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fore, even in the case of a suicide there is an obligation on the person, who knows or has reason to believe that such a suicidal death has occured, to give information. In Kali- das Achamma v. The State of A.P., S.H.O. Karimnagar. I Town P.S., [1987] 2 ALT 937 it was observed as under:

"In the case of every suicide abetment is inherent. Whether ultimately it is proved or not, it is a different aspect. Abetment of suicide is an offence punishable under Section 306 I.P.C. and therefore whenever a case of suicide is there, the body cannot be disposed of without informing the Police and further as provided under Section 174 Cr. P.C. the Police have to hold an inquest Since it is an unnatu- ral death. ' ' In the instant case A 1, who reached his house on 18.3.82 knowing fully well that the deceased had already died, informed P.W. 8 that the deceased was in a serious condi- tion. Likewise he informed P.W. 12 on telephone without disclosing that the deceased was already dead. However, when P.W. 6, the brother of the deceased, came to the house where the dead body was lying, A 1 told him that the body would be cremated. To the same effect is the evidence of P.W. 13. P.W. 6, the brother of the deceased, on his own went and gave a report to the police. It can thus be seen that A 1 intentionally omitted to give the information in respect of the death of the deceased which he was legally bound to give. Section 202 I.P.C. is in the following .terms:
"202. Intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform--Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, intentionally omits to give any information respecting that offence which he is legally bound to give, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine, or with both."

This Section punishes the illegal omission of those who under law are bound to give information in respect of an offence which he is legally bound to give particularly being the head of the family. Under this provision it is necessary for the prosecution to prove (1) that the accused had knowl- edge or reason to believe that some offence had been commit- ted (2) that the accused had intentionally omitted to give information respecting that offence and (3) that the accused was legally bound to give that information. Shri R.K. Jain, however, relied on a judgment of this Court in Harishchandrasing Sajjansinh Rathod and AnOther v. State of Gujarat, [ 1979] 4 SCC 502 and contended that the word "Whoever" occurring in the opening part of the Section refers to a person other then the offender and has no application to the person who is alleged to have committed the principal offence- In that case the accused were tried for offences punishable under Sections 331 and 304 read with Section 34 I.P.C. in respect of the death of the deceased and were acquitted..On appeal by the State the High Court, however, convicted them under Section 202 I.P.C. A Bench of this Court while reversing the order of High Court observed thus:

(emphasis supplied) From these observations it is clear that there was .no evidence to show that the accused therein knew or had reason to believe that the said offences have been committed and on the other hand they were made principal offenders. In such a situation the ingredients of Section 202 can not be said to have been made out. It is in this context that the meaning of the word "whoever" has been considered. But in the instant case A 1 returned to his house where the dead body was lying on 18.3.82 and the circumstances clearly go to show that he had knowledge that the deceased died of an unnatural death. Therefore he had knowledge or atleast had reason to believe that an offence had been committed even if, at that stage; he thought that it was only a suicide. Therefore it was his bounden duty particularly as head of the family to inform the authorities. He omitted to do so. On the other hand, he went about telling that the deceased was still alive and her condition was serious. But when P.W. 6, the brother of the deceased, came to the house and enquired, A 1 told him that the body would be cremated and he intended to do so without informing the authorities. Therefore all the ingredients of Section 202 are made out against him and he clearly commit- ted the offence' punishable under this Section at that stage. The fact that he himself was made an accused in other offences subsequently does not absolve him of his complicity in respect of the offence punishable under Section 202 I.P.C. So far A 2 is concerned, he came to the house only after the investigation commenced. Therefore his-case stands on a different footing. In the result the convictions and sentences awarded against A 1 and A 2 are set aside. A 1, however, is convicted under Section 202 I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo six months' R.I. The appeal is disposed of ac- cordingly.