Can a married woman be held guilty of inciting her husband to commit suicide because of having an extramarital affair? While hearing a similar case, the Gujarat High Court cited an old Supreme Court judgment and acquitted the woman and her partner by quashing the case.
According to a report by Live Law, the High Court quashed the FIR filed by the accused woman’s mother-in-law, in which she had accused her daughter-in-law and her husband of instigating her to commit suicide. The mother-in-law had also named the daughter-in-law’s lover as an accused.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Diyesh A Joshi said that even if the contents of the FIR are accepted as true, it cannot be proved that the accused had any intention to incite her deceased husband to commit suicide. Consequently, the High Court did not find any criminal intention against the accused and hence no mens rea can be attributed to it. Thus, in the opinion of this Court, the element of incitement is missing in the allegations made in the FIR and in the absence of the element of incitement in the allegations, the offence under Section 306 IPC of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is not made out.”
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The High Court relied on the precedent set in the case of K.V. Prakash Babu vs State of Karnataka, where the Supreme Court had held that indulging in extramarital relations does not necessarily lead to a conviction under Section 306 IPC, though it may be a ground for divorce or other matrimonial relief.
On this basis, the Gujarat High Court said, “Accused No. 1 (woman) having indulged in extramarital affair with accused No. 2 (partner) cannot invite conviction under Section 306 of IPC.”
The high court’s decision came in response to two separate criminal petitions seeking quashing of FIRs alleging offences punishable under Sections 306 and 114 of the IPC against the accused. The prosecution had alleged that the complainant’s son had committed suicide after discovering his wife’s extramarital affair.
“Even if the allegations made in the FIR are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, they do not constitute the offences charged and even after a full trial, there is little likelihood of final conviction and continuance of the criminal case against the applicant accused would be a mere formality and a waste of precious time of the court,” the court said.
“I am aware of the pain and suffering of the complainant who is the mother of the deceased. It is also very unfortunate that the deceased has lost her life but as held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Jio Varghese (supra), the sympathy of the Court and the agony and suffering of the complainant cannot translate into any legal remedy, leave alone criminal prosecution,” the Court observed while allowing the applications of the accused and quashing the FIR.
Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC states:- If any person commits suicide, whoever abets him to commit suicide, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
