The Telangana High Court recently quashed criminal proceedings against four petitioners, including a deceased man's wife, her parents, and her brother, who were accused of abetment of suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 34 (common intention). In the judgment dated September 18, Justice J Sreenivas Rao found that “there is no specific allegation against the petitioners that they provoked and instigated the deceased to die by suicide and there is no abetment on their part to attract the ingredients of Section 306 of IPC.” The deceased, Srinivasulu, an autorickshaw driver from Mahbubnagar, married Sirisha on June 30, 2021. He died by suicide on September 8, 2022. The following day, his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Srinivasulu’s father lodged a complaint alleging that his son died by suicide “due to the harassment and beatings” of Sirisha, her parents, and brother, adding that a suicide note was also found. Based on this, a case was registered against the four accused. The petitioners' counsel argued that the deceased had a habit of consuming alcohol and harassing Sirisha physically and mentally. The court noted that the chargesheet itself mentioned that Srinivasulu consumed a heavy dose of alcohol, ill-treated his wife, and harassed her both mentally and physically. Crucially, the investigating officer noted that Srinivasulu was “disgusted on his life and committed suicide” after his pregnant wife and her family refused to let her travel to his native village, as she was nine months pregnant. Citing different judgments, the court underscored the need for caution, quoting the principle that Section 306 of the IPC “requires a high threshold and should not be invoked casually”. It also quoted the Supreme Court, holding that mere allegations of harassment, without proof of instigation, conspiracy, or intentional aiding as required under Section 107, did not constitute abetment of suicide. “For the foregoing reasons as well as the principles laid down by the Hon’ble Apex Court as mentioned supra, this Court is of the considered view that continuation of the proceedings for the offence under Section 306 of IPC against the petitioners is a clear abuse of process of law and it is a fit case to invoke the provisions of Section 482 of CrPC to quash the proceedings against the petitioners,” it stated. The criminal petition was allowed and the proceedings against the petitioners were quashed.
