CASE NAME: KAMARUDDIN DASTAGIRI SANADI vs STATE OF KARNATAKA
CASE NUMBER: CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 551 OF 2012
DATE: 29TH NOVEMBER 2024
QUORUM: HON’BLE JUSTICE PANKAJ MITHAL, HON’BLE JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN
FACTS OF THE CASE
An appeal is filed against the judgement dated 15th December 2011, passed by the Karnataka High Court. The Respondent is the State of Karnataka through SHO Kakati Police and appellant is Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi. On 13th April 2010, The Sessions court (trial court) acquitted the accused appellant, of all the charges against him, he was charged of offences under Section 417, 376,306, of the IPC. He was accused of cheating and abetment of suicide of a girl named Suvarma aged 21 years. It was alleged that the appellant had promised to marry the said girl but later refused and she committed suicide by consuming poison after the refusal to marry her. In her dying declaration she said she committed suicide but no where she mentioned or agreed that the accused aided her or asked her to die. The trail court acquitted him as there was no ground of law which proves that he was guilty for the abetment of suicide. Later the state appealed to High Court where the court observed that he was guilty of those offences and he was convicted and sentenced.
ISSUE OF THE CASE
Whether the fact that not marrying to someone after promising them, or refusing someone to marry after being in a relationship amount to or lead to abetment of suicide.
LEGAL PROVISIONS
- SECTION 306 OF IPC
If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of such 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.”
- SECTION 107 OF IPC
Abetment of a thing.- A person abets the doing of a thing, who first.- Instigates any person to do that thing; or Secondly.- Engages with one or more other person or persons in any conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or Thirdly.- Intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission, the doing of that thing.
ARGUMENTS
ARGUMENTS BY THE APPELLANTS
That there was no evidence to suggest or conclude that the accused appellant had instigated or aided the deceased girl in consuming poison and committing suicide. The two dying declarations nowhere stated that the accused abetted or aided her to commit suicide. A mere refusal to marry someone should not lead to something like committing suicide, that the accused never promoted suicide or asked her in any form to take this step by his acts.
NO ARGUMENTS BY THE RESPONDENT
ANALYSIS
The Supreme Court in this judgment clarified that mere refusal to marry your partner with whom you are in a relationship with or have any reason to believe that someone promised to marry and not fulfilling that promise later will not amount to any offence like abetment of suicide in any way. And if a partner decides to kill themselves and attempt suicide or die out of suicide just because their partner break the promise or said no to marry should not be considered as abetment to suicide.
CONCLUSION
The verdict of the Supreme Court strikes down the judgement of the High Court and uplifted the trail court judgement and acquitted the appellant and set him free of the charges made against him quash the punishment given by the High Court of Karnataka against him for the abetment of suicide of a girl just because he refused to marry her.
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WRITTEN BY SALIL GAURAV
