The main legal point established in the judgment is that for an offence under Section 306 of IPC, there must be active suggestion, instigation, or encouragement on the part of the accused to abet the commission of suicide. The court emphasized the need for proof of direct or indirect acts of incitement and highlighted the principle that for the wrong decision taken by a person of weak mentality, another person cannot be blamed for abetting the suicide.

ORDER :

1. Applicants have preferred this criminal revision under Section 397 r/w 401 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (for short 'CrPC') feeling aggrieved by the order dated 13.10.2023 passed in S.T. No.19/2023 by which learned Additional Sessions Judge, Dongergarh, District Rajnandgaon (CG) has framed charge under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against applicant No.1 and under Section 306/34 against applicant No.2 & 3.

2. Facts leading to filing of present criminal revision are that on 28.1.2023 Police received an intimation regarding unnatural death of deceased Abhishek Naredi, based on which police registered Merg No.3/2023 under Section 174 of CrPC and started inquiry. In the course of inquiry, a suicide note left behind by deceased was seized, in which allegations were made against present applicants. As per contents of suicidal note, deceased and applicant No.1 were in love for about 5 to 7 years, suddenly applicant No.1 broke relation with deceased, refused to marry with him, developed love affair with some other boy and going to marry with him. It is further mentioned that applicant No.2 & 3 herein are threatening him for life and for the aforementioned reasons, he is committing suicide by hanging himself.

3. On the basis of aforesaid suicidal note, Police registered offence under Section 306/34 of IPC against applicants. Body of deceased was sent for post-mortem examination and as per post-mortem report, cause of death was due to asphyxia and death was ante-mortem suicidal in nature. During investigation, said suicidal note was sent to the handwriting expert. After completion of investigation, charge sheet against applicants under Section 306/34 of IPC is filed before the competent Court. The Court below, by impugned order dated 13.10.2023, came to conclusion that prima facie charges under Section 306 & 306/34 of IPC is made out against applicants and accordingly framed charge against them. Feeling aggrieved by which, the applicants have preferred this revision.

4. Learned counsel for applicants submits that the trial Court erred in framing charge against the applicants under Section 306, 34 of IPC. He submits that in order to frame charge under Section 306 of IPC, it must be specifically alleged and prima facie established on the basis of cogent material on record, that accused committed such acts which compelled the deceased to commit suicide. There is no material on record which prima facie established that applicants by doing any positive act, have instigated, aided or provoked the deceased to commit suicide. Ingredients of ‘abetment’, as defined under Section 107 of IPC, are conspicuously absent in present case. Allegation levelled in alleged suicide note, which is recovered during merg enquiry, does not fulfil esssential ingredients of ‘abetment’. In the suicide note, it is only mentioned by deceased that he is committing suicide just because applicant No.1 betrayed him in love, developed love affair with some other boy and that applicant Nos.2 & 3 have threatened him for life. No specific instances of instigation or provocation on the part of applicants, which forced him to commit suicide, have been mentioned in suicide note or in FIR nor it is mentioned that applicants were continuously torturing him. In absence any such allegation, it is not possible to find out nexus between alleged abetment and suicide. He submits that in fact, it is the case of love failure and the deceased, who was major and aware of pros & cons of suicide, has committed suicide having come to know that his lover betrayed him by developing love affair with some another boy. Hence, only on the basis of contents of suicidal note and without there being any positive action proximate to the time of occurrence on the part of applicants herein, which led or compelled the deceased to commit suicide, framing of charge under Section 306/34 of IPC against the applicants is not sustainable and deserves to be quashed. To buttress his sub