Kerala High Court grants relief to lawyers accused of abetting suicide of Assistant Public Prosecutor

The Kerala High Court has granted anticipatory bail to advocates Syamkrishna KR and Abdul Jaleel who are accused of abetting the suicide of S Aneesha/ Aneeshya, an Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) who was found dead on January 21 this year [Syamkrishna KR v. State of Kerala & Anr.]..Aneesha was an APP at the Paravoor Munsiff Magistrate Court in Kollam district.In her suicide note, she stated that had been facing constant mental harassment from her superior, the Deputy Director of Prosecution (DPP) Jaleel, and another APP, Shyamkrishna..Justice A Badharudeen said that the material on record prima facie indicated that Aneesha took her own life because of the mental strain she suffered in her official duties by the two accused men and other APPs. However, it does not prima facie indicate that they intended to instigate her to commit suicide."It is relevant to note that the prosecution allegations are related to the official acts of XXXX (Aneesha), the petitioners and other APPs and in such a case whether the accused or other persons named in the suicide note instigated commission of suicide by XXXX is decisive to impose criminal culpability upon them, for which sufficient materials by proper investigation to be brought into. This material aspect would require thorough investigation and I leave the same to the province of the Investigating Officer with direction to him to investigate the same fairly and accurately without leaving any room for any allegations," the Court reasoned.Therefore, it opined that effective investigation is possible even without the detention of the men..The order was passed on anticipatory bail applications moved by the two men who stand accused of having abetted the suicide of Aneesha which punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. They argued that they are innocent of all charges and pointed out that a departmental enquiry had found that the allegations would not stand against them.However, the defacto complainant who is Aneesha's mother, argued that the departmental enquiry was rigged to help the accused men and that custodial interrogation would be necessary in this case. Aneesha's mother has also moved a separate petition seeking a CBI probe into her daughter's death. .The Court at the outset noted that to constitute an offence punishable under Section 306 of IPC, the ingredients are two fold - first, the abetment and second, the intention of the accused to aid or instigate or abet the deceased to commit suicide.In this case, the Court said that prima facie it does not seem that the two men had intended to prompt Aneesha to take her own life since the allegations are the outcome of official duties.Consequently, the Court granted anticipatory bail to Jaleel and Syamkrishna subject to certain conditions to guarantee their co-operation with the investigation. .Jaleel was represented by Senior Advocate P Vijayabhanu and Syamkrishna by advocate S Rajeev. Aneesha's mother was represented by Senior Advocate S Sreekumar.Public Prosecutor Nima Jacob appeared for the State. .[Read Order]