Anniee v. State of Kerala

**IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM** **PRESENT:** **THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V** **THURSDAY, THE 16TH DAY OF AUGUST 2018 / 25TH SRAVANA, 1940 Bail Appl..No. 4166 of 2018** **--------------CRIME NO.66/2018 OF VANCHIYOOR POLICE STATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM** ## **PETITIONER(S)/1ST ACCUSED:** **ANNIEE, AGED 42, D/O. VICTOR, MANIDEEPAM, PRRA 92C, PUTHEN ROAD, PETTAH, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.** **BY ADV.SRI.A.CHANDRA BABU** ## **RESPONDENT(S)/STATE/COMPLAINANT:** **1. STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,** - **HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM.** **2. INSPECTOR OF POLICE,** - **VANCHIYOOR POLICE STATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM.** **BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR MR. AJITH MURALI** **THIS BAIL APPLICATION HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 16-08-2018, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY PASSED THE FOLLOWING:** ## **KRJ** ## **RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V., J.** -------------------------------------- **B.A. No.4166 of 2018** -------------------------------------- **Dated this the 16[th] day of August, 2018** ## **O R D E R ~~~~~~~** This application is filed under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. 2. The applicant herein is the accused in Crime No.66 of 2018 of the Vanchiyoor Police Station. She faces accusations of having committed offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. 3. The aforesaid Crime was registered on 11.1.2018 under Section 174 of the Cr.P.C. While residing with the applicant herein and her son, the daughter-in-law of the applicant, decided to take her own life by hanging herself. In the course of investigation, a death note allegedly written by the deceased was seized. She did not place any blame either on her husband or the applicant herein. However, in the course of investigation, the relatives of the deceased were questioned. They divulged that the deceased had been subjected to harassment and cruelty by the applicant herein. On the basis of B.A.No.4166 of 2018 : 2 : the above disclosure, a report was submitted incorporating Section 306 of the IPC. 4. The learned counsel appearing for the applicant submitted that her daughter-in-law had a happy and blissful family life in her matrimonial home. The parents of the deceased were vehemently against the relationship as the deceased and the son of the applicant belonged two different communities. The deceased was the younger child of her parents and they did not approve of her act in eloping with the son of the applicant. The deceased had very strong attachment to her sister and parents and after the initial sheen of marriage had worn off she began to feel very hurt at not being accepted by her parents. While so, the marriage of the elder sister of the deceased was fixed and the engagement ceremony was scheduled to be held on 24.9.2017. The deceased had occasion to see the photographs and other functions through Facebook. The deceased wanted to participate in the marriage and she started pressurizing the applicant herein and her son to take her to her parental home. The deceased also contacted her relatives and requested them to intervene to persuade her parents to accept her. Immediately thereafter, father of the deceased lodged a complaint before the Petta Police B.A.No.4166 of 2018 : 3 : Station requesting initiation of action as he felt that the presence of the deceased and her husband in his house will have a disruptive effect. The deceased and the applicant were summoned to the Police Station and they were warned. The deceased was asked to wait till the marriage of her sister was over. The ban on entering her home had pained the deceased no end and this led her to take her own life. The allegation of physical as well as mental harassment is false, submits the learned counsel. The said allegation would be falsified by the death note, contends the learned counsel. 5. The learned Public Prosecutor has opposed the prayer. He has made available the case diary which contains the suicide note of the deceased and also the complaint filed by the father and a relative of the deceased before the police. 6. I have considered the submissions advanced and have gone through the case diary. It is by now settled that abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing. Abetment necessarily means some active suggestion or support to the commission of the offence. “Instigation” is to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite or B.A.No.4166 of 2018 : 4 : encourage to do "an act". To satisfy the requirement of "instigation", it is not necessary that actual words must be used to that effect. It is also not necessary that in order to constitute "instigation", the incitement must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequence. Yet a reasonable certainty to incite the consequence must be capable of being spell out. In order to proceed against a person under Section 306 of the IPC, there has to be a clear mens rea to commit the offence. It also requires an active act or a direct act which led the deceased to commit suicide seeing no option. That act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a position that she had no other go but to take the ultimate step. Thus, the offence of “abetment by instigation” depends upon the intention of the person who abets and not upon the act which is done by the person who was abetted to commit the act. The abetment may be by instigation, conspiracy or intentional aid as provided under S.107 IPC. (See **Chitresh Kumar Chopra v. State (Government of NCT of Delhi** [(2009) 16 SCC 605]; **Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh** [(2001) 9 SCC 618] : **Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat and Another** [(2010) 8 SCC 628]; **Sanju @ Sanjay Singh Sengar v. State of M.P** [(2002) B.A.No.4166 of 2018 : 5 : 5 SCC 371]; **Swamy Prahaladdas v. State of M.P. and Another** [1995 Supp (3) SCC 438)]. 7. In the case on hand, prima facie, I find that there are no materials to show that the deceased was subjected to cruelty or harassment by the applicant or her son. The suicide note said to have been written by the deceased also does not contain anything incriminating against either the applicant or her son. It appears that the deceased felt that she was causing grave inconvenience to her husband and his family for insisting that they should manage to convince her family to take her in to enable her to participate in her elder sister's marriage. As the family members of the deceased were totally against the demands of the deceased and as they approached the police to keep her away, it had caused severe mental stress on the victim. The learned Public Prosecutor has made available the chat transcripts of certain messages exchanged between the deceased and her cousin. In the said messages, she has been insisting upon her cousin to convince her parents to take her back. However, the death note written by the deceased does not incriminate the applicant or her son. B.A.No.4166 of 2018 : 6 : 8. After having considered the nature and gravity of the accusations, the role assigned to the applicant, her antecedents, the possibility of the applicant indulging in similar offences and also the requirement of arrest and detention of the applicant in the facts and circumstances, I am inclined to allow this application on conditions. It is made clear that the prima facie observations made above are for the sole purpose of deciding this application and the courts before which the matter may come up at a later stage shall proceed with the case untrammeled by the observations made above. 9. In the result, this application will stand allowed. The applicant shall be released on bail in the event of her arrest in Crime No.66 of 2018 of the Vanchiyoor Police Station, on her executing a bond for Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only) with two solvent sureties each for the like sum to the satisfaction of the court having jurisdiction. The above order shall be subject to the following conditions: 1). The applicant shall cooperate with the investigaion and shall appear before the Investigating Officer on all Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 11.00 a.m., for a period of two months or till final report is filed, whichever is earlier. 2). She shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person B.A.No.4166 of 2018 : 7 : acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer. 3). She shall not commit any offence while on bail. In case of violation of any of the above conditions, the jurisdictional Court shall be empowered to consider the application for cancellation, if any, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with the law. Sd/- **RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V., JUDGE** ps/8/8/18 //true copy// P.S. To Judge