The main legal point established in the judgment is that for an offence under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, there must be a positive act of instigation or aid by the accused, along with mens rea and intention to provoke, urge, or encourage the deceased to commit suicide.

JUDGMENT :

1. This petition has been filed under section 482 of CrPC on 5-10-2018 on behalf of petitioner Dipti Rathore for quashment of the FIR dated 22-5-2018 registered at Police Station, Kotwali, Sehore bearing Crime No. 386/2018.

2. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner was married with Deepak Rathore (son of the deceased) on 6-5-2017. On 23-4-2018 father-in-law of the petitioner named Mahesh Rathore committed suicide by jumping into well. Police District Sehore registered Merg No. 28/2018. After inquiry into Merg, First Information report No. 386/2018 under section 306 of Indian Penal Code was registered on 22-5-2018. After investigation, Police filed challan before the competent Court. It is also an admitted position that the charge under section 306 of Indian Penal Code has been framed against the petitioner by the trial Court.

3. It is submitted by the counsel for petitioner that the FIR lodged against the petitioner is motivated and the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the offence with an intention to harass the petitioner. Allegations against the petitioner, as contained in the prosecution story, do not make out an offence under section 306 of Indian Penal Code. None of the ingredients of section 107 of Indian Penal Code are fulfilled in the instant case. It is the settled position of law that without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, prosecution under section 306 cannot be sustained. In order to convict a person under section 306 of Indian Penal Code, there has to be a clear mens rea to commit the offence. It also requires an active act or direct act, which led the deceased to commit suicide seeing no option and this act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that he/she committed suicide. The fact of the instant case nowhere shows that there was any active or direct act on the part of petitioner, which could have led the deceased to commit suicide. No offence under section 306 of Indian Penal Code is made out. Therefore, the FIR registered against the petitioner is liable to be quashed.

4. On the other side, State strongly opposed the petition. It is submitted by the State that sufficient evidence has been collected by the prosecution to prove the offence under section 306 of Indian Penal Code against the petitioner. The petitioner continuously harassed her father-in-law. Due to this harassment and the cruel behaviour there was no any option left before the deceased except to commit suicide. Therefore, the petition is liable to be dismissed.

5. In order to properly comprehend the scope and ambit of section 306 of Indian Penal Code, it is important to carefully examine the basic ingredients of section 306 of Indian Penal Code. The said section is reproduced as under :

“306. Abetment of suicide. If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

6. The question as to what is the cause of a suicide has no easy answers because suicidal ideation and behaviours in human beings are complex and multifaceted. Different individuals in the same situation react and behave differently because of the personal meaning they add to each event, thus accounting for individual vulnerability to suicide. Each individual’s suicidability pattern depends on his inner subjective experience of mental pain, fear and loss of self-respect. Each of these factors are crucial and exacerbating contributor to an individual’s vulnerability to end his own life, which may either be an attempt for self-protection or an escapism from intolerable self. The word ‘suicide’ in itself is nowhere defined in the Indian Penal Code, however its meaning and import is well known and requires no explanation. ‘Sui’ means ‘self’ and ‘cide’ means ‘killing’ thus implying an act of self-killing. In short, a person committing sui