IMPORTANT POINT
Abetment of suicide – Necessary ingredients of offence must be fulfilled by prosecution.

JUDGMENT :

Mehta, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 26th July, 2022 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad rejecting the Criminal Misc. Application No. 12691 of 2015 filed by the accused appellant herein under Section 482 of Court of Criminal Procedure, 1973(hereinafter being referred to as ‘CrPC’).

3. By way of the said application, the accused appellant sought quashing of proceeding of the Criminal Case No. 6476 of 2005 pending against him in the Court of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Farrukhabad for the offences punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860(hereinafter being referred to as the ‘IPC’) and Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter being referred to as ‘SC/ST Act’).

4. The case aforesaid came to be registered on the basis of a charge-sheet filed by the investigating agency pursuant to investigation of C.C. No. 516/2002 P.S. Kotwali, District Farrukhabad.

5. The accused appellant herein was working as the District Savings Officer in Kannauj District. It is alleged that one Data Ram(deceased), posted as Senior Clerk, Child Welfare Board, Fatehgarh, committed suicide on 3rd October, 2002 by consuming a poisonous substance in his own house. The deceased wrote a suicide note before ending his life.

6. The dead body of the Data Ram was recovered lying in his house, i.e. Mohalla Gwal Toli, Fatehgarh, District-Farrukhabad. FIR No. 249/2002 came to be registered at P.S. Kotwali, Fatehgarh on the basis of the suicide note left behind by the deceased for the offences punishable under Section 306 IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST Act.

7. The Investigating Officer conducted the investigation and filed a closure report. Later on, investigation was re-opened and Charge-sheet No. 253 of 2002 came to be filed against the accused appellant for the offences punishable under Section 306 IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST Act.

8. The suicide note written by the deceased which forms the basis of the FIR and the charge-sheet is reproduced hereinbelow for the sake of ready reference: -

“The learned District Magistrate

It is hereby informed that on 1.10.2002 in night time at 8 ‘O’ Clock, the District Savings Officer Kannauj Shri Prabhat Mishra made telephonic call to me and even got my conversations done from Chief Development Officer, Kannauj and told that you come to Kannauj on 2.10.2002 in morning at 11 O’ Clock and meet me and some information has to be prepared. On 2.10.2002, at 10 O’Clock, I went to District Social Welfare Officer for obtaining permission to go to Kannauj, then he directed me to not go to Kannauj. When, it has already been written to the District Savings Officer that you call your record, then, you do not need to go there. Thereafter, I returning back to the Office, started performing official work. In noon time at 12.30 O’ Clock, the Chief Development Officer, gave me information on telephone that you leave all your work and go to Kannauj and meet the learned District Magistrate. I immediately reached Kannauj by Scooter, where, at 2:15 O’ Clock, I went the bungalow of District Magistrate, where, it was told that the learned District Magistrate has departed and you please meet the District Savings Officer Prabhat Mishra, then, I went to Shri Mishra at 2:45 O’ Clock, then, he continued sitting me in his Office till 5:30 O’ Clock and told me that the learned District Magistrate has not sit till now and we will go from here at 5 O’clock. At 5:30 O’ Clock, Shri Mishra had taken me to the Chief Development Officer Shri Shashidhar Dwivedi. Conversation of Shri Mishra had already taken place previously with CDO Sahab. The CDO Sahab asked that why the pension of 327 widows has not been distributed yet, then I replied that due to non-availability of their bank accounts, it could not have been distributed. On this, he, while using very indecent words, used odd words against me very mu