New Delhi: There must be proof of direct or indirect acts of incitement and evidence of continuous harassment against the accused in an abetment to suicide case for holding them guilty, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday and acquitted a Chennai-based doctor and his mother convicted of driving his wife to take the extreme step.
It said there should also be cogent evidence to establish a positive action by the accused which should be proximate to the time of occurrence and can be said to have led or compelled a person to take the drastic step.
A bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari said after having considered the facts of the case and upon appreciation of evidence of the eyewitnesses and other material adduced by the prosecution, "we are of the view that Trial Court wrongly convicted the Appellants (doctor and his mother) and the High Court was also not justified in upholding the conviction of the Appellants under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 498A IPC (harassment for dowry)".
It set aside the impugned judgment of the high court dated January 31, 2022 as well as the order of the trial court of March 26, 2021, calling them unsustainable.
The top court said, "It is to be borne in mind that in cases of alleged abetment of suicide, there must be proof of direct or indirect acts of incitement to the commission of suicide. Merely on the allegation of harassment without their being any positive action proximate to the time of occurrence on the part of the accused which led or compelled the person to commit suicide, conviction in terms of Section 306 IPC is not sustainable".
The bench said a bare perusal of the impugned judgment indicates the high court erred in recording the finding that there is sufficient evidence for convicting the appellants under Section 306 IPC losing sight of the fact that there exists no evidence on record indicating that the deceased was harassed by them just before her death.
"It is well-settled that not only there has to be evidence of continuous harassment, but there should be cogent evidence to establish a positive action by the accused which should more or less be proximate to the time of occurrence, which action can said to have led or compelled the person to commit suicide," the court said.
The top court said in case at hand not only the said positive action in close proximity to the time of suicide is absent but also there is no evidence of any continuous physical or mental torture meted out to the deceased by the appellants.
"On the contrary, appellant no. 1 (doctor husband) himself took the deceased to consult a psychiatrist just a day prior to this incident obviously with the intention to make her feel better. The said act can by no stretch of imagination be said to be any such act which may lead the deceased to commit suicide," the bench said.
It added the allegations made by the mother and sister of the deceased, also a doctor, in their statement with respect to continuous harassment and torture by the appellants just after the marriage is not worthy of being relied upon and has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
"Even the deceased herself who was a qualified doctor never made any complaint in this regard. It is really hard to believe that a well-educated and self-reliant lady would take such things lying down for a substantially long period of 9 years," the bench said.
It added the prosecution has to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the deceased died by suicide and her husband abetted it. In the present case, both the elements are absent, the court said.
The bench said so far as conviction under Section 498A IPC is concerned, except for the statement of the mother and sister of the deceased recorded after the incident, there is no other evidence to establish the allegation of any demand of dowry or ill treatment. The two had got married on September 8, 2005 and a baby boy was born in 2007. On November 25, 2014, the husband was informed that the deceased had collapsed in the bathroom of their home and was non-responsive.
The top court said the post mortem was conducted on November 6, 2014 and the reported cause of death was asphyxia due to external compression of the neck.
On the complaint of the mother and sister of the deceased, a case of harassment for dowry and abetment of suicide was lodged against the husband, his mother and father.
The trial court convicted the husband and his mother for dowry harassment and abetment of suicide but acquitted the father of all the charges in 2016. The high court confirmed the judgement of the trial court.
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