Sanket Waman Dhanorkar And ... vs State Of Mah. Thr. Pso Ps Warora ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 5001 Bom

                                          1          4-J-APL-445-2020.odt

 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
           NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.

   CRIMINAL APPLICATION (APL) NO. 445 OF 2020

APPLICANTS :            1. Sanket Waman Dhanorkar,
                            Aged 21 years, Occ : Student,


                        2. Saurabh @ Manya Loneshwar
                           Urkande, Aged about 24 years,
                          Occ : Student, R/o Yewati, Tq. Warora
                          District : Chandrapur.


                        // V E R S U S //


RESPONDENTS :           1) State of Maharashtra,
                             Through Police Station Officer,
                             Police Station Warora,
                             Tq. Warora, District : Chandrapur.


                        2) Vandana Sainath Tonge,
                             Aged about 44 years, Occ:Housewife
                             R/o Yewati, Tq. Warora,
                             District : Chandrapur.
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Shri S. V. Sirpurkar, Advocate for applicants.
Shri S. S. Doifode, Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent
No.1.
Shri M. P. Kariya, Advocate for respondent No.2.
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                    CORAM:- SUNIL B. SHUKRE AND
                            G. A. SANAP, JJ.
                    DATED :- 06/06/2022.


JUDGMENT : (PER G. A. SANAP, J.)


1.         The applicants in this application made under

Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code have

prayed that the First Information Report vide Crime

No.470/2020 dated 24/06/2020 registered with Warora

Police Station for the offence punishable under Section 306

read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 be

quashed.


2.         The Informant - Vandana Tonge is the wife of

deceased. On 24/06/2020, Vandana Tonge lodged a report

with Warora Police Station alleging that her husband

committed suicide due to the insulting treatment given to him

by the applicants. The respondent No.2 - Vandana Tonge has

stated in the report that she came to know from Dr. Vinod

Nikure that the deceased before committing suicide had a talk
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with him. Dr. Vinod Nikure informed the respondent No.2

that the deceased told him that the accused persons stopped

him on the road and the accused No.1 gave a can of liquor in

his hand and told him to admit before the villagers that the

liquor in the can belonged to him. It is stated that in this

manner, the deceased was humiliated by the accused. The

deceased was the Chairman of Tantamukti Committee. He was

respected by the villagers. The humiliation meted out to him

was unbearable by the deceased and therefore, he committed

suicide. It is stated that the accused Nos.1 and 2 abetted the

commission of suicide by the deceased.


3.          It is the case of the accused Nos.1 and 2 that they

have not committed offence of abetment of suicide by the

deceased. They have been falsely implicated in the case. The

reason for suicide by the deceased was different. According to

them, the First Information Report and the evidence collected

by the Investigating Officer indicate that no offence has been

made out.
                                     4        4-J-APL-445-2020.odt

4.          The Investigating Officer has filed his reply and

opposed the application. The Investigating Officer has

reiterated the facts stated in the First Informant Report. It is

contended that during the course of investigation, sufficient

evidence has been collected to establish the complicity of the

accused Nos.1 and 2 in the commission of a crime. The

accused Nos.1 and 2 abetted the commission of suicide by the

deceased.


5.          The respondent No.2 - Vandana Tonge, the

informant in this case has filed her reply. She has also

reiterated the facts in her report. It is contended that the

accused Nos.1 and 2 forced the deceased to carry the liquor

can and admit before the villagers that the liquor in the can

belonged to him. He was humiliated by the accused Nos.1 and

2. Therefore, he committed the suicide.


6.          We have heard Shri S. V. Sirpurkar, learned

Advocate for the applicants, Shri S. S. Doifode, learned

Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent No.1 and Shri
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M.P. Kariya, learned Advocate for respondent No.2. We have

gone through the record and proceedings.


7.        The deceased was the Chairman of the Tantamukti

Committee. The accused Nos.1 and 2 are the students. The

crime in this case was registered on the basis of report of

respondent No.2, wife of the deceased. The deceased

committed suicide on 06/04/2020. The report was lodged on

24/06/2020. It is stated in the report that the informant was

busy in conducting the post death & other rituals of the

deceased. She came to know from Dr. Vinod Nikure about the

incident occurred prior to the commission of suicide by the

deceased. The allegations made in the report against the

accused Nos.1 and 2 if taken at its face value would indicate

that the same would not attract the basic ingredients of the

abetment as defined under Section 107 of the Indian Penal

Code. The facts stated in the report do not indicate that there

was instigation or intentional aiding by the accused to the

deceased to commit suicide. It is the case of the prosecution
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that the accused Nos.1 and 2 handed over the can of liquor to

the deceased and told him to admit before the villagers that

same belonged to him. In our opinion, this statement of fact if

considered in juxtaposition with Section 107 of the Indian

Penal Code would clearly indicate that the ingredients of the

abetment do not get attracted.


8.            The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of

Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. Vrs. State of Maharashtra

and others1 formulated the conditions to be borne in mind

while deciding the application under Section 482 of the Code

of Criminal Procedure for quashing the criminal prosecution.

In our view, Condition Nos.3 and 10 would get attracted in

this case. The plain reading of the First Information Report

and the evidence does not disclose the element of abetment in

any manner by the accused to the commission of suicide by the

deceased. The basic ingredients of Section 107 of the Indian

Penal Code have not been made out in the fact situation.

Therefore, non-interference by us would result in miscarriage
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       of justice. The allegation made as can be seen from the First

       Information Report is of general nature. In the facts and

       circumstances of the case, in our view, this is a fit case to

       exercise the power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal

       Procedure. The criminal prosecution, therefore, deserves to be

       quashed. Hence, the following order :-

                                               ORDER

i] The application is allowed.

ii] The First Information Report registered vide Crime No.470/2020 at Police Station, Warora, Dist. Chandrapur for the offence punishable under Section 306 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code against the accused Nos.1 and 2 / applicants is quashed and set aside. iii] All consequential acts taken by the Investigating Officer also stand quashed and set aside.

iv] All pending applications are disposed of.

                      [G. A. SANAP, J.]                [SUNIL B. SHUKRE, J.]


       Choulwar


           Digitally signed by
VITHAL     VITHAL MAROTRAO
MAROTRAO   CHOULWAR
           Date: 2022.06.08
CHOULWAR   18:31:03 +0530