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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
PANKAJ MITHAL, UJJAL BHUYAN, JJ.
Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi – Appellant
VERSUS
State of Karnataka Through Sho Kakati Police – Respondents
Criminal Appeal No. 551 of 2012
Decided On : 29-11-2024
(A) Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Sections 417 and 306 – [Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 – Sections 318 and 108] – Cheating and abetment of suicide – Conviction and sentence – Acquittal from offence under Section 376 of IPC – Accused-appellant cheated deceased girl by giving false assurance of marriage and by entering into physical relationship with her, then refusing to marry which compelled her to consume poison leading to her death – Dying declaration of deceased reveals that there is no allegation of any physical relationship between accused-appellant and deceased or that accused-appellant had ever entered into any physical relationship or had sexual intercourse with deceased under pretext of marriage – Dying declaration indicates that it was deceased who was in love with accused-appellant and wanted to marry him – Executive Magistrate has recorded that deceased had a frustrated mentality – There is no allegation by her that accused-appellant had instigated her to consume poison or to commit suicide – No other evidence in this regard has been adduced – There is no evidence to even establish that accused-appellant entered into any physical relationship with deceased on pretext of marrying her – Even assuming there was love between parties, it is only a case of broken relationship which by itself would not amount to abetment to suicide – Accused-appellant had not provoked deceased in any manner to kill herself – No guilty intention or mens rea on part of accused-appellant had been established – Judgment and order of High Court hereby set aside and accused-appellant acquitted. (Paras 15, 16, 17, 30, 31 and 32)
(B) Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Sections 306 and 107 – [Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 – Sections 108 and 45] – Abetment of suicide – ‘Instigation’ to do a particular thing is necessary for charging a person with abetment – Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a particular thing and without positive act on part of accused there would be no instigation – To convict a person for abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC, there has to be a clear mens rea on part of accused to abet such a crime and it requires an active act or a direct act leading to commission of suicide – Even in cases where victim commits suicide which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, Courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that commission of such an offence largely depends upon mental state of victim – Until and unless some guilty intention on part of accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for offence under Section 306 IPC. (Paras 21, 23 and 25)
Facts of the case:
Accused-appellant was charged under Sections 417, 376 and 306 of Indian Penal Code. Trial court acquitted him of all offences, but on appeal by State of Karnataka to High Court, he was convicted for offences under Sections 417 and 306 IPC. However, acquittal under Section 376 IPC was maintained. He was awarded sentence of 1 year under Section 417 IPC with fine of Rs.5,000/-; and with sentence of 4 years for offence under Section 306 IPC with a fine of Rs.20,000/-. Basically, conviction of accused-appellant is for offences of cheating and for abetment of suicide only.
Findings of Court:
Judgment and order of High Court dated 15.12.2011 cannot be sustained in law and is hereby set aside and accused-appellant stands acquitted as was done by trial court.
Result : Appeal allowed.
JUDGMENT
PANKAJ MITHAL, J.
1. The accused-appellant was charged under Sections 417, 376 and 306 of the Indian Penal Code [In short ‘IPC’]. The trial court acquitted him of all the above offences, but on appeal by the State of Karnataka to the High Court, he was convicted for the offences under Sections 417 and 306 IPC. However, the acquittal under Section 376 IPC was maintained. He was awarded sentence of 1 year under Section 417 IPC with a fine of Rs.5,000/-; and with a sentence of 4 years for the offence under Section 306 IPC with a fine of Rs.20,000/-. Basically, the conviction of the accused-appellant is for the offences of cheating and for abetment of suicide only.
2. A girl named Suvarna, aged about 21 years, was in love with the accused-appellant for the past 8 years i.e. she was in love with him since the age of 13 years. It is alleged that the accused-appellant had promised to marry her but when he refused, she consumed poison and committed suicide.
3. It is alleged that the accused-appellant, Kamruddin Dastagir Sanadi, had promised to marry the deceased before the jamaat (panchayath) but 4 months prior to the incident, he had left the village and started living at Kakati, Karnataka. The deceased came to Kakati in the evening of 18.08.2007 and when the accused-appellant clearly refused to marry her, she left. The deceased spent the whole night at the bus stand at Kakati and in the morning consumed poison which she had brought with her from Gadhinglaj. One Badshaha (PW-5), relative of the accused-appellant, found her lying at the bus stand and took her to hospital at about 08:50 am on 19.08.2007. PSI Kakati (PW-15) recorded the statement of the deceased between 3 pm and 4 pm & thereafter sent a requisition to the Executive Magistrate to record the deceased’s dying declaration. The dying declaration of the deceased was recorded by the Taluka Executive Magistrate, Belgaum (PW-11) in the presence of the doctor (PW-12) between 04.50 pm and 05.20 pm. Thereafter, she died in the hospital on the same day itself i.e. on 19.08.2007.
4. The mother of the deceased (PW-1) lodged an FIR on 20.08.2007 under Section 306 read with Section 34 IPC at the Police Station, Kakati, Circle Belgaum Rural District, Karnataka against the accused-appellant and his uncle, alleging that the accused-appellant had deceived her daughter by promising to marry her and then refusing it, which led to the commission of suicide by her in frustration.
5. After investigation, a chargesheet was drawn and submitted charging the accused-appellant under Sections 417, 376 and 306 IPC. The accused-appellant was arrested on 20.08.2007 and later released on bail during the trial. The IInd Additional Sessions Judge, Belgaum, vide judgment and order dated 13.04.2010 acquitted the accused-appellant of all the charges as there was no allegation in the dying declaration that the accused-appellant ever had any sexual intercourse with the deceased on the pretext of promise to marry her or ever had any physical relationship with her. Her only allegation was that she consumed poison as he refused to marry her. There was no allegation that the accused- appellant instigated her to consume poison or to commit suicide.
6. Moreover, the statement of mother of the deceased (PW-1) revealed that it was only the deceased who was in love with the accused-appellant and not the other way around. The deceased had impressed upon her mother to convince the accused-appellant to marry her as she was in love with him. The mother of the deceased (PW-1) nowhere stated that the accused-appellant was in love with her daughter. No other evidence was there to prove that any physical relationship was established by the accused-appellant with the deceased except that he had agreed to marry her before the panchayath, which was not proved.
7. Thus, in the facts and circumstances of the case coupled with the fact that there was no evidence to suggest that the accused-appellant had instigated or aided the deceas
Abetment of suicide – ‘Instigation’ to do a particular thing is necessary for charging a person with abetment – To convict a person for abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC, there has to be a cl....
To establish abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC, there must be clear evidence of instigation or encouragement by the accused, which was not proven in this case.
Cruelty and abetment of suicide – Mere fact of commission of suicide by itself would not be sufficient for Court to raise presumption under Section 113A of Evidence Act, and to hold accused guilty of....
Abetment under Section 306 IPC requires evidence of direct instigation and established mens rea; mere allegations of harassment are insufficient for conviction.
To convict under Section 306 IPC, clear evidence of instigation or direct acts leading to suicide must be established, which was absent in this case.
For a conviction under Section 306 IPC, there must be clear evidence of instigation or aiding that compels suicide, which was not established in this case.
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