Indian Penal Code, 1860
Section 306—Abetment of suicide—Conviction—Improvements made by complainant while stepping into the witness box, over the initial version given at the time of the lodging of the FIR, could not be termed as inconsequential—As per admitted case of prosecution, the accused had left her matrimonial home at least 10 days before the suicide in question—Deceased committed suicide 3-4 days after their last meeting at the parental home of accused—Consistent case of prosecution was that relationship between deceased and his wife i.e. the accused, were strained—It is highly improbable and unbelievable that accused was seen leaving her matrimonial home in Gurugram hurriedly on the day of suicide—Complainant was confronted with this significant improvement and deviation from his initial version in the FIR, which seems to have been made to bring the case against accused within the scope of Sections 107 and 306 of IPC, since the requirement to attract the ingredients of these Sections is that, that the instigation to commit suicide should be in close proximity to the alleged harassment, with the immediate trigger occurring shortly before the suicide—Possibility of deceased being highly sensitive and choosing to commit suicide due to marital discord with accused, who had admittedly been living apart from him for at least 10 days prior to the suicide, can be said to be a plausible circumstance leading to the suicide—Case of prosecution does not meet the criteria for abetment as defined under Section 107 of the IPC—Conviction set aside.
[Paras 13 & 14]