'Be careful in cases of abetment to suicide, police need to be sensitized'; Supreme Court's comment

The Supreme Court on Friday said that a case of abetment to suicide should not be registered under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) only because the relatives of the deceased are emotionally broken. The court said that the police need to be very cautious and sensitive in this matter so that no false case is filed against an innocent.

A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice K.V. Vishwanathan said that the investigating agencies should ensure that no person is harassed under baseless allegations. The bench said, Section 306 of the IPC should not be misused. The police use this section very quickly. However, in cases where this section has actually been violated, the accused should not be let off. But it should not be imposed only under emotional pressure from the (deceased's) family.

The court also said that the conversation between the accused and the deceased, their relatives, and the conversation between them should be seen from a practical point of view. The court also said that the words spoken in the conversation should not be seen as abetment to suicide without any apparent reason.

The apex court's decision came on a petition filed against an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. A person, Mahendra Awase, had appealed in the petition for discharge from abetment to suicide charges. According to the case, the deceased person mentioned in a note before committing suicide that he was being harassed by Awase.

The Supreme Court held that charges under Section 306 in cases of abetment to suicide could be made only when it is proved that an accused had in some way instigated suicide or made his circumstances so much that there was no way except to commit suicide. The allegations against Awase did not have any substantial basis, it said. The demand for the payment of the loan given by him, Awase, cannot be seen as an abetment to suicide. The Supreme Court also said that the FIR had been lodged very strangely with a delay of two months, which made the case even more suspicious.