Himachal Pradesh High Court
State Of Himachal Pradesh vs Jawala Parsad And Others on 10 August, 2023
Author: Tarlok Singh Chauhan
Bench: Tarlok Singh Chauhan
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
AT SHIMLA
Criminal Appeal No.359 of 2023
Decided on: 10th August, 2023
.
__________________________________________________________
State of Himachal Pradesh
....Appellant
Versus
Jawala Parsad and others
of
......Respondents
Coram
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge
rt
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Ranjan Sharma, Judge
1 Whether approved for reporting? No
For the appellant: Mr. Anup Rattan, Advocate General
with Mr. I.N. Mehta, Senior
Additional Advocate General, Ms.
Sharmila Patial, Additional Advocate
General and Mr. J.S. Guleria, Deputy
Advocate General.
For the respondents: Nemo.
Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge (Oral)
Cr.MP(M) No.483 of 2023 Heard. Leave to appeal is granted. The application stands disposed of.
Appeal be registered.
1Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
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2. Aggrieved by the acquittal of the respondents, for the offences, punishable under Sections 498-A and 306 read .
with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (for short 'IPC'), the State has filed the instant appeal.
3. The case of the prosecution in brief is that on 07.04.2016, at about 01:00 p.m., an intimation was received of from the Control Room, Hamirpur, that one lady had committed a suicide by hanging near Him Academy School at Vikas rt Nagar, whereupon, Rapat Ext.PW10/A was incorporated in Daily Diary and PW17 Inspector Kuldeep Kumar alongwith SHO Rajinder Kumar, HC Surinder Kumar,, LC Ambika proceeded to the spot in Government vehicle, being driven by HHC Rajesh Kumar. It was noticed that many people had gathered on the spot and they had broken upon the main door of the house. The Police found one lady hanging on a hook with the rope in a kitchen. The Phone Numbers of the parents of the deceased was taken from the respondents and they were informed about the incident.
4. Thereafter, the Investigating Officer had clicked photographs Ext.PW4/A-1 to Ext.PW4/A-9 with official ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -3- camera. Thereafter, the dead body was brought down and got examined from LC Ambika and Pradhan Usha Birla, who were present on the spot and have found that there were no .
other injuries on the body. On enquiry, the name of the deceased was disclosed as Neha.
5. The Investigating Officer filled-in the forms 25.35
(a) (c) Ext.PW17/A, Ext.PW17/B and prepared the spot map of Ext. PW17/C. The mother and father of the deceased alongwith their relatives reached the spot in the evening. The rt Investigating Officer recorded the statement of mother of the deceased, Neelam Sharma, under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Ext.PW17/D. She stated that she is a housewife and got her four children having three daughters and one son. Neha (deceased) was her eldest daughter, who had studied upto 10+2 standard and thereafter, she pursued the Course in Fine Arts from Chandigarh. Respondent No.1, Jawala Parsad, was her Classmate and in the month of March, 2015, Neha conducted a marriage with Jawala Parsad out of her own sweet will. After marriage, Neha had visited 2- 3 times and the complainant had once come to Hamirpur and visited the house of Neha. After few days of marriage, Neha ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -4- told her that her husband, respondent No.1 and mother-in-
law used to inflict mental and physical cruelty upon her and also beat her. She, in turn, attempted Neha to understand .
that everything will be correct with passage of time, but her daughter used to tell her that her mother-in-law would not change. The deceased had last visited her house on 23rd March. She further stated that subsequently the father-in-
of law of Neha, respondent No.2, herein, had also started harassing her daughter by saying that if Neha was unable to rt bear a child, then he will conduct second marriage of his son.
The marriage of Neha and Jawala Parsad was inter-caste marriage. During the last visit, Neha had told her that she will give last chance to her husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law to mend themselves, otherwise, she will come back to her maternal house. On 06.04.2016, she talked with Neha for the last time and she told that her husband, Jawala Parsad had fought with her and Neha was crying on phone.
According to her, Neha had been forced to commit suicide on account of physical and mental cruelty inflicted upon her by the respondents.
6. The Investigating Officer had sent the statement ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -5- Ext.PW17/D to Police Station, through HC Surinder Kumar, on the basis of which FIR Ext.PW9/A was registered by SI Chota Ram. The dead body was sent to Regional Hospital, .
Hamirpur for post-mortem. The Investigating Officer recorded statements of Meena Sharma, Ext. PW17/E, Ajay Sharma, Ext.PW17/F, supplementary statement of Neelam Sharma Ext.PW17/G and statements of other witnesses, according to of their versions. The respondents were arrested on the spot.
7. On 08.04.2016, the Investigating Officer had rt moved an application Ext. PW17/H to Senior Medical Officer, Hamirpur, through HC Surinder Kumar for conducting post-
mortem on the body of Neha. The Medical Officer referred the dead body for post-mortem to Tanda, where HC Surinder Kumar got post-mortem conducted and obtained report Ext.PW12/E and handed over to the Investigating Officer.
8. On 31.05.2016, the Investigating Officer made a request to the Superintendent of Police, through e-mail Ext.
PW17/J for obtaining CDR and billing address of mobile Nos.91296-31586, 94598-12155, 97361-69364, 78319- 65199 and 89881-42470. The Investigating Officer had received billing address Ext.PW17/K and CDR Ext.PW17/L ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -6- (ten leaves), through e-mail from the office of the Superintendent of Police Hamirpur District.
9. After receiving report Ext.PW10/E from RFSL .
Mandi, the Investigating Officer obtained final opinion Ext.PW12/B from Dr. Sushil Sharma, wherein, cause of death was suggestive of neck compression due to ante-
mortem hanging.
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10. On 22.06.2016, respondent, Jawala Parsad produced marriage certificates Ext.PW11/A and Ext.PW6/A, rt which were taken into possession, vide memo Ext.PW15/A. The respondents were accordingly charge sheeted for the aforesaid offences.
11. The prosecution in order to bring home the guilt of the respondents examined nineteen witnesses. On closure of the prosecution evidence, the respondents had examined under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, whereby, while pleading innocence, they claimed to be falsely implicated. Thereafter, the respondents deposed that they wanted to lead evidence in defence and thereafter, examined DW1, Dr. R.S. Dadwalia, Psychiatrist and DW2 Balvinder Singh, Proprietor and Director of Institute of Fine Arts, Sector ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -7- 40-C, Chandigarh.
12. The learned Court below framed the following points for determination:-
.
(1) Whether prosecution has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that on or before 07.04.2016 at place Vikas Nagar, accused Jawala Parsad (A1) being husband of deceased Neha in furtherance of common intention of co-accused Piar Chand (A2) and Kamla Devi (A3) subjected her to cruelty with willful of conduct which was of such a nature as was likely to drive her to commit suicide as alleged? (2) Whether rt prosecution has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that on 07.04.2016 at place Vikas Nagar, deceased Neha committed suicide by hanging at her home and accused person Jawala Parsad (A1) being husband in furtherance of common intention of co-accused Piar Chand (A2) and Kamla Devi (A3) abetted the commission of said suicide as alleged?
13. No exception can be taken to the points of determination, as framed by the learned Court below, as these are the questions, which otherwise arise for consideration in the instant appeal.
14. Looking to the nature of the case and questions to be determined, it is not at all necessary to refer to the statements of all the witnesses in detail. One of the major ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -8- incriminating circumstances taken by the prosecution against the respondents is the statement of Neelam Sharma, mother of deceased, recorded under Section 154 of the Code .
of Criminal Procedure, vide Ext.PW17/D. Unfortunately, Neelam Sharma, expired before she could depose in the Court.
15. However, before we proceed any further, it is of necessary to make note of the provisions of Sections 306 and 498A of the IPC, which read as under:-
rt Section 306 IPC "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 498A of IPC Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty-
Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.--For the purposes of this section, "cruelty means"--
(a) anywilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS -9- life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or
(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or .
valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.]"
16. A plain reading of the aforesaid provisions reveals that to justify the framing of charges under Section 306 IPC, of the following ingredients must be established:
(i) death due to suicide;
rt
(ii) accused abets the commission of suicide.
17. Word 'suicide' is not defined in IPC. However, meaning and import thereof was considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gangula Mohan Reddy vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2010) 1 SCC 750 wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that word 'suicide' is not defined in the Indian Penal Code. However, it's meaning and import is well known. The word 'sui' means 'self' and 'cide' means 'killing'. In other words, the act must have been so intended to push the deceased in a situation that the deceased is driven to commit suicide. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in para 17 held as under:
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"17. 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 this act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that he committed suicide."
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18. What is abetment, was considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in S.S. Chheena vs. Vijay Kumar Mahajan rt and another (2010) 12 SCC 190 and elaborated the meaning of 'abetment' in para 25 of the judgment as under:
"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.
26. In the instant case, the deceased was undoubtedly hypersensitive to ordinary petulance, discord and differences which happen in our day-to-day life. Human sensitivity of each individual differs from the other. Different people behave differently in the ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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same situation".
19. What is instigation, was considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Ramesh Kumar vs. State of .
Chattisgarh, (2001) 9 SCC 618, and defined the meaning of instigation in para 20 of its report, which reads thus:
"20. Instigation is to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite or encourage to do "an act". To satisfy the requirement of instigation though it is not necessary that actual words must be used to of that effect or what constitutes instigation must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequence. Yet a reasonable certainty to incite the consequence must be capable of rt being spelt out. The present one is not a case where the accused had by his acts or omission or by a continued course of conduct created such circumstances that the deceased was left with no other option except to commit suicide in which case an instigation may have been inferred. A word uttered in the fit of anger or emotion without intending the consequences to actually follow cannot be said to be instigation."
20. In Sanju alias Sanjay Singh Sengar vs. State of M.P. (2002) 5 SCC 371, the Hon'ble Supreme Court gave interpretation to the word 'abetment' and 'instigation' in the following manner:
"6. Section 197 I.P.C defines abetment to mean that a person abets the doing of a thing if he firstly, 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, ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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and in order to the doing of that thing; or thirdly, intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that thing.
9. In Mahendra Singh v. State of M.P., 1995 Supp.(3) SCC 731, the appellant was charged for an offence under Section 306 I.P.C basically .
based upon the dying declaration of the deceased, which reads as under: (SCC p.731, para1) "My mother-in-law and husband and sister-in-law (husband's elder brother's wife) harassed me. They beat me and abused me. My husband Mahendra wants to marry a second time. He has of illicit connections with my sister-in-law.
Because of these reasons and being harassed I want to die by burning."
10. This Court, considering the definition of rt'abetment' under Section 107 I.P.C., found that the charge and conviction of the appellant for an offence under Section 306 is not sustainable merely on the allegation of harassment to the deceased. This Court further held that neither of the ingredients of abetment are attracted on the statement of the deceased.
11. In Ramesh Kumar V. State of Chhattisgarh (2001) 9 SCC 618, this Court while considering the charge framed and the conviction for an offence under Section 306 I.P.C. on the basis of dying declaration recorded by an Executive Magistrate , in which she had stated that previously there had been quarrel between the deceased and her husband and on the day of occurrence she had a quarrel with her husband who had said that she could go wherever she wanted to go and that thereafter she had poured kerosene on herself and had set fire. Acquitting the accused this Court said: (SCC p.620) "A word uttered in a fit of anger or emotion without intending the consequences to actually follow cannot be said to be instigation. If it transpires ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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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 for abetting the offence of suicide should be found guilty."
12. Reverting to the facts of the case, both the of courts below have erroneously accepted the prosecution story that the suicide by the deceased is the direct result of the quarrel that rthad taken place on 25th July, 1998 wherein it is alleged that the appellant had used abusive language and had reportedly told the deceased 'to go and die'. For this, the courts relied on a statement of Shashi Bhushan, brother of the deceased, made under Section 161 Cr.P.C. when reportedly the deceased, after coming back from the house of the appellant, told him that the appellant had humiliated him and abused him with filthy words. The statement of Shashi Bhushan, recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. is annexed as annexure P3 to this appeal and going through the statement, we find that he has not stated that the deceased had told him that the appellant had asked him 'to go and die'. Even if we accept the prosecution story that the appellant did tell the deceased 'to go and die', that itself does not constitute the ingredient of 'instigation'. The word 'instigate' denotes incitement or urging to do some drastic or unadvisable action or to stimulate or incite. Presence of mens rea, therefore, is the necessary concomitant of instigation. It is common knowledge that the words uttered in a quarrel or in a spur of the moment cannot be taken to be uttered with mens rea. It is in a fit of anger and emotional.
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Secondly, the alleged abusive words, said to have been told to the deceased were on 25th July, 1998 ensued by quarrel. The deceased was found hanging on 27th July, 1998. Assuming that the deceased had taken the abusive language seriously, he had enough .
time in between to think over and reflect and, therefore, it cannot be said that the abusive language, which had been used by the appellant on 25th July, 1998 drove the deceased to commit suicide. Suicide by the deceased on 27th July, 1998 is not proximate to the abusive language uttered by the appellant on 25th July, 1998. The fact that the deceased committed suicide on 27th July, 1998 would of itself clearly pointed out that it is not the direct result of the quarrel taken place on 25th July, 1998 when it is alleged that the appellant had rt used the abusive language and also told the deceased to go and die. This fact had escaped notice of the courts below."
21. In Bhaskar Lal Sharma and another vs. Monica (2009) 10 SCC 604, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that in order to prove offence under Section 498-A of IPC, the complainant must make allegation of harassment to the extent so as to coerce her to meet any unlawful demand of dowry, or any willful conduct on the part of accused of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health. It is apt to reproduce the relevant observations as contained in paras 27 to 30 of the judgment and the same read thus:
"27. The Parliament by Act No. 46 of 1983 with a ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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view to combat the menace of dowry deaths and harassment to woman at the hands of her husband or his relatives introduced Section 498A and Section 304B in the IPC. Section 498A reads as under:
"498-A. Husband or relative of husband .
or a woman subjecting her to cruelty.--
Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine."
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28. The `Explanation' appended thereto defines cruelty to mean:
(i) any willful conduct which is of such a rt nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health whether mental or physical of the woman; or
(ii) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.
29. Thus, the essential ingredients of Section 498-A are:
1. A woman must be married.
2. She must be subjected to cruelty.
3. Cruelty must be of the nature of:
(i) any willful conduct as was likely to drive such woman:
a. to commit suicide.
b. cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb, either mental or physical
(ii) harassment of such woman, ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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(1) with a view to coerce her to meet unlawful demand for property or valuable security, (2) or on account of failure of such woman or by any of her relation to meet the unlawful demand, .
(iii) woman was subjected to such cruelty by:
(1) husband of that woman, or (2) any relative of the husband.
For constitution an offence under Section of 498A of the IPC, therefore, the ingredients thereof must be held to be existing.
30. For proving the offence under Section rt 498A of the IPC, the complainant must make allegation of harassment to the extent so as to coerce her to meet any unlawful demand of dowry, or any willful conduct on the part of the accused of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health. We do not find any such allegation has been made or otherwise can be found out so as to enable us to arrive at an opinion that the appellants prima facie have committed such an offence. The complaint petition must also be read with several other documents which form part of the complaint petition. The children from the first wife of Vikas ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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were with Monica. Vikas affirmed an affidavit so as to enable Monica to apply for their passports. Vikas, therefore, wanted to have children with them."
.
22. In Chitresh Kumar Chopra vs. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) (2009) 16 SCC 605, the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that there should be intention to provoke, incite or encourage the doing of an act by the latter. Each of person has his own idea of self-esteem and self-respect.
Therefore, it is impossible to lay down any straitjacket rt formula in dealing with such cases. Each case has to be decided on the basis of its own facts and circumstances. It is apt to reproduce paras 16 and 17 which read thus:
"Speaking for the three-Judge Bench, in Ramesh Kumar case,, R.C. Lahoti, J. (as His Lordship then was) said that instigation is to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite or encourage to do "an act". To satisfy the requirement of "instigation", though it is not necessary that actual words must be used to that effect or what constitutes "instigation"
must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequence. Yet a reasonable certainty to incite the consequence must be (2001) 9 SCC 618 capable of being spelt out. Where the accused had, by his acts or omission or by a continued course of conduct, created such circumstances that the deceased was left with no other option except to commit suicide, in which case, an "instigation" may have to be inferred. A word uttered in a fit of anger or ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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emotion without intending the consequences to actually follow, cannot be said to be instigation.
17. Thus, to constitute "instigation", a person who instigates another has to provoke, incite, urge or encourage doing of an act by the other by .
"goading" or "urging forward". The dictionary meaning of the word "goad" is "a thing that stimulates someone into action: provoke to action or reaction" (See: Concise Oxford English Dictionary); "to keep irritating or annoying somebody until he reacts" (See: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 7th Edition)."
23. In S.S. Cheena vs. Vijay Kumar Mahajan (2010) of 12 SCC 190, the Hon'ble Supreme Court reiterated the principles of abetment of suicide as under:
rt "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.
26. In the instant case, the deceased was undoubtedly hypersensitive to ordinary petulance, discord and differences which happen in our day-to-day life. Human sensitivity of each individual differs from the other. Different people behave ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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differently in the same situation.
24. In M. Mohan vs. State represented by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, (2011) 3 SCC 626, the .
Hon'ble Supreme Court held that abetment involves mental process of instigating or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing and there should be clear mens rea to commit offence under Section 306 of IPC. It was observed in paras 44 of to 49 of the judgment as under:
"44. Abetment involves a mental process of rt 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.
45. The intention of the Legislature and the ratio of the cases decided by this court are 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 this act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that he/she committed suicide.
46. In V.P. Shrivastava v. Indian Explosives Limited and Others (2010) 10 SCC 361, this court has held that when prima facie no case is made out against the accused, then the High Court ought to have exercised the jurisdiction under section 482 of the Cr.P.C. and quashed the complaint.::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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47. In a recent judgment of this Court in the case of Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat and Anr. (2010 ) 8 SCC 628, this Court quashed the conviction under Section 306 IPC on the ground that the .
allegations were irrelevant and baseless and observed that the High Court was in error in not quashing the proceedings.
48. In the instant case, what to talk of instances of instigation, there are even no allegations against the appellants. There is also no proximate link between the incident of 14.1.2005 when the deceased of was denied permission to use the Qualis car with the factum of suicide which had taken place on 18.1.2005. Undoubtedly, the deceased had died because of rt hanging. The deceased was undoubtedly hypersensitive to ordinary petulance, discord and differences which happen in our day-to-day life. In a joint family, instances of this kind are not very uncommon. Human sensitivity of each individual differs from person to person. Each individual has his own idea of self-
esteem and self-respect. Different people behave differently in the same situation. It is unfortunate that such an episode of suicide had taken place in the family. But the question remains to be answered is whether the appellants can be connected with that unfortunate incident in any manner?
49. On a careful perusal of the entire material on record and the law, which has been declared by this Court, we can safely arrive at the conclusion that the appellants are not even remotely connected with the offence under Section 306 of the I.P.C.. It may be relevant to mention that criminal proceedings against husband of the deceased Anandraj (A-1) and Easwari (A-3) are pending adjudication."::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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25. In Praveen Pradhan vs. State of Uttaranchal and another (2012) 9 SCC 734, it is held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court that offence of abetment by instigation .
depends upon intention of person who abets and not upon act which is done by person who has abetted. The abetment may be by instigation, conspiracy or intentional aid as of provided under Section 107 IPC. A reasonable certainty to incite the consequences must be capable of being spelt out. A continued course rt of conduct which creates such circumstances that deceased was left with no other option but to commit suicide would satisfy the ingredients of instigation to commit suicide or abetment of suicide. It is apt to reproduce paras 16 to 18 of the judgment as under:
"16. This Court in Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh, while dealing with a similar situation observed that what constitutes 'instigation' must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequences. A reasonable certainty to incite the consequences must be capable of being spelt out. More so, a continued course of conduct is to create such circumstances that the deceased was left with no other option but to commit suicide.
17. The offence of abetment by instigation depends upon the intention of the person ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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who abets and not upon the act which is done by the person who has abetted. The abetment may be by instigation, conspiracy or intentional aid as provided under Section 107 IPC. However, the words uttered in a fit of anger or .
omission without any intention cannot be termed as instigation. (Vide: State of Punjab v. Iqbal Singh, AIR 1991 SC 1532; Surender v. State of Hayana, (2006) 12 SCC 375; Kishori Lal v. State of M.P., AIR 2007 SC 2457; and Sonti Rama Krishna v. Sonti Shanti Sree, (2009) 1 SCC 554.) of
18. In fact, from the above discussion it is apparent that instigation has to be gathered from the circumstances of a rt particular case. No straight-jacket formula can be laid down to find out as to whether in a particular case there has been instigation which force the person to commit suicide. In a particular case, there may not be direct evidence in regard to instigation which may have direct nexus to suicide. Therefore, in such a case, an inference has to be drawn from the circumstances and it is to be determined whether circumstances had been such which in fact had created the situation that a person felt totally frustrated and committed suicide. More so, while dealing with an application for quashing of the proceedings, a court cannot form a firm opinion, rather a tentative view that would evoke the presumption referred to under Section 228 Cr.P.C.".
26. In Indrajit Sureshprasad Bind and others vs. State of Gujarat (2013) 14 SCC 678, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that in order to establish the offence under ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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Section 498-A of IPC, the prosecution has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that husband or his relative has subjected the victim to cruelty as defined either in clause (a) or clause .
(b) of Section 498 of IPC and it was held as under:
"9. To establish the offence of dowry death under Section 304B, IPC the prosecution has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the husband or his relative has subjected the deceased to cruelty or harassment in connection with demand of of dowry soon before her death. Similarly, to establish the offence under Section 498A, IPC the prosecution has to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the rt husband or his relative has subjected the victim to cruelty as defined in Clauses (a) and (b) of the Explanation to Section 498A, IPC. In the present case, the prosecution has not been able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the appellants have subjected the deceased to any cruelty or harassment. Further, we have noticed from Ext. 31 written by PW 3 to the deceased on 25-04-2004 that after talking to the deceased on telephone, he was satisfied that she was living happily and was not being misbehaved with. No other material having come in evidence to establish that the appellants instigated the deceased to commit suicide, it is difficult for the Court to hold that the appellants had in any way abetted the suicide by the deceased on 18-05-2004."
27. Reiterating all the aforesaid principles, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gurcharan Singh vs. State of Punjab (2017) 1 SCC 433 observed as under:
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"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 this constituents would militate against this indictment. Remoteness of the culpable acts or omissions rooted in of the intention of the accused to actualize the suicide would fall short as well of the offence of abetment essential to attract rt 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."
28. In view of the aforesaid exposition of law, this Court is required to consider whether the prosecution has proved that the respondents had requisite mens rea to commit the act and whether the respondents left her with no option, but to commit suicide.
29. In order to ascertain this fact, one would be required to go into the deposition of brother of the deceased, PW1 Harshwardhan, PW2 Swati, sister of deceased and PW3 Sanjeev Kumar, father of the deceased.
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30. As regards PW1 Harshwardhan, he has deposed that he is studying in Government Senior Secondary School, Darlaghat. They were three sisters and a brother. His .
mother has expired about ten-eleven months back. His eldest sister Neha Sharma was married to Jawala Parsad in the year 2015 and it was an inter-caste and love marriage. After marriage, about two times his sister came to their house and of told to my mother that accused Jawala Parsad, respondent No.1 herein and his parents used to harass her. The deceased rt used to talk telephonically with his mother and used to disclose about harassment being meted out to her by accused persons, respondents herein. On 23.03.2016, his sister had come to our house and disclosed to his mother that accused persons used to harass and beat her. His sister committed suicide on 07.04.2016.
31. In cross-examination by learned defence counsel, he has admitted that his mother had come to the in-laws house of deceased Neha and stayed for about 2-3 days. He has admitted that he as well as his family was not happy with the marriage of deceased with accused Jawala Parsad. He has admitted that they belong to Brahmin caste and the accused ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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persons to scheduled caste. He admitted that his family had not disclosed in their locality that Neha has got married nor got her name struck-off from family register on account of her .
marriage. He has admitted that deceased was having a good bonding with him and used to keep love and affection with him and sisters. He has admitted that on marriage by deceased with accused Jawala Parsad, his father and my of maternal uncle (Mama) had rebuked the deceased. His mother used to tell about the deceased's harassment, but rt never disclosed the reasons behind said harassment. He has admitted that his mother and Bua (father's sister) wanted that deceased shall come back to their house on leaving her husband and were ready to pay the expenses of the marriage to her in-laws. Further, he admitted that document mark-A contains handwriting of my sister Neha. He also admitted that accused persons were getting her treated of the ailments. He denied that deceased was never harassed nor any beatings were given by accused persons.
32. PW2 Swati is the sister of deceased. She has stated that she is a student and they were three sisters and a brother. Her eldest sister Neha Sharma was married to ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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Jawala Parsad in the year 2015 and it was an inter-caste and love marriage. After marriage, her sister came to their house and told her mother that accused Jawala Parsad had some .
altercation with her. Her in-laws, however, were sending accused Jawala Parsad for finance training, where he was not allowing her sister to continue her study. She further disclosed to her mother that in-laws used to harass her. On of 23.03.2016, on the occasion of Holi, her sister had come to our house and disclosed to her mother that accused persons rt used to harass her. On this, her mother asked her to return home permanently on leaving her husband, but her sister told that she want to give last chance to the accused persons.
Deceased used to visit Tanda Medical College for treatment.
On 06.04.2016, her sister had visited Tanda and returned home early and in the evening when her mother telephoned her sister, she was weeping and told that she had a quarrel with accused Jawala Parsad. On 07.04.2016, she came to know that her sister has committed suicide due to harassment by accused persons.
33. In cross-examination by learned defence counsel, she has stated that her sister was studying in Institute of ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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Fine Arts at Chandigarh. She denied that after marriage, her sister continued her study from Chandigarh. She admitted that her sister had an abortion and was also undergoing .
treatment. The reason being disclosed by her sister to her mother for harassment was that the accused persons were not allowing her sister to continue with education.
34. PW3 Shri Sanjeev Kumar is the father of the of deceased. He has stated that he has one son and three daughters. Neha was eldest daughter and was doing Fine rt Arts from Chandigarh. Accused Jawala Parsad was also studying with her. They had love affair and got married in 2015. It was an inter-caste marriage. After marriage, Pardhan of the village of accused persons telephonically informed him that Neha has got married to accused Jawala Parsad and undertook on behalf of her in-laws that they will continue her education. They had gone to the village of accused persons, where said Pardhan in writing undertook the responsibility of Neha as well as of her education. Neha telephonically used to talk with his wife. Deceased used to disclose to his wife that the accused persons have stopped her education as well as her movement out of home. The accused persons did not use ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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to allow Neha to wear the clothes of newly wedded. The accused persons had purchased a buffalo and used to ask Neha to manage the buffalo, but she was not knowing said .
work. About two times Neha came to his house and told to his wife that accused persons are harassing her and accused Jawala Parsad being unemployed has started drinking and beating her. Neha's mother-in-law used to tell her that she of has spoiled the life of accused Jawala Parsad and asked her to leave their house. The accused persons took away Neha's rt mobile. On 23.03.2016, Neha had come to their house and disclosed to his wife that accused persons used to harass her.
He stated that his wife had asked her to leave her husband permanently, but she told to give them one more chance. On 06.04.2016, Neha telephoned his wife and at that time she was weeping and told that accused persons are beating her and during the said conversation someone snatched her mobile. On 07.04.2016, they came to know that she has committed suicide. Neha committed suicide due to her harassment by accused persons. On her death, he alongwith his wife and others came to Hamirpur and Police recorded statement of his wife, who has now expired.
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35. In cross-examination by learned defence counsel, he has stated that the Police did not record his statement. He never disclosed to the Police about statements regarding .
responsibility as well as undertaking given in writing by Pradhan, purchasing of buffalo, stopping of her education as well as movement out of house, consuming liquor and her beating by accused Jawala Parsad and also about the of incident dated 06.04.2016. He has expressed ignorance that after marriage in March, 2015, Neha had completed rt education of two semesters from same Institute. After her marriage, he never paid Neha education fee. The deceased did not disclose to him about any harassment. He had come to know through his wife that his daughter telephonically had asked to get her name struck-off from the Panchayat record due to marriage. He did not get the name struck-off. He further deposed that his daughter was suffering with ailment of fits and since 2002-03 was getting treatment from IGMC, Shimla. He admitted that accused persons were knowing the said fact and undertook to get her treated. They did not participate or attended the function of marriage organized by the accused persons. He admitted that Neha after marriage ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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when came to their house, he and his brother-in-law had rebuked her. He also admitted that accused persons were getting her treatment regarding fits from Tanda. However, he .
shown an ignorance that deceased had an abortion. He also admitted that after marriage, Neha had visited their house twice. He denied that Neha was in tension, as they were not getting her name struck-off from the record of their Gram of Panchayat due to which she was unable to get her marriage registered in her native Gram Panchayat. He expressed rt ignorance that his wife and sister had asked Neha to permanently leave her husband and that they will pay the expenses of the marriage. He denied that Neha due to her ailment of fits used to remain in tension. He admitted that due to love marriage, being solemnized by Neha, he was annoyed with her. Self-stated that said annoyance was only for some time.
36. In order to prove its case, the statement of Neelam Sharma, alone would have been relevant and could have thrown light on the issue, because statements of PW1, Harshwardhan, brother of the victim, PW2 Swati, sister of victim and PW3 Sanjeev Kumar, father of the victim, as ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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noticed above, are mainly based on hearsay and even as per prosecution case, the deceased had made complaints only to her mother and not to brother, sister or father.
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37. The Special Judge below had before it was only statement of mother of the victim, under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and as per settled law, the First Information Report recorded under Section 154 of the Code of of Criminal Procedure, is not substantive piece of evidence and can only be used to corroborate the informant under Section rt 157 of the Indian Evidence Act or to contradict her under Section 145 of the Indian Evidence Act, in case the informant appears as a witness under trial.
38. Nonetheless, even if the statement under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Ext.PW17/D is perused, even then, it would be noticed that Neelam Sharma, mother of the victim, had stated that the deceased had continued with her studies after her marriage. This version, however, is in conflict with the other evidence available on record.
39. As per version put forth by PW2 Swati (sister of the deceased), PW3 Sanjeev Kumar (father of the deceased) ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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and PW19 Meena Sharma (aunt of the deceased), the in-laws of Neha, i.e., respondents, herein, were not allowed Neha to continue her studies, whereas, in the evidence, it has come .
on record that marriage of Neha was solemnized with respondent No.1 Jawala Parsad on 27.03.2017 and thereafter, she had continued with her studies in the Institute of Fine Arts, Sector-40C, Chandigarh, and marks sheet for of the session ending April, 2015, was exhibited on record as Ext.D-4, marks sheet for the session ending December, 2015, as Ext. D-5.
rt
40. Not only this, the record also reveals that tuition fee of Neha had been paid on 07.09.2015, vide Ext. D-2 and also on 14.12.2015, Ext.D-3, it means that Neha had been continuing her studies even after her marriage.
41. DW2 Balvinder Singh, Director of the Institute of Fine Arts, Chandigarh, had stated that fee of the victim had been paid by the father of Jawala Parsad and this fact also stands substantiated by the statement of PW3, Sanjeev Kumar, father of the deceased, who had categorically stated that after marriage of the victim with respondent No.1, Jawala Parsad, he did not pay tuition fee of the victim.
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42. PW1 Harshwardhan, brother of the victim, has admitted that the victim had not disclosed the fact of being harassed by the accused persons, respondents herein, to him, .
but had done so to their mother.
43. PW2 Swati, sister of the victim, has also admitted that the victim did not confide with her about any ill treatment being meted out to her by the respondents and had of been confided the same with the mother.
44. Similarly, admission has been made by PW3 rt Sanjeev Kumar, father of the victim, who stated that the victim had not disclosed to him about any ill treatment being given by the accused persons, respondents herein, but had disclosed the same to her mother.
45. It needs to be noticed here that it has come in evidence that it was inter-caste marriage, where the family of deceased had attended the marriage, as the deceased belonged to higher caste and the respondents belonged to lower caste. It has also come in evidence that after marriage, respondent No.1 and his family members had given a Dhaam, but that function was not attended to by the family members of the deceased. PW18, Ajay Sharma, who is maternal uncle ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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(Mama) of the deceased, had also admitted that family members of the deceased had not accepted the marriage.
46. It also needs to be noticed here that the family .
members of the respondents had accepted the victim, even though she was suffering from epilepsy since the year 2002- 2003 and after marriage, the family members of the respondents had continued with the treatment of the victim, of who had been taking treatment at Tanda Medical College and Hospital from DW1, Dr. R.S. Dadwalia, Psychiatrist, and had rt so stated in his statement before the Court, wherein, he had stated that he had been treating the victim and proved on record OPD Ext.D-1. He further deposed that the deceased was diagnosed with Grand-mal-seizures [(epilepsy (mirgi)] for the last seven years. Now, the fact that the respondents had accepted the illness of the victim and had been providing treatment, a long way, to indicate that they were concerned about the well-being of the victim.
47. In case of State of Himachal Pradesh v. Nikku Ram and Ors (AIR 1996 SC 67), while interpreting the provisions of Section 304-8, 498-A, 306 and 324 IPC, the Apex Court had observed that harassment constitutes cruelty ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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under Section 498A of IPC and explanation as given in Section 498A of IPC; (b) must have nexus with the demand of dowry and if this is missing, the case will fall beyond the .
scope of Section 498A of IPC. Pre-condition for attracting the provisions of Section 498A of IPC is the demand and if the demand is missing and the cruelty is for the sake of giving torture to the woman without any nexus with the demand, of then such a cruelty will not be covered under explanation (b) under Section 498A of the IPC. It may be a cruelty under the rt Hindu Marriage Act, as held by the Supreme Court in the case of Shobha Rani v. Madhukar Reddi [AIR 1980 SC 121]. The Apex Court observed that cruelty under Section 498A of the IPC is distinct from the cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act, which entitles the wife to get a degree for dissolution of marriage.
48. In the given facts and circumstances, the learned Court below is absolutely correct in observing that evidence in the instant case, falls short of requirement of the statute. The only circumstance, which the prosecution has tried to highlight, was that the deceased was not allowed by the respondents to continue with her studies ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS
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after marriage, but as observed above, the evidence is otherwise.
49. Now, as regards the commission of offence .
under Section 498A of the IPC, suffice it to say that not a single witness has deposed regarding the commission of this offence.
50. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we see no of reason to interfere with the findings rendered by the learned Court below.
51. rt Consequently, there is not merit in this appeal and the same is accordingly dismissed alongwith miscellaneous application(s), if any.
(Tarlok Singh Chauhan) Judge (Ranjan Sharma) Judge August 10, 2023 (Bhardwaj) ::: Downloaded on - 11/08/2023 20:33:27 :::CIS