IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.TUKARAMJI CRIMINAL PETITION No.12677 OF 2024 DATE: 25.03.2026 Between :

Mr. Vikranth Hedeu … Petitioner AND State of Telangana Rep by its Public Prosecutor, PS Miyapurm High Court at Hyderabad and another.

… Respondents.

O R D E R:

I have heard Mr. Thomas George, learned counsel for the petitioner, and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor appearing for respondent No.1-State.

2. This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short, “BNSS”), seeking quashment of the charge sheet in S.C. No. 576 of 2024 pending on the file of the VI Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Ranga Reddy at Kukatpally. The petitioner is the sole accused, charged for the offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).

3.1. The prosecution case, in brief, is that the petitioner/accused and the deceased were colleagues, and their acquaintance developed into a personal relationship. It is alleged that the petitioner proposed love to the deceased. On 20.09.2019, during a farewell party, the deceased allegedly slipped and sustained an injury to her chin. On the following day, i.e., 21.09.2019, the petitioner is stated to have taken her to the hospital for treatment and later dropped her at her apartment. It is further alleged that, during a conversation between the petitioner and the deceased, which was purportedly overheard, the petitioner stated: “Go and do whatever you want; die if you want, but I want to live with my family.” Thereafter, the deceased returned to her flat and committed suicide by hanging.

3.2. Based on a complaint lodged by the decease’s father/L.W.1, a case in Crime No. 305 of 2019 was registered for the offence under Section 306 IPC, and upon completion of investigation, a charge sheet came to be filed.

4.1. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the allegations made against the petitioner are wholly devoid of merit and do not constitute the offence of abetment of suicide. It is contended that even if the entire material collected during the investigation, including the statements of the parents of the deceased, the owner, and the neighbour of the flat, is taken at face value, the essential ingredients of Section 306 IPC are not made out. It is further contended that the alleged statement attributed to the petitioner is not corroborated by any witness, and the entire case rests on hearsay evidence. He further submits that, as held in a catena of judgments, mere utterance of words, without any proximate act or intention to instigate the commission of suicide, would not attract the offence under Section 306 IPC.

4.2. Reliance is placed on the decisions in Ku. Pooja Chopra v. State of Chhattisgarh (2023 SCC OnLine Chh 5411) and Vaibhav v. State of Maharashtra (2025 HC-NAG 424), wherein it has been held that for constituting abetment within the meaning of Section 107 IPC, there must be a clear mens rea and a positive act of instigation or aid, and in the absence of such material, prosecution under Section 306 IPC is unsustainable. Accordingly, it is prayed that the proceedings be quashed.

5. Per contra, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that the allegations regarding the relationship between the petitioner and the deceased, and the circumstances leading to the suicide, involve disputed questions of fact, which can be adjudicated only upon a full -

fledged trial. However, it is fairly submitted that the statements of the witnesses do not specifically refer to the alleged statement said to have been made by the petitioner on 21.09.2019, as mentioned in the charge-sheet.

6. I have perused the material available on record.

7. The gravamen of the allegation against the petitioner is that he abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased. A perusal of the statements of L.Ws. 1 to 4, namely, the parents of the deceased, the owner, and the neighbor of the flat