TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (7) TMI 2054
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....nts Ude Singh, Manoj Kumar and Daulat Ram (Accused Nos. 2 to 4) and one Hem Karan alias Hemla (Accused No. 1-since deceased) were tried for the offence Under Section 306/34 Indian Penal Code on the allegations that they had abetted commission of suicide by the daughter of the complainant Pohap Singh (PW-1). The parties involved in this matter are closely related to each other. The Accused Nos. 1 and 2 had been brothers and the complainant is their cousin. The Accused Nos. 3 and 4 Manoj and Daulat Ram are the sons of Accused No. 2 Ude Singh. The witness Smt. Krishna (PW-11) is the mother of deceased girl whereas another witness Jai Narain (PW-2) is also the cousin of the complainant and the Accused Nos. 1 and 2. The parties lived in the same village Shahadatnagar (Haryana) and in the neighbourhood. However, the relations of parties were too strained and they were engaged in several litigations against each other, including the complaint relating to a hurt case, as lodged by PW-11 Smt. Krishna (wife of the present complainant) against Hem Karan alias Hemla and Ude Singh that was pending trial at the relevant time. 2.2 The case of prosecution in the present matter has been that the ....
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....nant, who was on duty, was informed through his nephew about his daughter's demise. 2.4. After noticing the unnatural death of his daughter, the complainant lodged the report and made his statement whereupon FIR No. 93 dated 06.05.1996 was registered at Police Station, Jatusana; investigation was carried out; and ultimately, the Accused persons were charge-sheeted for the offence Under Section 306 read with Section 34 Indian Penal Code. 3. In trial, the prosecution examined several witnesses in support of its case that the Accused persons were guilty of abetment of suicide by the daughter of the complainant. In view of the questions involved in this appeal, we may briefly take note of the statements of relevant witnesses, being PW-1 Pohap Singh (the complainant-father of the deceased); PW-2 Jai Narain (brother of the complainant); and PW-11 Smt. Krishna (wife of the complainant-mother of the deceased). 3.1. PW-1 Pohap Singh stated that on a previous occasion, Hem Karan and others had assaulted his wife and criminal proceedings were pending in that regard. He also narrated about the incidents that had allegedly taken place on 15.04.1996 and on 05.05.1996. In his cross-examin....
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....nchayat controlled the behaviour of the Accused; and that the Accused were eve-teasers and might have victimised other girls of the village as well. She also deposed that she had brought the repeated indecent behaviour with her daughter to the notice of the wives of the Accused persons. 3.3.1. PW-11 further deposed that 3 years prior to the incident, Hem Karan had inflicted head injury on her by using a gandasa and that he was facing trial before the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Rewari and, therefore, her daughter was targeted regularly by the Accused persons. She also deposed that on the date of evidence in the hurt case i.e., on 15.04.1996, Hem Karan dragged her daughter into his house and insulted her but, in order to protect the honour of unmarried girl, the male members of the family were against reporting the matter to the police. 3.3.2. PW-11 also deposed that on 05.05.1996, when her daughter had gone to throw garbage, she was intercepted by the Accused and was again teased by all of them. PW-11 stated that her daughter was exhausted and disgusted of all the taunts and remarks she had to bear; and throughout the night, she kept on weeping and did not have even a wink of s....
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....ut I have no definite information. I would not know the names of the girls or their parents who have been the targets of the behavior of the Accused. May be they are involving the teasing of 10/11 girls in the village. We may have told the police about those incidents. It is incorrect that I am deposing falsely against the Accused or that they have never been involved in any illegal activity in the village. The Accused and my husband are cousins. The wives of Hem Karan and Uday are my 'Jethani and Devrani' (Sisters-in-law). I had complained to those ladies about the misbehavior of the Accused. I had complained to them repeatedly. I would not know the result of my complaints to them. Our men folk had also brought the incident to the notice of our neighbours and Mohalla-wala. My daughter had told me that she would end her life as she was fed up of the in decent behavior of the Accused towards her and also because of our inaction against them. She wanted us to report the matter to the police for action against the Accused. xxx xxx xxx My daughter had returned home all alone after the dragging incident on 5.5.96. It is incorrect that Accused Manoj and Daulat was not p....
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....on 34 Indian Penal Code and each one was awarded the punishment of rigorous imprisonment for a period of four years and fine of Rs. 300/- with default stipulations. 6. In appeal by the Accused, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana observed that the incident of 05.05.1996 was not a solitary one; that the incident that had occurred on 15.04.1996 was enough to malign the village girl; that the deceased was teased and harassed by the Accused persons on several occasions; and that there was a consistent attempt on the part of the Accused to hurt the girl of marriageable age. The High Court, inter alia, observed and held as under: In the present case, there is not a solitary instance of 5th May, 1996 which resulted into commission of suicide on 6th May, 1996, but prior thereto also, witnesses have stated that Accused were eve-teasing Meena. On 15th April, 1996 also, when Krishana had returned from Court, Meena was caught hold of one and she was dragged. Therefore in the whole village, where great value is attached to the honour of the girl, where girls are kept inside houses and are not allowed to mingle in the society, the incident dated 15th April, 1996 was sufficient to malign a gi....
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....nnot be held responsible therefor. The learned Counsel would submit that there had been previous litigations including criminal cases between the parties and the Accused Appellants have unnecessarily been implicated in this case because of previous enmity. The learned Counsel has referred to and relied upon the decisions in Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh (2001) 9 SCC 618, Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat and Anr. (2010) 8 SCC 628 and Pawan Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh (2017) 7 SCC 780. The learned Counsel has also argued in the alternative that even if the evidence of the prosecution is taken on its face value, the offence against the Appellants cannot travel beyond that of insulting the modesty of a woman by some utterances; and in that event too, the Appellants could only be held guilty of the offence Under Section 509 but not for abetment of suicide Under Section 306 Indian Penal Code. The learned Counsel has also argued for Appellant No. 2 that as on the day of incident i.e., 05.05.1996, the Appellant No. 2 was a minor, being around 16 years of age with his date of birth as 20.04.1980 and hence, he was required to be treated as a juvenile and could not have be....
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....ffence, remains entitled to the benefit of juvenility. In Raju's case (supra) this Court has observed and held as under: 9. It is by now well-settled, as was held in Hari Ram v. State of Rajasthan, (2009) 13 SCC 211, that in light of Sections 2(k), 2(l), 7A read with Section 20 of the 2000 Act as amended in 2006, a juvenile who had not completed eighteen years on the date of commission of the offence is entitled to the benefit of the 2000 Act (also see Mohan Mali v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2010) 6 SCC 669; Daya Nand v. State of Haryana, (2011) 2 SCC 224; Dharambir v. State (NCT) of Delhi (supra); Jitendra Singh @ Babboo Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2013) 11 SCC 193). It is equally well-settled that the claim of juvenility can be raised at any stage before any Court by an Accused, including this Court, even after the final disposal of a case, in terms of Section 7A of the 2000 Act (see Dharambir v. State (NCT) of Delhi, (supra), Abuzar Hossain v. State of West Bengal, (2012) 10 SCC 489; Jitendra Singh @ Babboo Singh v. State of UP, (supra); Abdul Razzaq v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2015) 15 SCC 637). 10. In light of the above legal position, it is evident that the Appe....
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....Section 509 Indian Penal Code for insulting the modesty of a woman. Even during the course of hearing of this matter, we have heard learned Counsel for the parties at sufficient length on this question, of the offence in the alternative. However, having scanned through the entire record with reference to the law applicable, we have no hesitation in concluding that the present case squarely falls within the ambit of Section 306 Indian Penal Code and the Appellants have rightly been held guilty thereunder. 13. The offence of abetment of suicide is specified in Section 306 Indian Penal Code as under: 306. Abetment of suicide.-If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. 13.1. The expression "abetment" within the meaning of Indian Penal Code is defined as follows: 107. Abetment of a thing.-A person abets the doing of a thing, who- First.-Instigates any person to do that thing; or Secondly.-Engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or illegal omission....
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....ke the deceased to her sister's house and in the quarrel that ensued, the Accused-husband told the deceased-wife that she was free to do whatever she wished to and to go wherever she wanted to. The Accused attempted to save her by putting a bedsheet around her body and himself suffered burns consequently. The deceased had written a letter to her husband-Accused in her diary that he had made her free to go wherever she liked but she was not having any place to go and now she was free of her word not to commit suicide. In her dying declaration too, she stated that she had a quarrel with her husband who told her to go wherever she wanted to and thereafter, she set herself ablaze. The Accused-Appellant was convicted by the Trial Court for the offences Under Sections 306 and 498-A Indian Penal Code and his conviction was upheld by the High Court. In further appeal, after examining the evidence led in by the parties and taking note of all the surrounding factors, this Court, while maintaining the conviction of the Appellant Under Section 498-A Indian Penal Code, set aside his conviction for offence Under Section 306. This Court observed and held inter alia, as under: 19. ...Presuma....
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....rly circumstanced individual in a given society to commit suicide, the conscience of the Court should not be satisfied for basing a finding that the Accused charged of abetting the offence of suicide should be found guilty. (Underling supplied for emphasis) 14.2. In the case of Pawan Kumar (supra), the allegation against the Accused was that as he had eloped with the deceased girl, he thought that she was responsible for the criminal proceedings against him by her family and hence, subjected her to abject teasing despite she standing with him and having him acquitted of the offences imputed. On one occasion, while the deceased was staying at her parent's home, he threatened to kidnap her and this led to her pouring kerosene over herself and setting herself ablaze. In her dying declaration, she wrote a letter narrating that the Accused was responsible for the step that she had taken. Though the Trial Court had acquitted the Accused of all charges, on appeal, the order of acquittal was set aside by the High Court and the Accused was convicted Under Section 306 Indian Penal Code and was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years together with fine. In further....
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....w of instigation. A mere reprimand or a word in a fit of anger will not earn the status of abetment. There has to be positive action that creates a situation for the victim to put an end to life. 44. In the instant case, the Accused had by his acts and by his continuous course of conduct created such a situation as a consequence of which the deceased was left with no other option except to commit suicide. The active acts of the Accused have led the deceased to put an end to her life. That apart, we do not find any material on record which compels the Court to conclude that the victim committing suicide was hypersensitive to ordinary petulance, discord and difference in domestic life quite common to the society to which the victim belonged. On the other hand, the Accused has played active role in tarnishing the self-esteem and self-respect of the victim which drove the victim girl to commit suicide. The cruelty meted out to her has, in fact, induced her to extinguish her life spark. 45. As is demonstrable, the High Court has not reversed the judgment of acquittal solely on the basis of the dying declaration. It has placed reliance on the evidence of the parents and also other wi....
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.... think and constrained to deliberate why the women in this country cannot be allowed to live in peace and lead a life that is empowered with dignity and freedom. 48. In a civilised society male chauvinism has no room. The Constitution of India confers the affirmative rights on women and the said rights are perceptible from Article 15 of the Constitution. When the right is conferred under the Constitution, it has to be understood that there is no condescension. A man should not put his ego or, for that matter, masculinity on a pedestal and abandon the concept of civility. Egoism must succumb to law. Equality has to be regarded as the summum bonum of the constitutional principle in this context. The instant case portrays the deplorable depravity of the Appellant that has led to a heart-breaking situation for a young girl who has been compelled to put an end to her life. Therefore, the High Court has absolutely correctly reversed the judgment of acquittal and imposed the sentence. It has appositely exercised the jurisdiction and we concur with the same. 14.4. In the case of Madan Mohan Singh (supra), the driver of the Accused had alleged in his suicide note that the Accused had dri....
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....uicide, an "instigation" may be inferred. In other words, in order to prove that the Accused abetted commission of suicide by a person, it has to be established that: (i) the Accused kept on irritating or annoying the deceased by words, deeds or wilful omission or conduct which may even be a wilful silence until the deceased reacted or pushed or forced the deceased by his deeds, words or wilful omission or conduct to make the deceased move forward more quickly in a forward direction; and (ii) that the Accused had the intention to provoke, urge or encourage the deceased to commit suicide while acting in the manner noted above. Undoubtedly, presence of mens rea is the necessary concomitant of instigation. 20. ...The question as to what is the cause of a suicide has no easy answers because suicidal ideation and behaviours in human beings are complex and multifaceted. Different individuals in the same situation react and behave differently because of the personal meaning they add to each event, thus accounting for individual vulnerability to suicide. Each \individual's suicidality pattern depends on his inner subjective experience of mental pain, fear and loss or self-respect....
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.... harassment of the deceased by another person would not suffice unless there be such action on the part of the Accused which compels the person to commit suicide; and such an offending action ought to be proximate to the time of occurrence. Whether a person has abetted in the commission of suicide by another or not, could only be gathered from the facts and circumstances of each case. 16.1 For the purpose of finding out if a person has abetted commission of suicide by another, the consideration would be if the Accused is guilty of the act of instigation of the act of suicide. As explained and reiterated by this Court in the decisions above-referred, instigation means to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite or encourage to do an act. If the persons who committed suicide had been hypersensitive and the action of Accused is otherwise not ordinarily expected to induce a similarly circumstanced person to commit suicide, it may not be safe to hold the Accused guilty of abetment of suicide. But, on the other hand, if the Accused by his acts and by his continuous course of conduct creates a situation which leads the deceased perceiving no other option except to commit suicide, the case may....
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....the questions aforesaid, it may be observed that the fact that the daughter of the complainant indeed committed suicide with hanging by neck is not of any dispute in this appeal. The fact has been established on record and the Trial Court as also the High Court have concurrently found this fact proved. No further dilation on this aspect of the matter is requisite. Similarly, a feeble suggestion on behalf of the Accused persons that Accused Nos. 3 and 4 were not present in the village on 05.05.1996 does not carry any substance and the finding in that regard is also not required to be interfered with. 18. Coming to the material points for determination in the matter, the question as to whether the Accused persons were guilty of the actions and utterances imputed on them does not detain us much longer. The fact that they indeed did so and made such utterances is amply established in the testimony of the prosecution witnesses, particularly PW-1, PW-2 and PW-11, as noticed above. It is also established beyond doubt that such utterances were not of a solitary or one-off incident but the Accused, working in unison, had continuously made the imputed utterances towards the daughter of the ....
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....ying the self-esteem of the young girl whose engagement had broken and whose uncle was mocking her to join him in matrimony. It was the act of humiliation of highest order for the girl, who had personally suffered the set-back of broken engagement, apart that she was unable to clear even 10th standard examination. Obviously, she was being ridiculed and taunted for her broken engagement. The other Accused persons chose to join the Accused No. 1 and aggravated the humiliation of the girl by addressing her as younger brother's wife or aunt. There remains nothing to doubt that the Accused persons were working with the common intention to harass and humiliate the girl with reference to her broken engagement. The significant part of the matter is that such taunting and humiliation of the deceased at the hands of the Accused persons had not been a singular event or one-off affair but had been a continuous feature, as amply established by the prosecution witnesses. The incident of 05.05.1996 drew the final straw when the hapless girl received the same taunts from the Accused persons and she even rebuked them. We find no reason to disbelieve the statement of PW-2 Jai Narain as regards t....