Gujarat High Court
Shaikh Khalikujjama Abdul Jabbar vs State Of Gujarat on 9 July, 2025
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Reserved On : 27/06/2025
Pronounced On : 09/07/2025
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 581 of 2025
(REGULAR BAIL - AFTER CHARGESHEET)
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI : Sd/-
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Approved for Reporting Yes No
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SHAIKH KHALIKUJJAMA ABDUL JABBAR
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
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Appearance:
MR SOEB BHOHARIA for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR HARDIK SONI APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR DHRUV TOLIA for the Respondent(s) No. 2
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI
CAV JUDGMENT
1. The present appeal is filed under Section 14-A of
the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act for regular bail in
connection with the FIR being C.R.
No.11199004240574/2024 registered with the
Ankleshwar City 'A' Division Police Station,
Bharuch for the offence punishable under Sections
108, 64(2)(m) and 316(2) BNS, 2023 and under
Section 3(2)(5) of the Atrocity Act.
2. Heard learned advocate, Mr. Soeb Bhoharia for the
appellant, learned APP Mr. Hardik Soni for the
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respondent - State of Gujarat and learned
advocate, Mr. Dhruv Tolia assisted by learned
advocate, Mr. Nimesh Patel and learned advocate,
Ms. Namrata H. Dave for the respondent no.2 -
original complainant.
3. Learned advocate for the appellant submitted that
the so-called incident has occurred on 04.07.2024,
for which, FIR has been lodged on 09.07.2024
against the appellant herein, however subsequently
during the course of investigation, the name of
other two accused had come on surface, therefore,
they were also arraigned as accused. He submitted
that the appellant is arrested on 07.08.2024 and
since then, he is in judicial custody. He referred
to the FIR and submitted that in the so-called
incident, three innocent persons have lost their
lives and as per the case of the prosecution, the
wife had committed suicide and then, the husband
had killed his minor son and then, he committed
suicide leaving behind two suicide notes. He
submitted that as per the case of the prosecution,
the present appellant is the paramour of the
deceased, Trupal and because of said relationship,
the fabric of the family members of the deceased,
Trupal got disturbed, which ultimately resulted
into commission of suicide by the deceased,
Trupal. He submitted that in fact, the husband of
the deceased, Trupal had written two suicide notes
i.e. one is dated 22.06.2024 and second one is
written on the date of incident, which are part
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and parcel of the chargesheet papers. He referred
to the suicide notes and submitted that as per the
said suicide notes, due to extra marital
relationship developed by his wife with the
present appellant, the husband of the deceased was
leaving in disturb state of mind and had gone into
depression and much before the date of incident,
he had written the suicide note, therefore in eye
of law, the said need not be considered as suicide
note. He submitted that the contents of the
suicide note clearly goes on to show that due to
act, conduct and behavior of his wife, he had gone
into depression, therefore, the present appellant
is not directly or indirectly connected with the
alleged commission of crime as he was not in
direct contact with the husband of the deceased.
He submitted that even it is not the case of the
prosecution that on the date of incident, the
present appellant had administered any threat to
the husband of the deceased, therefore, there was
no proximate cause and mens rea on the part of the
appellant. He referred to the allegations leveled
in the FIR and submitted that by no stretch of
imagination, it can be said that the present
appellant has aided or instigated the deceased to
commit suicide, therefore, basic and essential
ingredients to constitute the charge and
accusation of abetment to commit suicide against
the appellant are prima facie missing. He further
submitted that it is found out from the papers
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that the father-in-law of the deceased, Trupal had
scolded the deceased and on the next day, she
committed suicide and thus, that might be the
cause of reason for committing suicide. He further
submitted that in fact, as stated above, FIR has
been lodged against the appellant herein and
during the course of investigation, name of other
two persons had come on surface, who have also
been arraigned as accused, however, those two
accused have already been enlarged on bail. It is,
therefore, urged that considering the facts of the
present case, on the ground of parity as also
considering the fact that the appellant is in jail
since 07.08.2024, the present appellant may be
enlarged on bail by imposing suitable conditions.
4. On the other hand, learned APP for the respondent-
State has opposed grant of regular bail looking to
the nature and gravity of the offence. It is
submitted that the role of the present appellant
is clearly spelt out from the body of the
complaint as well as from the papers of the
chargesheet. He submitted that as per the case of
the prosecution, the present appellant is the
married person having family consisting of his
wife and two children and he was working as Gym
Instructor, where the deceased, Trupal used to
come and with oblique motive, the appellant had
developed, however, when the said fact came to the
notice of the husband of the deceased, the
disputes have been cropped up and just to save her
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marriage life, the deceased, Trupal had
discontinued the said relationship with the
appellant, however to continue the said
relationship, the appellant herein has created
immense pressure upon the deceased, Trupal and the
said fact can be fortified from the WhatsApp
chats, which are part and parcel of the
chargesheet papers and if the Hon'ble Court would
make cursory glance upon the said WhatsApp chats,
it is found out that the present appellant used to
give constant threats to the deceased, Trupal to
the effect that if she would not remain in contact
with him and would not keep relationship with him,
in that event, he would commit suicide and thus in
short, the appellant herein used to give reverse
threats to the deceased, Trupal and because of the
constants pressure upon the deceased, Trupal, she
committed suicide, which attract the provision of
Section 108 of BNS, 2023. He submitted that in the
present case, because of the constant pressure and
harassment on the part of the appellant herein,
three innocent persons have lost their lives,
wherein two persons have committed suicide and one
boy, aged about 11 years, has been killed by his
own father. He referred to the suicide notes
written by the husband of the deceased and
submitted that if the Hon'ble Court would make
cursory glance upon the said suicide notes, in
that event, entire picture would be clear and the
involvement of the appellant in the commission of
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crime is clearly found out. Learned APP has
submitted that concerned IO has also filed an
affidavit opposing the bail application filed by
the appellant before the concerned Sessions Court,
wherein the role played by the appellant - accused
is clearly mentioned. Thus considering the above
facts of the case, the present bail application
may not be entering.
5. Learned advocate, Mr. Tolia appearing for the
original complainant has also strongly objected
the present application and submitted that it is
the appellant, because of which, the so-called
incident has occurred, wherein three innocent
persons have lost their lives just because of
obstinacy of the appellant. He submitted that
there is no dispute about the relationship of the
present appellant with the deceased, Trupal, due
to which, disputes have been cropped up in the
matrimonial life of the deceased, Trupal and just
to save her marriage life, the deceased, Trupal
along with her husband and son started residing at
Junagadh and then, shifted to Bharuch just to get
rid of from the clutches of the present appellant.
He submitted that the husband of the deceased was
Government servant and despite that, just to save
his marriage life, he shifted to somewhere else as
stated above but there also, the present appellant
was continuously following them and compelled the
deceased, Trupal to keep relationship with him. He
referred to the WhatsApp chats between the
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appellant and the deceased, Trupal, which are
produced along with affidavit in reply filed by
the original complainant and submitted that if the
Hon'ble Court would make cursory glance upon the
said set of documents, in that event, it would be
found out that certain messages are in sarcasm
manner and the appellant used to blackmail the
deceased, Trupal to keep with the relationship
with him by adopting certain tactics. He submitted
that the appellant herein was working as Gym
Instructor and despite that, he entered into such
relationship with the deceased, Trupal, that too,
by creating pressure upon her. He further
submitted that over and above that, the appellant
is married person and having children and despite
the said fact, he entered into such relationship
with oblique motive. He submitted that in fact,
the husband of the deceased came to know about the
said relationship when he saw the WhatsApp chats
of his wife with the appellant, which ultimate
resulted into creation of disputes between them,
therefore, they were shifted to Junagadh and
subsequently to Bharuch, however there also, the
appellant used to come to interfere in the life of
the deceased, Trupal and forced her to keep
relationship. He submitted that thereafter the
matrimonial life of the deceased, Trupal with her
husband was going smoothly but due to intervention
of the appellant, the disputes were cropped up in
their life and at that time, the deceased, Trupal
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categorically stated to the appellant that she
does not want to keep relationship with him,
however, the appellant did not understand the
situation and kept on following her and kept on
pressurizing her to keep relationship, which was
unbearable and ultimately, the deceased, Trupal
had committed suicide.
6. Learned advocate submitted that FIR has been
lodged against the appellant herein, however
during the course of investigation, name of other
two accused had come on surface, who are the
mother and nephew of the appellant, therefore,
they have also been arraigned as accused. He
referred to the chargesheet papers and submitted
that so far as other two accused persons are
concerned, they are also equally responsible for
the alleged commission of crime because they have
also administered threats to the deceased, Trupal
to keep relationship with the appellant and asked
the deceased, Trupal to stay with the appellant as
his second wife. He submitted that in fact, when
the deceased, Trupal shifted to Bharuch along with
her husband and son, the appellant used to go
there and met the deceased, Trupal and pressurized
her to keep relationship and mobile location of
the appellant was found at Bharuch and the said
fact is fortified from the material collected by
the concerned Investigating Officer during the
course of investigation. He referred to both
suicide notes written by the husband of the
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deceased and submitted that in the first suicide
note, the name of the appellant is clearly
mentioned by him more than ten times and in the
second suicide note, his name is mentioned more
than five times, therefore, there was proximate
link between the appellant and the suicide of the
deceased because the appellant herein had
penetrated in the life of three persons, which
resulted into so-called incident. He further
submitted that in fact, after the alleged
incident, the appellant herein fled away from the
place, therefore, the concerned Investigating
Officer submitted an application under Section 70
of the CrPC, however despite the said fact, as he
was not traceable, lookout notice was also issued
by the court against him, which itself suggests
implication of the appellant in the commission of
crime. He further submitted that the appellant is
resident of Uttar Pradesh, therefore, if the
discretion is exercised in his favour by releasing
him on bail, in that event, he would flee away and
would not be available for trial and there are all
possible chances that he would tamper with the
evidence and influence the witnesses, which would
ultimately affect the trial. It is, therefore,
urged that considering the above facts of the
case, the ingredients of the alleged offences are
found out against the appellant, therefore, the
appellant is not entitled for any relief as
claimed and the present appeal may be dismissed.
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7. I have heard the learned advocates appearing on
behalf of the respective parties and perused the
papers of the investigation and considered the
allegations levelled against the appellant and the
role played by the appellant. I have also
considered the reasoning given by the concerned
court while rejecting the bail application and the
affidavit filed by the IO opposing the said
application.
8. It is the settled position of the law that, at
this juncture detailed discussion of evidence and
canvassing of the allegations contained in FIR as
well as affidavit of the concerned Investigating
Officer or the merits of the case as well, is not
necessary and should be avoided.
9. Having heard learned advocates appearing for the
parties and having gone through the material and
evidence available on record including the
allegations and accusation leveled in the FIR, it
is evident that the applicant was working as Gym
Instructor, where the deceased, Trupal used to go
and, thereafter, they have developed relations
with each other and when the said fact came to the
notice of the husband of the deceased, Trupal, the
disputes were cropped up between the parties and
the husband of the deceased, Trupal went into
depression, therefore, the deceased, Trupal
assured not to continue with the said
relationship, however despite giving assurance,
because of the constant pressure and harassment at
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the hands of the applicant herein to keep the said
relations, the deceased, Trupal committed suicide
and, thereafter, the husband of the deceased,
Trupal killed his son and then, he committed
suicide. It is found out from the investigation
papers that there was constant pressure upon the
deceased, Trupal for keeping relationship with the
applicant. Not only the present applicant has
created immense pressure but also, other two co-
accused, who are mother and nephew of the
applicant, have also created tremendous pressure
upon her and the said fact is fortified from the
investigation papers. Further, as can be seen from
the allegations and accusation leveled in the FIR
as also from the chargesheet papers, when the
relationship between the applicant and the
deceased, Trupal had come to the notice of the
husband of the deceased, Trupal, disputes have
been cropped up between the husband and wife and
the husband went into depression, therefore, the
deceased, Trupal had given assurance to
discontinue the said relationship and she adhered
to his version but subsequently, the applicant
started pressurizing her to keep relationship with
him and the said fact is fortified from the
WhatsApp chats between them, wherein in a sarcasm
manner, the applicant compelled her to keep
relationship. It is also required to be noted that
because of the said relationship, the husband of
the deceased sought his transfer from Ahmedabad to
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Junagadh and, thereafter, shifted to Bharuch,
where the applicant used to come and pressurized
the deceased, Trupal to keep relationship and the
said fact is fortified from the mobile location of
the applicant. Thus, it is just because of
obstinacy of the appellant to achieve his ill-
intention, three innocent persons have lost their
lives, which itself clearly goes on to show
immense pressure at the hands of the applicant.
Therefore considering the facts of the case, the
appellant is not entitled for any relief as
claimed and the present appeal deserves to be
dismissed.
10. It is required to be noted that Section 108 of
BNS, 2023, which provides for "Abetment of
suicide" has two basic ingredients - first, an act
of suicide by one person and second, the abetment
to the said act by another person(s). Therefore in
order to sustain a charge under Section 108 of
BNS, 2023, it must necessarily be proved that the
accused person has contributed to the suicide by
the deceased by some direct or indirect act and to
prove such contribution or involvement, one of the
three conditions outlined in Section 45 of the
BNS, 2023 has to be satisfied. Further, Section
108 of BNS, 2023 read with Section 45 of BNS,
2023, has been interpreted, time and again, and
its principles are well-established. To attract
the offence of abetment to suicide, it is
important to establish proof of direct or indirect
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acts of instigation or incitement of suicide by
the accused, which must be in close proximity to
the commission of suicide by the deceased. Such
instigation or incitement should reveal a clear
mens rea to abet the commission of suicide and
should put the victim in such a position that
he/she would have no other option but to commit
suicide.
11. The law on abetment has been crystallized by a
plethora of decisions of this Court. Abetment
involves a mental process of instigating or
intentionally aiding another person to do a
particular thing. To bring a charge under Section
108 of BNS, 2023, the act of abetment would
require the positive act of instigating or
intentionally aiding another person to commit
suicide. Without such mens rea on the part of the
accused person being apparent from the face of the
record, a charge under the aforesaid Section
cannot be sustained. Abetment also requires an
active act, direct or indirect, on the part of the
accused person which left the deceased with no
other option but to commit suicide.
12. In catena of judicial pronouncements, the Hon'ble
Supreme Court has held that abetment involves the
mental process of instigating a person or
intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing.
Therefore, without a positive act on the part of
the accused to instigate or aid a person in
committing suicide, conviction cannot be
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sustained. This Court further observed that the
intention of the legislature and the ratio of the
cases decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in
numerous case laws is clear that in order to
convict a person under Section 108 of BNS, 2023,
there has to be a clear mens rea to commit the
offence. The abetment also requires an active act
or direct act which led the deceased to commit
suicide seeing no other option and that act must
have been intended to push the deceased into such
a position that he committed suicide. However, the
Hon'ble Supreme Court has cautioned that since
each person reacts differently to the same
provocation depending on a variety of factors, it
is impossible to lay down a straight jacket
formula to deal with such cases. Therefore, every
such case has to be decided on the basis of its
own facts and circumstances.
13. Considering the above situation, if the facts of
the present case are examined, in that event, it
is found out that there was constant provocation
on the part of the applicant upon the deceased,
Trupal to keep relationship with him, which was
unbearable for the deceased, Trupal. Not only
that, when the deceased, Trupal shifted to another
place along with his family just to cut-short the
said relationship but the applicant followed the
deceased, Trupal at every place and forced her to
keep relationship and to pressurize the deceased,
Trupal, the applicant used to give reverse threats
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of committing suicide, which clearly goes on to
show the instigation of the applicant upon the
deceased, Trupal. The repeated calls including
WhatsApp messages and following her to at very
place by the applicant to keep relationship with
him thus can be said to be an act and a continued
course of conduct which had created circumstances
for the deceased to commit suicide. Over and above
that, from the statements of all the independent
witnesses and the material collected by
Investigating Officer, it is clear that the
applicant has intentionally aided the deceased in
committing suicide by doing an act of forcing her
to keep relations with him and chain of incidence
of repeated conversation with the deceased, Trupal
prior to her death. Over and above that, it is
required to be noted that the appellant is a
married person having family consisting of his
wife and two children and despite the said fact,
he entered into to relationship with the deceased,
Trupal and when the deceased, Trupal wanted to
discontinue the said relationship, the appellant
kept on pressurizing her for keeping the
relationship with him, which led to committing
suicide by the deceased. Thus offence under the
relevant section is made out.
14. At this stage, I would like to put reliance upon
the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case
of Rajesh Ranjan Yadav @ Pappu Yadav Vs. CBI
Through its Director, reported in (2007) 1 SCC 70,
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wherein, the Apex Court has laid down that, while
considering an application for regular bail, the
Courts shall have to take into consideration, the
following aspects,
(a) The nature of accusation and the severity
of punishment in case of conviction and the
nature of supporting evidence;
(b) Reasonable apprehension of tampering with
the witness or apprehension of threat to
the complainant;
(c) Prima facie satisfaction of the court in
support of the charge;
15. The Hon'ble Apex Court, further, observed at
Paragraphs-10 and 16 thus;
"10. In our opinion none of the aforesaid
decisions can be said to have laid down any
absolute and unconditional rule about when
bail should be granted by the Court and
when it should not. It all depends on the
facts and circumstances of each case and it
cannot be said there is any absolute rule
that because a long period of imprisonment
has expired bail must necessarily be
granted.
16. We are of the opinion that while it is true
that Article 21 is of great importance
because it enshrines the fundamental right
to individual liberty, but at the same time
a balance has to be struck between the
right to individual liberty and the
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interest of society. No right can be
absolute, and reasonable restrictions can
be placed on them. While it is true that
one of the considerations in deciding
whether to grant bail to an accused or not
is whether he has been in jail for a long
time, the Court has also to take into
consideration other facts and
circumstances, such as the interest of the
society."
16. The Hon'ble Apex Court has in a decision in case
of Prasanta Kumar Sarkar Vs. Ashis Chatterjee &
Anr., reported in (2010) 14 SCC 496 has made
observation as under,
"9. It is well settled that, among other
circumstances, the factors to be borne in
mind while considering an application for
bail are:
"(i) whether there is any prima facie or
reasonable ground to believe that the
accused had committed the offence;
(ii) nature and gravity of the accusation;
(iii)severity of the punishment in the
event of conviction;
(iv) danger of the accused absconding or
fleeing, if released on bail;
(v) character, behaviour, means, position
and standing of the accused;
(vi) likelihood of the offence being
repeated;
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(vii) reasonable apprehension of the
witnesses being influenced; and
(viii) danger, of course, of justice
being thwarted by grant of bail."
17. The Hon'ble Apex Court has in a decision in case
of Mahipal vs. Rajesh Kumar @ Polia & Anr.,
reported in (2020) 2 SCC 118, it has been held
that:-
"12. The determination of whether a case is fit
for the grant of bail involves the
balancing of numerous factors, among which
the nature of the offence, the severity of
the punishment and a prima facie view of
the involvement of the accused are
important. No straitjacket formula exists
for courts to assess an application for the
grant or rejection of bail. At the stage of
assessing whether a case is fit for the
grant of bail, the court is not required to
enter into a detailed analysis of the
evidence on record to establish beyond
reasonable doubt the commission of the
crime by the accused."
18. From the aforesaid discussion, it appears that as
per the prosecution case, the applicant is
involved in the serious offence, wherein three
innocent persons have lost their lives and taking
into consideration the complicity of the
applicant, there being apprehension of the
witnesses being influenced, severity of punishment
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as drawn from the nature and gravity of the
accusations, after taking due consideration of the
submissions of the parties, and the settled case
law in various judgments passed by the Hon'ble
Apex Court and various Hon'ble High Courts,
without expressing any opinion on the merits of
the case, I am of the opinion that this is not a
fit case for bail.
19. Accordingly, the present appeal is dismissed.
Notice is discharged.
20. Needless to say that observations made herein
above are confined to decision of the present bail
appeal.
Sd/-
(DIVYESH A. JOSHI, J.)
Gautam
