Abetment of Suicide Positive Act Of Instigation Necessary for Conviction U/S 306 IPC: Gujarat High Court Reiterates
Case: State Of Gujarat Versus Raval Deepakkkumar Shankerchand & 2 Other(S)
Coram: Justice SH Vora and Justice Sandeep N. Bhatt
Case No.: R/CR.A/1125/1995
Court Observation: “The essential ingredients of the offence under Section 306 IPC are: (i) the abetment; (ii) the intention of the accused to aid or instigate or abet the deceased to commit suicide. The act of the accused, however, insulting the deceased by using abusive language will not, by itself, constitute the abetment of suicide. There should be evidence capable of suggesting that the accused intended by such act to instigate the deceased to commit suicide.”
“Thus, the prosecution could not establish the case under Section 498(A) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code by adducing convincing evidence and the trial Court has rightly found that presumption under Section 113 of the Indian Evidence Act cannot be applied in the present case where the prosecution has failed to prove the aspect of harassment caused by the accused to the deceased through the evidence of PW Nos.1 to 3, who are the nearest relatives of the deceased.”
“Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained. The intention of the legislature and the ratio of the cases decided by this Court is clear that in order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC 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 that act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that he committed suicide.”
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