Person can't be booked for abetment of suicide for filing complaint against deceased: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court recently held that a person cannot be booked for abetment of suicide merely because he had filed a complaint with the police against the deceased [Murali@Muralidharan & anr v State of Kerala]..Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas observed that the offence of abetment of suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will arise only when there is an instigation or goading by the accused to commit suicide.The Court underlined that everyone has the legal right to report grievances and file complaints and authorities are required to investigate these complaints. "If such acts are treated as abetment, then every individual will think twice before raising a complaint against a person, which would not augur well in the interests of a welfare state. Filing a complaint before a lawful authority cannot amount to instigation or abetment of suicide, as the intention in filing the complaint is not to instigate or goad the deceased to commit suicide," the order dated June 20 stated.The Court, therefore, quashed the chargesheet filed by the police against two persons accused of abetting the suicide of another. .The deceased died by hanging on March 6, 2016, leaving behind two suicide notes implicating the petitioners.The petitioners argued that the suicide notes merely mentioned that a police complaint was filed by the accused against the deceased, and that merely filing a complaint before a competent authority would not amount to abetting suicide, as it lacked the required instigation or intention.It was further submitted by the petitioners that the two letters found on the body of the deceased did not connect the petitioners with any crime. The only allegation in the two suicide notes was that petitioners had filed a complaint with the police against the deceased persons and when he was called upon by the police for investigation, he committed suicide.According to the petitioner's counsel, under no circumstances can a complaint given by a person to a lawful authority be regarded as abetment of suicide.However, the State contended that the allegations were based on facts and should be decided through a proper trial and since the suicide notes implicated the petitioners, the prosecution's case was substantiated..The Court emphasized that treating lawful complaints as abetment would prevent people from seeking legal recourse and this would be harmful to a welfare state. It observed that there was no evidence suggesting that the petitioners intended to instigate Ravi's suicide by filing a complaint."In the absence of any material indicating an intention on the part of the accused to instigate the deceased to commit suicide, prosecution of the petitioners is an abuse of the process of the court," the Court added..Therefore, the Court allowed the plea and quashed the chargesheet. .Advocates S Sreekumar, Namitha Rajesh and K Vijayan appeared for the petitioners.Public Prosecutor Sreeja V represented the State..[Read Order]