Court rules mere loan repayment demands do not constitute abetment; FIR quashed due to lack of evidence linking lenders to suicide
In a significant judgment, the Bombay High Court's Circuit Bench at Kolhapur quashed the FIR against Amit Padmakar More and others, accused of abetting the suicide of Dilip Babsaheb Mande. The court held that mere demands for loan repayment, without evidence of instigation or aiding in suicide, do not meet the criteria for abetment under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The case stemmed from an FIR filed by Mande's wife, alleging that persistent harassment by lenders, including the applicants, led her husband to commit suicide by consuming poison. However, the postmortem and chemical analysis reports contradicted the suicide theory, indicating that Mande died of a heart attack with no traces of poison found in his system.
The court, presided over by Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale, emphasized the necessity of a positive act of instigation or intentional aiding to constitute abetment. Citing precedents from the Supreme Court, the judge reiterated that the intention to instigate or aid suicide must be clear and proximate to the act. The court found that the allegations were unsupported by material evidence and contradicted by medical reports, leading to the conclusion that the proceedings against the applicants amounted to an abuse of the judicial process.
The judgment underscores the legal principle that actions like loan recovery demands, even if persistent, do not automatically translate to criminal abetment unless accompanied by evidence of intent to provoke suicide. The decision to quash the FIR highlights the judiciary's role in preventing misuse of legal provisions in the absence of substantive evidence.
Bottom line:-
The mere act of demanding repayment of a loan cannot, by itself, constitute abetment to suicide under Section 306 IPC. There must be evidence of intentional acts of instigation or aiding, which are proximate to the commission of suicide.
Statutory provision(s): Sections 306, 107, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
