Supreme Court : No Automatic Conviction for Abetment of Suicide, Read Judgment

A person accused of dowry harassment cann't be automatically convicted for abetment of suicide, the Top Court has held in a judgment.

A Bench of Justices Navin Sinha & B.R. Gavai held that “even if it is established that the woman concerned had committed suicide within a period of 7 years from the date of marriage & that her husband has subjected her to cruelty, the court isn't bound to presume that suicide has been abetted by her husband.”

The court is required to take into consideration all other circumstances of the case.

“We are of the view that merely because an accused is found guilty of an offence punishable under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) & the death has occurred within a period of 7 years of the marriage, the accused cann't be automatically held guilty for the offence punishable under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by employing the presumption under Section 113A of the Evidence Act. Unless the prosecution establishes that some act or illegal omission by the accused has driven the deceased to commit the suicide, the conviction under Section 306 wouldn't be tenable,” Justice Gavai said in the recent judgment.

In the present case, the Supreme court set aside the conviction of the husband for abetment of suicide of his wife but upheld the case of dowry harassment against him.

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Read the Judgement here-

GURJIT SINGH vs. STATE OF PUNJAB, 2019 Latest Caselaw 1151 SC