Himachal Pradesh High Court
Swarit Malhotra vs State Of Himachal Pradesh on 12 January, 2023
Author: Vivek Singh Thakur
Bench: Vivek Singh Thakur
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr.M.P. (M) No. 2104 of 2022 Date of decision: January 12, 2023 .
Swarit Malhotra ...Petitioner.
Versus
State of Himachal Pradesh. ...Respondent.
Coram
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Vivek Singh Thakur, Judge. Whether approved for reporting? Yes.
For the Petitioner. Mr. Virender Singh Chauhan, Sr.
r Advocate with Mr. Rajul Chauhan,
Advocate.
For the Respondent: Mr. Hemant Vaid, Additional Advocate
General.
Vivek Singh Thakur, Judge
Petitioner, invoking Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, has approached this Court for grant of bail in case FIR No.56/2022, dated 18.5.2021, registered under Section 306 & 506 of the Indian Penal Code (for short 'IPC'), in Police Station Kangra, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh.
2. Status Report stands filed. Record has also been made available.
3. As per prosecution case, on 18.5.2022, one Ajay Chaudhary informed the police that a girl, a tenant in his ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...2...
commercial building located behind Kamal Dhaba in village Chhoti Haled, had committed suicide by hanging. Police Party rushed to the spot, where statement of Viveka Gill wife of .
Ankush Gill, sister of deceased, under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short 'Cr.P.C.'), was recorded, stating therein that her deceased sister was married in the year 2009 with Karan Singh resident of Sham Nagar Dharamshala and she was having 13 years old daughter from the said wedlock. After marriage, deceased, for strained relations with her husband, left the house of her husband and started living in her matrimonial home and earning her livelihood as casual Beautician by providing home service as and when called and, in the year 2020, she started living in rented accommodation in the building of Ajay Chaudhary and continued her work of Beautician. In the year 2015, petitioner Swarit Malhotra took her (deceased) to his home and violated her person forcibly and thereafter continued to do so with assurance to marry her and he compelled her sister (deceased) to take separate rented accommodation, whereupon her sister, in the year 2020, hired a room in Kangra and asked petitioner Swarit Malhotra to marry her but the petitioner Swarit Malhotra flatly refused, whereupon her deceased sister lodged a complaint on 16.4.2022 against Swarit Malhotra in Women Police Station, under Section 376 ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...3...
IPC. In that case, petitioner Swarit Malhotra was arrested, but was enlarged on bail after about 20 days. After releasing from jail, on 16.5.2022 at about 5.30 p.m., petitioner Swarit .
Malhotra came to her (complainant) residence at Chilgadi and said that he was the first person who managed his bail in a rape case after spending Rs.30-35 lakhs and asked the complainant to advise her sister (deceased) to withdraw the complaint otherwise he would manage murder of her brother and sister. On telling this to her sister (deceased), she told that she was already receiving such threats from Swarit Malhotra. On 16.5.2022, Swarit Malhotra solemnized marriage with someone else, which was known to her sister (deceased). Complainant alleged that her sister committed suicide due to harassment, threats and defamation for which petitioner Swarit Malhotra was liable.
4. During investigation, 12-page Suicide Note of deceased has been found by the Investigating Agency, wherein tale of sorrow of deceased on account of act, conduct and deeds coupled with threats of petitioner, causing unbearable harassment, humiliation and defamation to deceased, have been narrated in detail.
5. It is stated in the Suicide Note that when deceased contacted the Women Cell Dharamshala, for the first time, the SHO of Police Station did not register the complaint of the ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...4...
deceased by saying that deceased and petitioner were living in live-in relationship and, therefore, no case was made out. Thereafter, petitioner came to know about NGO 'Nai Roshni', .
an Organization helping women, and with the help of said NGO she again approached the Police but at that time also conduct of the police was hostile whereupon deceased had left the Police Station alongwith her complaint out of anger and disappointment, however lateron FIR could be lodged with great difficulty.
6. It has also been stated in the Suicide Note that the day when she (deceased) attended the Court for recording of her statement, petitioner Raman Malhotra @ Rinku had come alongwith Rs.10.00 lakh and contacted President of NGO Anuj Katoch, with whose interference FIR could be lodged, by saying that there was no possibility of marriage of deceased and petitioner Swarit Malhotra and, therefore, deceased should withdraw the case by accepting Rs.8-10 lakh and petitioner Raman Malhotra @ Rinku also visited husband of deceased for agreeing him to depose against the deceased by accepting Rs.1-2 lakh, to propagate that deceased was characterless.
7. It has been alleged by the deceased that after getting bail in previous case, petitioner Swarit Malhotra was harassing, threatening and humiliating the deceased because ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...5...
of which she was not having any other option but to end her life. After releasing on bail, petitioner made a call to one Lalta Aggarwal, a friend of deceased, to call deceased at Kangra, .
without informing the deceased that petitioner would be there and advised sister of deceased to ask the deceased to withdraw the criminal case with threat that in case of continuation of criminal case he would strip the deceased and would kill her and after release on bail petitioner had been continuously doing propaganda against the deceased and her family causing to decide the deceased to finish her life because petitioner Swarit Malhotra was threatening to kill the entire family and she could not bear damage and harm to her family.
8. It has been stated in the Status Report that on 17.4.2022, FIR No.9 of 2022 was registered against petitioner Swarit Malhotra, stating therein that petitioner Swarit Malhotra, under false promise of marriage, continued physical relation with her (deceased) since April 2015 to 8.2.2022, despite refusal of the complainant to do so but compelling her for that by giving false assurance to marry. In the said case, petitioner Swarit Malhotra was arrested on 17.4.2022 and was enlarged on bail on 7.5.2022 and after enlargement on bail, as stated in the Suicide Note, he continued to pressurize the deceased to withdraw the complaint. Therefore, a petition for ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...6...
cancellation of his bail in case FIR No.9 of 2022 has also been filed by Women Police Station Dharamshala, which is pending adjudication before the Additional Sessions Judge Kangra and .
next date wherein has been fixed as 4.6.2022. It has also been stated that in the year 2017, another case FIR No.1 of 2017 dated 12.3.2017, under Section 354A read with Section 34 IPC, was also registered against petitioner Swarit Malhotra.
9. As per Status Report, Charanjeet Singh, brother of deceased, has also made statement that petitioner Swarit Malhotra has extended threat by communicating that deceased has died without any harm to the petitioner and now he (Swarit Malhotra) will compel him (Charanjeet Singh) to die and he is also threatening to ruin the whole family and further that Raman Malhotra has also threatened to teach a lesson to him (Charanjeet Singh).
10. After registration of FIR in present case, petitioner absconded and there was grave public unrest in the area, due to which dead body of deceased was not cremated for 3-4 days even after the postmortem and was cremated, after persuasive advice of the police, on 21.5.2022.
11. Petitioner Swarit Malhotra had also approached Additional Sessions Judge (1), Kangra at Dharamshala, seeking bail, which was dismissed on 23.5.2022. Thereafter, he approached this Court by filing Cr.MP(M) No. 1172 of 2022 ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...7...
which was dismissed on 3.6.2022. Cr.MP(M) No. 1166 of 2022 filed by co-accused Raman Malhotra, seeking anticipatory bail was also dismissed on 3.6.2022. Thereafter, petitioner and co-
.
accused were arrested and since then petitioner is behind the bars, whereas co-accused Raman Malhotra has been enlarged on bail vide order dated 20.9.2022 passed in Cr.MP(M) No.1559 of 2022 by this Court.
12. Learned counsel for petitioner has submitted that there is no direct allegation of instigating or threatening the deceased leading her to take decision to commit suicide because of the petitioner, and the only allegation is threatening and abusing by petitioner through someone else, which cannot be construed sufficient reason for a person to commit a suicide. It has been further submitted that it appears that deceased intended to marry with Swarit Malhotra but for solemnization of his marriage on 16.5.2022 with someone else deceased committed the suicide on 18.5.2022 and it cannot be a sufficient ground to involve the petitioner under Section 306 IPC for committing suicide by deceased.
13. Learned counsel for petitioner has referred pronouncements of the Supreme Court in Praveen Pradhan vs. State of Uttaranchal and another reported in (2012)9 SCC 734; K.V. Prakash Babu vs. State of Karnataka reported in AIR 2016 SC 5430; M.Arjunan vs. State represented by Its Inspector of ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...8...
Police reported in (2019)3 SCC 315; State of West Bengal vs. Indrajit Kundu and others reported in (2019)10 SCC 188; and judgment dated 12.10.2022 passed by the Supreme Court in .
Cr. Appeal No. 1628 of 2022 titled Mariano Anto Bruno vs. The Inspector of Police wherein it has been observed that insulting the deceased by using abusive language and threatening will, by itself, not constitute the abetment of suicide and there should be evidence capable of suggesting that accused intended by such act to instigate the deceased to commit suicide and unless the ingredients of instigation/abetment to commit suicide are satisfied, accused cannot be convicted under Section 306 IPC and question of mens rea on the part of accused in such cases is to be examined with reference to the actual acts and deeds of accused and where acts and deeds are only of such nature where accused intended nothing more than harassment or snap show of anger, no offence for abetment of suicide would be constituted.
14. Learned Additional Advocate General has submitted that circumstances in present case are extraordinary and from the material on record involvement of the petitioner in harassing, humiliating and defaming the deceased leading her to decide to finish her life, are clearly evident, and keeping in view the impact of incident in reference on the society and public unrest prevailing in the area, the petition deserves to be ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...9...
rejected so as to enable the Investigating Agency to conclude the investigation at the earliest and it has been canvassed that enlargement of the petitioners on bail, at this stage, is .
not warranted.
15. Learned Additional Advocate General has submitted that keeping in view the fact that Petitioner Swarit Malhotra has been found involved in two other cases registered against him previously, and despite his enlargement on bail in FIR No.9 of 2022 with condition not to dissuade, threaten or allure the witnesses in that case, the petitioner indulged in humiliating, harassing and threatening the complainant as well as other persons related to her and involved in heinous crime of abetting the deceased to commit suicide and threatening the complainant and other relatives of the deceased, he is not entitled for regular bail and the bail petition deserves to be rejected.
16. Learned Additional Advocate General submits that in Mariano Anto Bruno's case it has also been observed by Supreme Court that if 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 and 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 surrounding factos having ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...10...
bearing on the actions and psyche of accused and the deceased.
17. It has been further submitted by learned Additional .
Advocate General that detailed written dying declaration of deceased is a self speaking documents to establish prolonged and persistent harassment, threats and abuses to derive the deceased for commission of suicide for which petitioner is directly responsible. It has been further submitted that intention of petitioner for forcing the deceased to commit suicide is also evident from threats extended by him to brother of deceased whereby he had communicated that after commission of suicide by deceased, he will also ensure suicide by brother of deceased, and there is sufficient material that petitioner was harassing, abusing, threatening the deceased persistently in order to compel her to commit suicide.
18. Rival contentions of parties are not to be adjudicated on merits by this Court in this bail application as the same shall be evaluated and assessed by Trial Court during trial. However, taking into consideration entire material before me and nature and gravity of offence, surrounding circumstances and also impact of enlarging the petitioner on bail at this stage, with reference to factors and parameters required to be taken into consideration, as propounded in pronouncements of ::: Downloaded on - 12/01/2023 20:35:12 :::CIS Cr.MP(M) No.2104 of 2022 ...11...
the Supreme Court as well as this Court, I am of opinion that petitioner is not entitled for bail at this stage.
19. Any observations made hereinabove shall have no .
bearing on the merits of the case and are confined strictly to the disposal of the bail application.
Accordingly, petition is dismissed and disposed of.
(Vivek Singh Thakur),
January 12, 2023 Judge.
(ms/sd) r
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