Note before death blaming accused for problems caused due to litigation not abetment: Rajasthan High Court junks FIR

The High Court held that the FIR did not make out the offence alleged. (Image generated using AI)

The court observed that a general allegation arising out of strained relations or ongoing civil disputes cannot be equated with intentional instigation, provocation, or active aiding of suicide.

Case

The court was dealing with a plea to quash FIR against four people who were booked under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC for allegedly abetting suicide of a man. It was alleged that the accused had lodged false complaints against the victim in a property dispute which consequently led the victim to take the drastic step.

The senior counsel for the petitioner submitted that that there was no direct nexus between the incident and the alleged harassment. It was further argued that a civil suit cannot be considered harassment.

The counsel for the state submitted that the accused lodged a complaint against the victim and his family, with an intention to harass them due to which he slid into depression and took his own life.

The court observed that mens rea (guilty mind) and proximate link are two important aspects to attract the penal provisions of Section 306 of IPC.

“There must be a clear and demonstrable intention on the part of the accused to drive the victim to commit suicide. Mere harassment, verbal abuse, or general quarrels without specific intent is not enough. There must be a direct and proximate causal link between the accused’s actions and the suicide,” it further added.

The court noted that the mere existence of a litigation cannot automatically be treated as instigation or abetment to suicide.

“In these circumstances, even if the suicide note contains an expression such as “the accused has made my life hell,” such a statement, by itself, does not fulfill the essential ingredients required to constitute the offence of abetment of suicide under the law,” the court observed.

The court further noted that the gap of around three months from the date of filing of complaint by the accused and the suicide vitiated the link between the incidents.

“Apart from this, it also appears from the suicide note that deceased was facing several other problems like dispute between parents, poor financial condition of family, employment related problem etc,” the court added.

The court held that the FIR did not make out the offence alleged.

“The contents mentioned in the impugned FIR do not make out that the petitioners herein had abetted the victim to commit suicide and deems it a fit case for exercising powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for quashing the impugned FIR,” the court said.

The court, therefore, quashed the FIR and subsequent proceedings.