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REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL  No(s).  1550   OF  2018 (Arising out of SLP(Crl.)No.382 of 2016)

M. ARJUNAN                                         Appellant(s)

                               VERSUS

THE STATE REP. BY ITS INSPECTOR OF POLICE          Respondent(s)

J U D G M E N T

BANUMATHI, J.:

(1) Leave granted.

(2) This appeal arises out of judgment of the High Court of

Judicature at Madras in Criminal Appeal No.375 of 2007 dated 7th

September, 2015 in and by which the High Court affirmed the

conviction of the appellant-accused under Section 306 I.P.C.

and reduced the sentence of imprisonment of the appellant from

three years to three months.

(3) Case of the prosecution is that on 2nd December, 2001, the

appellant-accused advanced a sum of Rs.80,000/- by way of debt

to the deceased, by name – Rajagopal, and to that effect he

obtained  a  promissory  note.   On  7th December,  2002,  the

appellant-accused demanded Rs.50,000/- towards the interest and

another Rs.50,000/- towards principal amount.  On 21st June,

2003, in the presence of some witnesses, the deceased stated

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that he would discharge the entire loan amount; but he was not

able to keep up his promise.  Due to the alleged torture by the

appellant-accused, on 21st June, 2003 at about 11:50 p.m. the

deceased committed suicide.  The deceased is said to have left

suicide note (M.O.1) stating that he is unable to repay the

loan and taking the extreme step.

(4) Upon  consideration  of  oral  evidence  and  suicide  note

(M.O.1),  the  Trial  Court  held  that  the  prosecution  has

established the guilt of the accused under Section 306 I.P.C.

and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three

years and also imposed fine of Rs.500/-.

(5) In the appeal filed by the appellant-accused, the High

Court held that the receipt of money and the execution of the

promissory  note  and  the  alleged  torture  committed  by  the

appellant has been proved by the prosecution.  Referring to the

evidence of PW-1 to PW-5, who are the wife, daughters and the

sons of the deceased, and also suicide note (M.O.1), the High

Court has held that the prosecution has clearly established the

guilt of the appellant-accused under Section 306 I.P.C. and on

those  findings  affirmed  the  conviction  of  the  appellant-

accused; but reduced the sentence of imprisonment, as aforesaid

in para ‘2’.

(6) We have heard Mr. S. Hari Haran, learned counsel appearing

for the appellant, and Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, learned counsel

appearing  for  the  respondent-State  of  Tamil  Nadu  and  also

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perused  the  impugned  judgment  and  the  evidence/materials  on

record.

(7) As pointed out by the High Court, of course PW-1 to PW-5

have spoken about the borrowing of money by the deceased and

also the execution of the promissory note.  The sheet anchor of

the prosecution’s case to prove the guilt of the accused is the

suicide note (M.O.1)-written by the deceased.  On perusal of

suicide note (M.O.1), it is seen that in M.O.1 the deceased has

written about the financial difficulties faced by him and his

inability to meet the financial crunch and also his inability

to repay the same.  The tenor of M.O.1 only shows that the

deceased was subjected to pressure for payment and was facing

the financial difficulty.  In M.O.1 (letter) there is nothing

to indicate that there was instigation by the appellant-accused

which  had  driven  the  deceased  to  take  the  extreme  step  of

committing suicide.

(8) The essential ingredients of the offence under Section 306

I.P.C. are: (i) the abetment; (ii) the intention of the accused

to aid or instigate or abet the deceased to commit suicide.

The act of the accused, however, insulting the deceased by

using  abusive  language  will  not,  by  itself,  constitute  the

abetment  of  suicide.   There  should  be  evidence  capable  of

suggesting that the accused intended by such act to instigate

the deceased to commit suicide.  Unless the ingredients of

instigation/abetment to commit suicide are satisfied, accused

cannot be convicted under Section 306 I.P.C.

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(9) In our considered view, in the case at hand, M.O.1-letter

and the oral evidence of PW-1 to PW-5, would not be sufficient

to establish that the suicide by the deceased was directly

linked  to  the  instigation  or  abetment  by  the  appellant-

deceased.   Having  advanced  the  money  to  the  deceased,  the

appellant-accused might have uttered some abusive words; but

that by itself is not sufficient to constitute the offence

under Section 306 I.P.C.  From the evidence brought on record

and in the facts and circumstances of the case, in our view the

ingredients of Section 306 I.P.C. are not established and the

conviction of the appellant-accused under Section 306 I.P.C.

cannot be sustained.

(10) In the result, the impugned order is set aside and

the appeal is allowed.     

..........................J.                 (R. BANUMATHI)

..........................J.         (INDIRA BANERJEE)

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 4, 2018.