Intent and participation of the accused are required for the abatement to occur says Punjab high court
TITLE – State of Haryana v Darshan Lal and another
Decided On-: 22.03.2023
CRA-S-1536-SB-2007 (O&M)
CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE N.S.SHEKHAWAT
INTRODUCTION – The decision to accuse someone of a serious offence or lay out broad charges may be influenced by the substantive law’s requirements. A serious injustice could result if this condition is not met.
FACTS OF THE CASE
Based on a complaint from Sunder Dass, the father of (since deceased) Sunder Dass. He mentioned being a doctor and having two sons and two daughters, among other things. He claimed that the Hindu rituals and ceremonies were followed when his oldest daughter, who has since passed away, married Dr. Darshan Lal Makkar, respondent No. 1 on the list of accused, in 1984. She was 41 years old at the time. Even though he had given more dowry than he could afford, after only seven days of marriage, his daughter came to see him and informed him that respondent No. 1 desired to divorce her. He sent the two of them back to her marital home after receiving advice. She frequently complained that her husband Darshan Lal Makkar, her mother-in-law Vidya Rani, her father-in-law Madan Lal, and her in-law brothers, Surinder Kumar and Harish Kumar, were harassing her. She was being compelled to bring additional dowry from her parents.
There were numerous instances where the deceased was threatened and harassed in order to obtain more dowry.
On July 9, 2002, at around 2:00 p.m., respondent No. 1’s maternal uncle Darshan Lal informed them that he had passed away. After learning this, he and his other family members travelled to Faridabad. (since deceased) killed herself after being tortured by her husband, in-laws’ parents, and in-laws’ brothers. To do so, she ingested poison. PW2 Sunder Dass, the father of the victim in the current case, filed the FIR with these broad accusations. The respondents have claimed that they were falsely implicated in the case
While vehemently disputing the aforementioned claims, counsel appearing on behalf of the respondents argued that the respondents were never subjected to cruelty, mistreatment, or harassment due to a lack of dowry and that the couple had been living happily for the previous 18 years.
COURT ANALYSIS AND DECISION
All of the prosecution’s 11 witnesses were heard by the court, but the deceased father’s testimony was duly corroborated by two other testimonies.
It is evident when the punishable offence is one of aiding someone in committing suicide, predicating the existence of a live link or nexus between two, with aiding serving as the catalyst causative factor. Suicidal death and aiding in it are the main components of this clause. Abetment requires the accused’s desire and participation towards
In light of Supreme Court rulings, and the admission of the decased mother and father during the cross-examination which favoured the respondents the Honourable Court has held .
In actuality, abetment entails the deliberate mental act of inspiring or encouraging someone to do something. Without the accused taking any proactive measures,conviction cannot stand if you encourage or assist someone in committing suicide.A person must have the mens rea to commit the crime in order to be found guilty under Section 306 IPC.
Therefore all outstanding applications were resolved.
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Written By: Steffi DesousaClick here to view judgement.
