Published on: November 12, 2023 at 18:07 IST
Court: Supreme Court of India
Citation: S.S. Chheena V. Vijay Kumar Mahajan (2010)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has opined that for the charge of Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, there should be an intention to provoke, incite or encourage the doing of an act by the accused. It is held that each person’s suicidability pattern is different from the other and each person has his own level of self-esteem and self-respect. It is impossible to lay down any straightjacket formula dealing with the cases of suicide and each case has to be decided on the basis of its own facts and circumstances.
25. Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained. The intention of the legislature and the ratio of the cases decided by this Court is clear that in order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea to commit the offence. It also requires an active act or direct act which led the deceased to commit suicide seeing no option and that act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that he committed suicide.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra