Punjab-Haryana High Court
Narinder Singh @ Bablu vs State Of Haryana on 9 April, 1997
Equivalent citations: II(1997)DMC299
Author: R.L. Anand
Bench: R.L. Anand
JUDGMENT R.L. Anand, J.
1. Whether frustration in love on the part of a woman /young girl can be equated with abetment as required under Section 306 IPC and as defined under Section 107 IPC is the primary question which has to be answered in the present petition filed by Narinder Singh, a young boy of 20 years and a student who has filed the present petition under Section 482 Cr. P.C. for the quashment of the chargesheet as well as other proceedings against him under FIR No. 334 dated 7.10.1994, Police Station Jagadhri City under Section 306 IPC in the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, Jagadhri.
2. The gravamen of the allegations against the petitioner are that he was in affair with a girl by the name of Manjeet Kaur and the latter could not become successful in marrying herself with the petitioner which frustration ultimately led to the commission of suicide on the part of the girl. On these allegations the criminal case under Section 306 IPC was registered against the petitioner. During the course of investigation certain letters allegedly written by the deceased have been taken by the investigating officer indicating a love affair of the deceased with the petitioner and her utmost faith in the petitioner that he would marry her. The deceased unfortunately could not succeed in her desire and could not marry him and she committed suicide by taking poisonous substance.
3. Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code lays down :
"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."
The abetment again is a matter of definition under Section 107 IPC and it states that:
"A person abets the doing of a thing who instigates any person to do that thing, or engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act of illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that act."
Explanation added to Section 107 IPC also lays down that 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 thing.
4. A combined reading of provisions of Sections 306 and 107 IPC clearly comes to this that mere must be a direct nexus between effect of abetment and the abetment itself. There is not an iota of evidence collected by the investigation officer that petitioner Narinder Singh at any point of time instigated the deceased to commit suicide in the failure of their desire of maturity of their relationship. The language and the letters quoted by the investigating officer during the course of investigation indicate that the deceased and the petitioner were two intimate souls and perhaps at one point of time the petitioner might have promised with the deceased for the marriage but at no point of time the petitioner ever made representation to the deceased that in the failure of their affair maturing into marriage, the deceased would punish herself by adopting extreme steps. In such a situation, it cannot be said even remotely that the petitioner ever abeted or tried to abet the deceased in order to take her valuable life. If the deceased out of her poor frustration had adopted and abeted to finish herself by resorting to the method unapproved by the Society no blame can be given to the petitioner and the petitioner cannot be dragged to prosecution.
5. In this view of the matter, I allow the present petition under Section 482 Cr. P.C. and quash the charge-sheet as well as other proceedings against him in case FIR No. 334 dated 7.10.1994, under Section 306 IPC registered at Police Station City Jagadhri, pending in the Court of Addl. Sessions Judge, Jagadhri, Directions are given to the said Trial Court not to proceed with the trial.
This petition stands allowed.