observing that the criminal law amendment bringing forth this provision was necessitated to meet the social challenge of saving the married woman from being ill-treated or forced to commit suicide by the husband or his relatives demanding dowry, it was underlined that the burden of proving the preconditions permitting the presumption as ingrained therein, squarely and singularly lay on the prosecution. That the prosecution as well has to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased had committed suicide on being abetted by the person charged under Section 306 IPC, was emphasised.
31. The assessment of the evidence on record as above, in our considered opinion, does not demonstrate with unqualified clarity and conviction, any role of the appellant or the other implicated in-laws of the deceased Surjit Kaur, as contemplated by the above provisions so as to return an unassailable finding of their culpability under Section 306 IPC. The materials on record, to reiterate, do not suggest even remotely any act of cruelty, oppression, harassment or inducement so as to persistently provoke or compel the deceased to resort to self-extinction being left with no other alternative. No such continuous and proximate conduct of the appellant or his family members with the required provocative culpability or lethal instigative content is discernible to even infer that the deceased Surjit Kaur and her daughters had been pushed to such a distressed state, physical or mental that they elected to liquidate themselves as if to seek a practical alleviation from their unbearable earthly miseries."
(Emphasis by Court)
21. In Sudhakar Pathak and others vs. State of U.P. and others8 which is again a case that arose on appeal by a convicted husband before this Court - convicted for an offence punishable under Section 306 IPC for abetting suicide by his wife, this Court after a complete review of evidence on record and the law applicable held:
"15. Though, Gurucharan (supra) was a case based on dowry harassment, the last four lines mentioned in bold letters are still relevant and they require specific incident, and not general allegations, having provocative capability to drive the deceased to such distressed state, mental and physical that she could elect to end her life. Routine behaviour, remark or quarrel by husband in matrimonial life in a drunken state cannot be taken to be sufficient to the extent to constitute abetment unless something extra-ordinary, more than normal wear and tear of married life, is shown on or just before the date of incident. In this instant case where admittedly the deceased was suffering from mental illness or disease, the burden of proving close link, in proximity of time between abetment and suicide, heavily lies on prosecution and the prosecution has utterly failed in discharging this burden.
16. This is no principle of law that wherever wife commits suicide, the husband will bear the responsibility and will be held liable. No doubt that in such cases, if the prosecution has discharged its initial burden of proof of guilt and has proved the relationship between abetment by husband and suicide by wife, the accused may be required in view of section 106 of the Evidence Act to explain the circumstances in which the wife committed suicide. But when mental illness of the wife is admitted much before in time from the date of death and the husband is habitual drunkard since marriage and in the habit of causing harassment in drunken state and both have passed more than 15 years of marriage as such giving birth to four children, general allegation of harassment cannot be sufficient to hold him guilty for the offence of abetment of suicide, particularly when the presence of husband in the house around the incident is not established."
22. This Court must still again remark that cases where the charge is about abetment to commit suicide, there are very subtle features of evidence that may show the necessary mens rea and the relevant persistent conduct of the accused in driving the deceased to commit suicide. There could be cases where on the material collected during investigation, there is hardly anything to show that the accused or one of them ex facie committed an act proximate in point of time that could drive the deceased to take his life. Again, there could be cases where the role of one of the accused is overt and proximate in point of time, by the standard of a man similarly circumstanced and a sensible man at that, that could lead him to commit suicide. The proximate and immediate conduct of one of the accused rendering the deceased option-less to commit suicide, may not be an impromptu action, provoked by the action of the accused on occasion. It could be the precipitating event behind which stand a long trail of instigation or aid, driven by persistent conduct of one or more of the accused acting together. This is in particular true of a matrimonial relationship, which comes as it does, with abiding social obligations and much legal consequences. A spouse at the receiving end of matrimonial cruelty - mental and physical or both, cannot be compared to a person placed in a different situation of harassment, like an employee perceiving or being actually harassed by his employer, or a student by his teacher. It is for this reason that special laws have been made for women where they commit suicide, within seven years of marriage in the matrimonial home.
23. No doubt, social realities have not yet arisen in the perception of law makers and others as well in similar terms for the other partner in marriage, but the reality remains that in the nature of relationship in matrimony, social and legal obligation arise, which when inter-laid with persistent cruel conduct by the wife, may lead a man to find himself optionless. Of course, it depends on the circumstances of a man, his financial and social status and his general outlook towards life. But, what cannot be ignored is the fact that in the matrimonial relationship both spouses, in sometime, become aware of the others general outlook and the threshold of toleration beyond which the other may not be driven, and if persistently harassed, may adopt fatal options.
24. There is yet another angle to the matter, which holds stronger in case of a matrimonial alliance. The person actually involved in doing an act proximate in point of time to the deceased taking his life, may have others participating with him/her leading to the 'build-up', where the fatal event occurs. These could be those persons who have conspired with the instigator or the one who actively aids the deceased through a proximate act. The role of such persons in the shadows who have conspired would in no measure be less culpable and certainly relevant under Section 107 IPC. No doubt, the evidence about their role would have to be more carefully sifted at the trial, than the person who has acted as the agent provocateur, proximate in point of time.
25. In the present case, this Court finds that whatever evidence has been collected is not one simply about a hair trigger fatal response from an over sensitive man. The parties were together for some four years and had a son. The suicide note, which comprises two parts, the one physically scripted and the other sent by WhatsApp messages, shows definitive allegations against wife and the in-laws. The scripted suicide note shows that the wife, who was staying back at her parents' place at Muzaffarnagar, was carrying on there and forcing the deceased to stay in a house close to her place. The note also says that the wife abuses him and snatches away food from him (मुझे गाली देती है, खाना तक छीन लेती है). He has blamed his wife and named the other in-laws, who along with her threatened and harassed him. The scripted suicide note goes to the extent of showing that the son is not begotten of him.
26. It must be remarked that though a child born during the subsistence of a valid marriage is presumed to be legitimate and begotten of the husband, subject to fulfillment of the conditions specified under Section 112 of the Evidence Act, 1872 disowning a child born during marriage is frowned upon by the law, but the words carried in the suicide note are those of a man who was on the brink of ending his own life. These are entitled justly to be differently received and assessed. No doubt, in the scripted suicide note, there is conspicuous absence of the applicant's name though all other in-laws have been specifically nominated as part of concerted design and effort to harass the deceased driving him over the brink, but the WhatsApp message, a copy of which is annexed at page 17 to the counter affidavit and is part of the case diary, clearly nominates the applicant also with imputations that have been extracted hereinbefore.
27. The statements of the informant and the two sisters-in-law of the deceased show that the family made efforts to persuade the deceased's wife away from the course of harassment and oppression, but to no avail. The deceased's wife, and if the material collected during investigation, were to withstand scrutiny at the trial, shows that the in-laws of the deceased, including the applicant, sometimes directly and at others through the deceased's wife put the deceased to extreme oppression and threat. The deceased was exposed to insult and humiliation. The material gathered during investigation shows that the immediate and proximate cause for the deceased to take the extreme step was a public humiliation by his wife, co-accused Menaka, who outside the matrimonial home and in full public view, misbehaved with him and on his protest beat him up. Public humiliation of a spouse, particularly, an act of assault by the husband or the wife, may, in the circumstances of long and persistent misbehaviour and harassment, drive a person to take the extreme step of taking his/ her life.
28. In the entirety of the circumstances, in the considered opinion of this Court, suicide committed by the deceased cannot be regarded as an oversensitive or freak reaction of a person, who circumstanced like the deceased, would not ordinarily be expected to exhibit. Much reliance was placed during the hearing by Mr. Zaidi, learned Senior Advocate for the applicant on a recent decision of the Supreme Court in Arnab Manoranjan Goswami (supra) on the question what would constitute an offence of abetment to suicide, punishable under Section 306 IPC. It reads, thus:
"49. Before we evaluate the contents of the FIR, a reference to Section 306 IPC is necessary. Section 306 stipulates that if a person commits suicide "whoever abets the commission of such suicide" shall be punished with imprisonment extending up to 10 years [ "306. Abetment of suicide.--If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."] . Section 107 is comprised within Chapter V IPC, which is titled "Of Abetment". Section 107 provides:
(Quoted portion omitted)
50. The first segment of Section 107 defines abetment as the instigation of a person to do a particular thing. The second segment defines it with reference to engaging in a conspiracy with one or more other persons for the doing of a thing, and an act or illegal omission in pursuance of the conspiracy. Under the third segment, abetment is founded on intentionally aiding the doing of a thing either by an act or omission. These provisions have been construed specifically in the context of Section 306 to which a reference is necessary in order to furnish the legal foundation for assessing the contents of the FIR. These provisions have been construed in the earlier judgments of this Court in State of W.B. v. Orilal Jaiswal [State of W.B. v. Orilal Jaiswal, (1994) 1 SCC 73 : 1994 SCC (Cri) 107] , Randhir Singh v. State of Punjab [Randhir Singh v. State of Punjab, (2004) 13 SCC 129 : 2005 SCC (Cri) 56] , Kishori Lal v. State of M.P. [Kishori Lal v. State of M.P., (2007) 10 SCC 797 : (2007) 3 SCC (Cri) 701] ("Kishori Lal") and Kishangiri Mangalgiri Goswami v. State of Gujarat [Kishangiri Mangalgiri Goswami v. State of Gujarat, (2009) 4 SCC 52 : (2009) 2 SCC (Cri) 62] . In Amalendu Pal v. State of W.B. [Amalendu Pal v. State of W.B., (2010) 1 SCC 707 : (2010) 1 SCC (Cri) 896] , Mukundakam Sharma, J., speaking for a two-Judge Bench of this Court and having adverted to the earlier decisions, observed : (SCC p. 712, para 12) "12. ... It is also to be borne in mind that in cases of alleged abetment of suicide there must be proof of direct or indirect acts of incitement to the commission of suicide. Merely on the allegation of harassment without there being any positive action proximate to the time of occurrence on the part of the accused which led or compelled the person to commit suicide, conviction in terms of Section 306 IPC is not sustainable."
51. The Court noted that before a person may be said to have abetted the commission of suicide, they "must have played an active role by an act of instigation or by doing certain act to facilitate the commission of suicide". Instigation, as this Court held in Kishori Lal [Kishori Lal v. State of M.P., (2007) 10 SCC 797 : (2007) 3 SCC (Cri) 701] , "literally means to provoke, incite, urge on or bring about by persuasion to do anything". In S.S. Chheena v. Vijay Kumar Mahajan [S.S. Chheena v. Vijay Kumar Mahajan, (2010) 12 SCC 190 : (2011) 2 SCC (Cri) 465] , a two-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through Dalveer Bhandari, J., observed : (SCC p. 197, para 25) "25. Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained. The intention of the legislature and the ratio of the cases decided by this Court is clear that in order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea to commit the offence. It also requires an active act or direct act which led the deceased to commit suicide seeing no option and that act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that he committed suicide."
52.Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat [Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat, (2010) 8 SCC 628 : (2010) 3 SCC (Cri) 1048 : (2010) 2 SCC (L&S) 682] was specifically a case which arose in the context of a petition under Section 482 CrPC where the High Court had dismissed [Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat, 2008 SCC OnLine Guj 568] the petition for quashing an FIR registered for offences under Sections 306 and 294(b) IPC. In that case, the FIR was registered on a complaint of the spouse of the deceased who was working as a driver with the accused. The driver had been rebuked by the employer and was later found to be dead on having committed suicide. A suicide note was relied upon in the FIR, the contents of which indicated that the driver had not been given a fixed vehicle unlike other drivers besides which he had other complaints including the deduction of 15 days' wages from his salary. The suicide note named the appellant-accused. In the decision of a two-Judge Bench of this Court, delivered by V.S. Sirpurkar, J., the test laid down in Bhajan Lal [State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335 : 1992 SCC (Cri) 426] was applied and the Court held : (Madan Mohan Singh case [Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat, (2010) 8 SCC 628 : (2010) 3 SCC (Cri) 1048 : (2010) 2 SCC (L&S) 682] , SCC p. 631, paras 10-11) "10. We are convinced that there is absolutely nothing in this suicide note or the FIR which would even distantly be viewed as an offence much less under Section 306 IPC. We could not find anything in the FIR or in the so-called suicide note which could be suggested as abetment to commit suicide. In such matters there must be an allegation that the accused had instigated the deceased to commit suicide or secondly, had engaged with some other person in a conspiracy and lastly, that the accused had in any way aided any act or illegal omission to bring about the suicide.
11. In spite of our best efforts and microscopic examination of the suicide note and the FIR, all that we find is that the suicide note is a rhetoric document in the nature of a departmental complaint. It also suggests some mental imbalance on the part of the deceased which he himself describes as depression. In the so-called suicide note, it cannot be said that the accused ever intended that the driver under him should commit suicide or should end his life and did anything in that behalf. Even if it is accepted that the accused changed the duty of the driver or that the accused asked him not to take the keys of the car and to keep the keys of the car in the office itself, it does not mean that the accused intended or knew that the driver should commit suicide because of this."
53. Dealing with the provisions of Section 306 IPC and the meaning of abetment within the meaning of Section 107, the Court observed : (Madan Mohan Singh case [Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat, (2010) 8 SCC 628 : (2010) 3 SCC (Cri) 1048 : (2010) 2 SCC (L&S) 682] , SCC pp. 631-32, para 12) "12. In order to bring out an offence under Section 306 IPC specific abetment as contemplated by Section 107 IPC on the part of the accused with an intention to bring about the suicide of the person concerned as a result of that abetment is required. The intention of the accused to aid or to instigate or to abet the deceased to commit suicide is a must for this particular offence under Section 306 IPC. We are of the clear opinion that there is no question of there being any material for offence under Section 306 IPC either in the FIR or in the so-called suicide note."
The Court noted that the suicide note expressed a state of anguish of the deceased and "cannot be depicted as expressing anything intentional on the part of the accused that the deceased might commit suicide". Reversing the judgment [Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat, 2008 SCC OnLine Guj 568] of the High Court, the petition under Section 482 was allowed and the FIR was quashed.
54. In a concurring judgment delivered by one of us (Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J.) in the decision of the Constitution Bench in Common Cause [Common Cause v. Union of India, (2018) 5 SCC 1] , the provisions of Section 107 were explained with the following observations : (SCC p. 244, para 458) "458. For abetting an offence, the person abetting must have intentionally aided the commission of the crime. Abetment requires an instigation to commit or intentionally aiding the commission of a crime. It presupposes a course of conduct or action which (in the context of the present discussion) facilitates another to end life. Hence abetment of suicide is an offence expressly punishable under Sections 305 and 306 IPC."
55. More recently in M. Arjunan v. State [M. Arjunan v. State, (2019) 3 SCC 315 : (2019) 2 SCC (Cri) 219] , a two-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through R. Banumathi, J., elucidated the essential ingredients of the offence under Section 306 IPC in the following observations : (SCC p. 317, para 7) "7. The essential ingredients of the offence under Section 306 IPC are : (i) the abetment; (ii) the intention of the accused to aid or instigate or abet the deceased to commit suicide. The act of the accused, however, insulting the deceased by using abusive language will not, by itself, constitute the abetment of suicide. There should be evidence capable of suggesting that the accused intended by such act to instigate the deceased to commit suicide. Unless the ingredients of instigation/abetment to commit suicide are satisfied the accused cannot be convicted under Section 306 IPC."
56. Similarly, in another recent judgment of this Court in Ude Singh v. State of Haryana [Ude Singh v. State of Haryana, (2019) 17 SCC 301 : (2020) 3 SCC (Cri) 306] , a two-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through Dinesh Maheshwari, J., expounded on the ingredients of Section 306 IPC, and the factors to be considered in determining whether a case falls within the ken of the aforesaid provision, in the following terms : (SCC pp. 321-22, para 16) "16. In cases of alleged abetment of suicide, there must be a proof of direct or indirect act(s) of incitement to the commission of suicide. It could hardly be disputed that the question of cause of a suicide, particularly in the context of an offence of abetment of suicide, remains a vexed one, involving multifaceted and complex attributes of human behaviour and responses/reactions. In the case of accusation for abetment of suicide, the court would be looking for cogent and convincing proof of the act(s) of incitement to the commission of suicide. In the case of suicide, mere allegation of harassment of the deceased by another person would not suffice unless there be such action on the part of the accused which compels the person to commit suicide; and such an offending action ought to be proximate to the time of occurrence. Whether a person has abetted in the commission of suicide by another or not, could only be gathered from the facts and circumstances of each case.
16.1. For the purpose of finding out if a person has abetted commission of suicide by another, the consideration would be if the accused is guilty of the act of instigation of the act of suicide. As explained and reiterated by this Court in the decisions abovereferred, instigation means to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite or encourage to do an act. If the persons who committed suicide had been hypersensitive and the action of accused is otherwise not ordinarily expected to induce a similarly circumstanced person to commit suicide, it may not be safe to hold the accused guilty of abetment of suicide. But, on the other hand, if the accused by his acts and by his continuous course of conduct creates a situation which leads the deceased perceiving no other option except to commit suicide, the case may fall within the four-corners of Section 306 IPC. If the accused plays an active role in tarnishing the self-esteem and self-respect of the victim, which eventually draws the victim to commit suicide, the accused may be held guilty of abetment of suicide. The question of mens rea on the part of the accused in such cases would be examined with reference to the actual acts and deeds of the accused and if the acts and deeds are only of such nature where the accused intended nothing more than harassment or snap show of anger, a particular case may fall short of the offence of abetment of suicide. However, if the accused kept on irritating or annoying the deceased by words or deeds until the deceased reacted or was provoked, a particular case may be that of abetment of suicide. Such being the matter of delicate analysis of human behaviour, each case is required to be examined on its own facts, while taking note of all the surrounding factors having bearing on the actions and psyche of the accused and the deceased."
57. Similarly, in Rajesh v. State of Haryana [Rajesh v. State of Haryana, (2020) 15 SCC 359] , a two-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through L. Nageswara Rao, J., held as follows : (SCC para 9) "9. Conviction under Section 306 IPC is not sustainable on the allegation of harassment without there being any positive action proximate to the time of occurrence on the part of the accused, which led or compelled the person to commit suicide. In order to bring a case within the purview of Section 306 IPC, there must be a case of suicide and in the commission of the said offence, the person who is said to have abetted the commission of suicide must have played an active role by an act of instigation or by doing certain act to facilitate the commission of suicide. Therefore, the act of abetment by the person charged with the said offence must be proved and established by the prosecution before he could be convicted under Section 306 IPC."
58. In a recent decision of this Court in Gurcharan Singh v. State of Punjab [Gurcharan Singh v. State of Punjab, (2020) 10 SCC 200 : (2021) 1 SCC (Cri) 417] , a three-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through Hrishikesh Roy, J., held thus : (SCC pp. 206-07, para 15) "15. As in all crimes, mens rea has to be established. To prove the offence of abetment, as specified under Section 107 IPC, the state of mind to commit a particular crime must be visible, to determine the culpability. In order to prove mens rea, there has to be something on record to establish or show that the appellant herein had a guilty mind and in furtherance of that state of mind, abetted the suicide of the deceased."
59. In Vaijnath Kondiba Khandke v. State of Maharashtra [Vaijnath Kondiba Khandke v. State of Maharashtra, (2018) 7 SCC 781 : (2018) 3 SCC (Cri) 362] , a two-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through U.U. Lalit, J., dealt with an appeal against the rejection of an application under Section 482 CrPC, for quashing an FIR registered under Sections 306 and 506 read with Section 34 IPC. A person serving in the office of the Deputy Director of Education, Aurangabad had committed suicide on 8-8-2017. His wife made a complaint to the police that her husband was suffering from mental torture as his superiors were getting heavy work done from her husband. This resulted in him having to work from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and even at odd hours and on holidays. The specific allegation against the appellant was that he had stopped the deceased's salary for one month and was threatening the deceased that his increment would be stopped. This Court noted that there was no suicide note, and the only material on record was in the form of assertions made by the deceased's wife in her report to the police. The Court went on to hold that the facts on record were inadequate and insufficient to bring home the charge of abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC. The mere factum of work being assigned by the appellant to the deceased, or the stoppage of salary for a month, was not enough to prove criminal intent or guilty mind. Consequently, proceedings against the appellant were quashed.
60. On the other hand, we must also notice the decision in Praveen Pradhan [Praveen Pradhan v. State of Uttaranchal, (2012) 9 SCC 734 : (2013) 1 SCC (Cri) 146] where a two-Judge Bench of this Court, speaking through B.S. Chauhan, J., dismissed an appeal against the rejection [Praveen Pradhan v. State of Uttaranchal, 2012 SCC OnLine Utt 51] of an application under Section 482 CrPC by the High Court for quashing a criminal proceeding, implicating an offence under Section 306 IPC. The suicide note which was left behind by the deceased showed, as this Court observed, that "the appellant perpetually humiliated, exploited and demoralised the deceased, who was compelled to indulge in wrongful practices at the workplace, which hurt his self-respect tremendously." The Court noted that the appellant always scolded the deceased and tried to always force the deceased to resign. Resultantly, the Court observed : (SCC p. 741, para 19) "19. Thus, the case is required to be considered in the light of the aforesaid settled legal propositions. In the instant case, alleged harassment had not been a casual feature, rather remained a matter of persistent harassment. It is not a case of a driver; or a man having an illicit relationship with a married woman, knowing that she also had another paramour; and therefore, cannot be compared to the situation of the deceased in the instant case, who was a qualified graduate engineer and still suffered persistent harassment and humiliation and additionally, also had to endure continuous illegal demands made by the appellant, upon nonfulfilment of which, he would be mercilessly harassed by the appellant for a prolonged period of time. He had also been forced to work continuously for long durations in the factory, vis-à-vis other employees which often even entered to 16-17 hours at a stretch. Such harassment, coupled with the utterance of words to the effect, that, "had there been any other person in his place, he would have certainly committed suicide" is what makes the present case distinct from the aforementioned cases. Considering the facts and circumstances of the present case, we do not think it is a case which requires any interference by this Court as regards the impugned judgment and order [Praveen Pradhan v. State of Uttaranchal, 2012 SCC OnLine Utt 51] of the High Court. The appeal is, therefore, dismissed accordingly."
The contents of the FIR, therefore, indicated that the deceased had been subjected to harassment persistently and continuously and this was coupled by words used by the accused which led to the commission of suicide.
61. In Narayan Malhari Thorat v. Vinayak Deorao Bhagat [Narayan Malhari Thorat v. Vinayak Deorao Bhagat, (2019) 13 SCC 598 : (2019) 4 SCC (Cri) 636] , this Court, speaking through U.U. Lalit, J., reversed the judgment [Vinayak Deorao Bhagat v. State of Maharashtra, 2016 SCC OnLine Bom 15933] of a Division Bench of the High Court which had quashed criminal proceedings in exercise of the jurisdiction under Section 482. This was a case where the FIR was registered pursuant to the information received from the appellant. The FIR stated that the son and daughter-in-law of the appellant were teachers in Zila Parishad School. The respondent used to call the daughter-in-law of the appellant on the phone and used to harass her. Moreover, despite the efforts of the son of the appellant, the respondent did not desist from doing so. This Court noted : (SCC p. 603, para 12) "12. We now consider the facts of the present case. There are definite allegations that the first respondent would keep on calling the wife of the victim on her mobile and keep harassing her which allegations are supported by the statements of the mother and the wife of the victim recorded during investigation. The record shows that 3-4 days prior to the suicide there was an altercation between the victim and the first respondent. In the light of these facts, coupled with the fact that the suicide note made definite allegation against first respondent, the High Court was not justified in entering into question whether the first respondent had the requisite intention to aid or instigate or abet the commission of suicide. At this juncture when the investigation was yet to be completed and charge-sheet, if any, was yet to be filed, the High Court ought not to have gone into the aspect whether there was requisite mental element or intention on part of the respondent."
The above observations of the Court clearly indicated that there was a specific allegation in the FIR bearing on the imputation that the respondent had actively facilitated the commission of suicide by continuously harassing the spouse of the victim and in failing to rectify his conduct despite the efforts of the victim."
29. The authorities of the Supreme Court referred to in Goswami (supra), it is true, lay down that mere harassment of an individual by another or oppressive behaviour cannot be held to be in itself constitutive of the offence of abetment to commit suicide, but persistent acts of harassment by the accused or a continuous course of conduct, that creates a situation, "which leads the deceased perceiving no other option except to commit suicide" to borrow the words of their Lordships in Ude Singh vs. State of Haryana9 has been regarded sufficient to qualify for the requirement envisaged under Section 306 IPC. Likewise, in Ude Singh it has been recognized that where the accused played an active role in tarnishing the self-esteem and self-respect of the victim, that eventually draws him to commit suicide, may be regarded as abetment. Here, as said in some detail in the earlier part of this judgment, the wife allegedly brought matters to the precipitating event by humiliating the husband in public outside their matrimonial home, where she is said to have assaulted him; and again, if this were an isolated action, it might have been discounted for a hypersensitive reaction of a person, where a person similarly circumstanced would not have acted to take his own life. But, as the materials collected during investigation suggest, the fateful event came at the end of a 'build-up', where the wife and in-laws had subjected the deceased to persistent harassment and humiliation. And if the departed soul were to be believed for his word in the scripted suicide note, he was subjected to the humiliation of the wife carrying on with another man and bearing the other's child. In this entire long course of the claimed harassment that the deceased suffered, the in-laws, including the applicant, are alleged to have been active participants. They are said to have connived with the wife and acted alongside her in harassing the deceased.
30. One may legitimately think as to what would possibly be the shade of the mens rea that the victim's wife or his in-laws would harbour to covet death for him. In the opinion of this Court, if a person, particularly one in a relationship of great trust like man and wife, were to betray that trust persistently and indulge in harassment of the other in a manner that the victim-spouse, could reasonably be expected in the circumstances to be driven to take the extreme step, the precise kind of mens rea that would be involved, may not be very relevant. The necessary mens rea of whatever shade and fuelled by whatever motivation, would be inferable from the persistent conduct of the accused.
31. This Court, however, may clarify that whatever is said in this judgment is purely tentative and limited to the purpose of judging the worth of the prayer to quash proceedings. It is and ought not be regarded by the Trial Court as any kind of a comment or evaluation about evidence, which is yet to surface during trial. The truth of the prosecution case has to be established beyond doubt at the trial in accordance with law. However, this Court is of opinion that this is not a case, where the prosecution ought to be scuttled at the threshold in the exercise of powers under Section 482 of the Code.
32. In the result, this Application fails and is dismissed.
Order Date :- July the 16th, 2021 Anoop / I. Batabyal