The Supreme Court has held that a person cannot be held guilty of abetment to suicide merely because they had quarreled that day.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and Aniruddha Bose said in a judgment that committing suicide by reason of fight does not necessarily amount to abetment to suicide. Active provocation is a necessary component under section 306 (abetment to suicide) under the Indian Penal Code.
“Abetment by a person is when a person instigates another to do something. Abetment can be inferred where the accused, by his acts or omissions, created such circumstances that the deceased would have no option but to commit suicide.” Was not left,” Justice Shah wrote.
The case is of a woman who quarreled with her husband and committed suicide hours later. The husband also tried to poison himself after the fight, but survived.
“Allegations against the appellant” [husband] There was a fight on the day of the incident. There is no other material on record which indicates incitement. There is no material on record that the appellant-accused played an active role in the act of abetting the deceased to commit suicide. On the contrary, in the present case, the appellant-accused also tried to commit suicide and consumed pesticide,” the court argued.
The trial courts were at fault in finding the husband guilty of abetment, the top court said, as it quashed the charges against the man under Section 306 IPC and Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.
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