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Showing contexts for: suicide note in A.R. Madhav Rao And Ors vs State Of Haryana And Anr on 22 May, 2018Matching Fragments
5. One Iqbal Asif Khan was working as a Manager Taxation with Xerox India Limited, Gurgaon, committed suicide on 23.03.2011. In the suicide note, he has stated that he has been forced to commit suicide on account of the afore-mentioned petitioners. Based on the suicide note of deceased Iqbal Asif Khan, FIR No. 106 dated 23.03.2011 was registered at Police Station Sadar Gurgaon, District Gurgaon.
6. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that deceased Iqbal Asif Khan is stated to have rendered service for about 20 years with Xerox India Limited. He is well-versed with the taxation issue of the company. There was a dispute in respect of import of goods for which Commissioner of Central Excise issued show cause notice in the year 2007 and it was subject matter of various litigation before the CSTAT, Allahabad and Hyderabad. There were conflicting decisions of CSTAT. Arising out of 2 of 20 CRM M-2068 of 2012 (O&M) and the aforesaid issues, deceased Iqbal Asif Khan approached the Lakshmi Kumaran Company under whom the aforesaid petitioners - advocates were working. After detailed discussion among the advocates deceased Iqbal Asif Khan, Inder Singh Bisht and Ganesh Prasad Sati (petitioners) prepared and filed petition before the Allahabad High Court. In this background, deceased Iqbal Asif Khan is stated to have made in his suicide note that petitioners are responsible for certain alleged misdeeds is stated to have been committed by the deceased Iqbal Asif Khan in drafting petition whereby there would be financial loss to Xerox India Limited and so also it would affect the members of his family, etc. Learned counsel for the petitioners further submitted that writ petition filed before the Allahabad High Court was concluded in favour of Xeroz India Limited, therefore, neither the advocates nor colleagues of the deceased Iqbal Asif Khan have committed any misdeeds in filing petition or affidavit or giving any contrary information, etc. Learned counsel for the petitioners further submitted that deceased Iqbal Asif Khan must be under stress. He has also not made any specific allegation against each of the petitioner to what extent they have compelled the deceased Iqbal Asif Khan so as to commit any illegalities in presenting petition before the Allahabad High Court. Allegations in the suicide note are very vague. It was also submitted that during the investigation, competent authority have not elicited any adverse remarks against the petitioners to the extent that deceased Iqbal Asif Khan has been misled or coerced / duress him to reveal certain facts and affidavit which are contrary to factual aspects while presenting the petition before the Allahabad High Court. What has been done by the State/Investigating 3 of 20 CRM M-2068 of 2012 (O&M) and Officer in the matter is suicide note has been sent to FSL, Madhuban and obtained information only in respect of whether suicide note has been written by the deceased Iqbal Asif Khan or not. Even to this day, investigating officer or agency has not filed any cogent evidence to link with the suicide of deceased Iqbal Asif Khan and petitioners. Therefore, in the absence of necessary material to link the petitioners to the suicide note where deceased Iqbal Asif Khan has written that petitioners are responsible for his suicide, unless and until cogent material or evidence linking the role of the petitioners with reference to the suicide note of the deceased Iqbal Asif Khan is made out in the investigation, petitioners are not liable for prosecution with reference to FIR No. 106 dated 23.03.2011. In support of the petitioners' contention, learned counsel for the petitioners relied on two decisions, namely,
2) Madan Mohan Singh vs. State of Gujarat and another, reported in (2010) 8 Supreme Court Cases 628. Para Nos. 11, 12 and 13 read as 4 of 20 CRM M-2068 of 2012 (O&M) and under:-
"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.
23. Generally, the person who commits suicide used to/liked to leave a suicide note naming certain person as responsible for his committing suicide. Merely because a person has been so named in the suicide note one cannot immediately jump to the conclusion that he is an offender under Section 306 I.P.C.
24. The contents of the suicide note and other attending circumstances have to be examined to find out whether it is abetment within the meaning of Section 306 I.P.C. read with Section 107 I.P.C. There may be a case where in the suicide note victim had named a person, who is responsible for his committing suicide, but, on proper analysis, Section 306 I.P.C. may not be attracted to him.
25. The overall analysis is required to be examined with the following incidents like if a lover commits suicide due to love failure, if a student commits suicide because of his poor performance in the examination, a client commits suicide because his case is dismissed, the lady, examiner, lawyer respectively cannot be held to have abetted the 18 of 20 CRM M-2068 of 2012 (O&M) and commission of suicide. For the wrong decision taken by a coward, fool, idiot, a man of weak mentality, a man of frail mentality, another person cannot be blamed as having abetted his committing suicide. In the present case, the suicide note shows that deceased Iqbal Asif Khan is stated to have compelled himself to prepare draft and presenting petition before the Allahabad High Court which was against the interest of the company to that extent he had assumed the things. Consequently, company would be put into loss and members of the family would be affected, for this kind of statement in the suicide note, petitioners cannot be blamed. The conclusion would be deceased - Iqbal Asif Khan died like a coward. Instead of protecting the family, he perished like an unsuccessful man in life foolishly. For this, how can the petitioners be directly blamed. In the absence of any specific instigation by the petitioners to the extent that they have advised or suggested or compelled the deceased Iqbal Asif Khan to prepare draft and presenting petition against the interest of the company. Merely because a person who has committed suicide, has left a suicide note immediately one cannot jump to a conclusion that it is enough to mulct the accused with criminal liability under Section 306 IPC. One has to analyse and examine the contents of the suicide note to find out whether it contains any incriminating information in the nature of instigation, provocation, forcing the victim to commit suicide.