‘Cruelty’ & ‘Abetment To Suicide’ Independent Offences; Accused Being Guilty Of Former Doesn’t Imply He’s Automatically Guilty Of Latter

Case: Ajayakumar & Anr. v. State of Kerala

Coram: Justice A. Badharudeen

Case No.: CRL.A NO. 500 OF 2007

Court Observation: “Merely because an accused has been held liable to be punished under Section 498A IPC, it does not follow that on the same evidence he must also and necessarily be held guilty of having abetted the commission of suicide by the woman concerned.”

“The said procedure adopted by the learned Sessions Judge is illegal. It is to be borne in mind that when the statute imposes imprisonment and fine, the same shall be read in `conjunctive’ and not `disjunctive’. Therefore, both forms of punishment shall be imposed.”

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Keywords

Abetment To Suicide, Cruelty, Independent Offences