JUDGMENT

1. RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith. By this criminal writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, 'the Code'), the petitioner seeks quashing of First Information Report dated 26.03.2020 bearing Crime No.211 of 2021 registered at Police Station Dharni for the offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, 'the Penal Code').

2. It is the case of the prosecution that on 25.03.2021 one Smt.Deepali Rajesh Mohite/Deepali Janardan Chavan who was working as Range Forest Officer with the Forest Department committed suicide. The First Information Report was lodged by respondent no.2-her husband on 26.03.2021 at about 03.59 hours. As per the said report, the wife of the respondent no.2 was residing with him at Harisal alongwith her mother. On 25.03.2021 the respondent no.2 after finishing his duties at the Treasury Office started to return home in the evening. At about 7.00 p.m. he made a phone call to his wife. His wife told him that she wanted to see him for the last time and that she had no interest in living further. The respondent no.2 therefore immediately made a phone call to his servants to enquire as to what was transpiring at home.

After some time he received a phone call from a Forest Guard informing him that his wife had committed suicide by shooting herself. On reaching home the respondent no.2 noticed that his wife was lying in an injured condition. In the bedroom he found a handwritten chit that was left by his wife. The same was addressed to the petitioner in which a grievance was made that Vinod Shivkumar, Deputy Conservator of Forest was not permitting her to discharge duties in a proper manner and was blaming her for one reason or other. He was harassing her with a view to cause financial loss and mental disturbance. In the said chit it was stated that said Vinod Shivkumar was responsible for the said suicide. The respondent no.2 thereafter found two more chits addressed to him and his mother-in-law in which similar facts were narrated. On this basis First Information Report was lodged naming Vinod Shivkumar as accused no.1. Subsequently the name of the petitioner came to be added as accused no.2.

3. Based on the aforesaid First Information Report the investigation commenced and material in the form of three chits written by the deceased was collected by the prosecution. Statements of various persons were also recorded. In the process of investigation the petitioner was arrested and subsequently by an order passed under Section 439 of the Code he was enlarged on bail. Thereafter on 03.05.2021 the present proceedings were filed seeking quashing of the First Information Report.

4. Shri Sunil Manohar, learned Senior Advocate for the petitioner submitted that on a plain reading of the First Information Report and after perusal of the material collected by the Investigating Officer it was clear that there was no legal basis whatsoever to implicate the petitioner in the aforesaid crime under Section 306 of the Penal Code. The case of the prosecution was principally based on the three chits which could be called as suicide notes and on perusal of the said notes it was clear that the deceased had specifically referred to the accused no.1 as the only person who was responsible for her committing suicide. Though there was some reference to the petitioner in those chits, it could be seen that the deceased had reposed confidence in the petitioner and had written that whenever the petitioner was around she felt assured. Though at some places it was imputed that the petitioner did not take any action against accused no.1 so as to restrain him from committing various illegal acts it was submitted that the statement to that effect in the said chits could hardly be a reason to proceed against the petitioner under Section 306 of the Penal Code. Referring to the provisions of Section 33, 43, 107, 108 and 306 o