The Supreme Court has acquitted a husband who was accused with the abetment of suicide of his wife in Haryana in 1993, ruling that the accused’s claimed abuse of the victim is insufficient evidence of the wrongdoing. Within ten minutes, a bench consisting of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra rendered a decision noting that the appellant convict’s offense was “not sustainable in law”. Bench and Bar made a report.
The top court stated during the most recent session that it was aware that no crime should go unpunished and that a mother passed away leaving behind her six-month-old kid.
“But at the same time, the guilt of the accused has to be determined in accordance with law,” the bench said.
The top court ruled that a “active act or direct act” that caused the deceased woman to end her life was necessary in order to be considered aiding and abetting suicide.
After explaining that “the ingredient of mens rea cannot be assumed to be ostensibly present but has to be visible and conspicuous,” the court came to the conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to convict the husband.
This case concerns a man named Naresh Kumar, who appealed to the Supreme Court against a ruling issued in 2008 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In November 1993, he was charged with driving his wife to commit suicide by pestering her.
At the beginning, a trial court convicted Naresh Kumar in 1998, then the High Court upheld the trial court’s verdict under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
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