Repeated Monetary Demands By Daughter From Her Father Will Not Amount To Abetment Of Suicide: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that the repeated monetary demands by daughter from her father will not amount to abetment of suicide.
Facts
Kavadu Sambhaji Tiple, committed suicide on 14/09/2021 by hanging himself on a tree in an agricultural field, within the jurisdiction of the aforesaid Police Station. The son-in-law of the deceased i.e. Mahadev Narayan Kamble caused the FIR to be registered after 10 days on 24/09/2021, against the petitioner and her mother.
A perusal of the report, leading to registration of the FIR, shows that it is based almost entirely on the contents of two suicide notes found on the person of the deceased. The contents of the two suicide notes are identical, wherein the deceased stated that he was fed up with life and constrained to take the extreme step because of the petitioner and her mother. On this basis, the FIR stood registered and police undertook investigation.
During the course of investigation, the police recorded statements of witnesses and took the suicide notes on record. The charge-sheet was filed on 27/11/2021 and it was stated therein that the material on record pointed towards the guilt of the petitioner and her mother for offence under Section 306 read with 34 of the IPC. Much emphasis was placed on the suicide note dated 09/09/2021. The Court issued notice in the present writ petition, wherein the respondent State appeared through the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor.
Arguments
The petitioner submitted that even if the FIR, charge-sheet and the material available on record were to be taken into consideration, the ingredients of the offence under Section 306 of the IPC were not made out against the petitioner and that therefore, the FIR and the charge- sheet deserved to be quashed.
The petitioner referred to Sections 107 and 306 of the IPC and read the suicide note in detail, to submit that at worst the contents thereof brought out the anguish of the deceased in respect of the demands for share in property made by the co-accused i.e. mother of the petitioner, allegedly at the behest of the petitioner. It was submitted that the demands made by the mother of the petitioner, even if at the instigation of the petitioner, could at worst be said to be demands that the accused persons thought were genuine and it could not be said that such demands were made with the intention to drive the deceased to commit suicide. It was submitted that there was no proximity between the suicide note, which was written on 09/09/2021 and the actual act, which took place on 14/09/2021. On this basis it was submitted that the present writ petition deserved to be allowed.
The respondent submitted that the material available on record, particularly the suicide note, clearly demonstrated that no option was left for the deceased, but to take the extreme step, because of the aggressive behavior of the co-accused i.e. mother of the petitioner, due to instigation on the part of the petitioner. It was submitted that a perusal of the suicide note and the material available on record with the charge-sheet demonstrated that prima facie the ingredients of the offence under Section 306 of the IPC were made out and that the actions attributed to the petitioner were prima facie covered under the concept of abetment as per Section 107 of the IPC.
Court’s Observation
The division bench on Justice Manish Pitale and Justice G.A. Sanap the contents of the suicide note bring out anguish of the deceased as regards the alleged harassment by the petitioner and her mother. But, it also brings out the fact that Shobha (co-accused) i.e. mother of the petitioner was the second wife of the deceased and that at worst the Shobha (co-accused) at the behest of the petitioner was making monetary demands or asking for a share in agricultural land from the deceased. The informant in the present case is the son-in-law of the deceased, who is married to the daughter of the deceased from his first wife.
“We are of the opinion that such repeated demands or alleged increase in the demands cannot lead to a finding that prima facie the demands were being made with the intention of driving the father to commit suicide. The demand in itself, at worst, may have been unreasonable or a demand which the father was unable to fulfill, but it would be stretching things a bit far to reach a finding that the accused as the daughter, through her mother i.e. co-accused, intentionally acted in such a manner to drive the deceased to commit suicide. The surrounding circumstances also indicate that the deceased had two wives and children from both the wives and it cannot be said that driving the deceased to commit suicide would have led to any exclusive gain to the petitioner,” the court said.
Case title: Lata w/o Pramod Dangre v/s State of Maharashtra
Citation: Criminal writ petition no. 866 of 2021
