Broken relationship insufficient to charge man with abetment to suicide: Bombay HC
Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that a man cannot be held liable for abetting a woman’s suicide solely because their nine-year-long relationship ended. Discharging the man from the case, Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke observed that a broken relationship, by itself, does not amount to abetment to commit suicide.
The court's decision on January 15 came after the man was accused of provoking the woman to take her life. However, Justice Joshi-Phalke noted that the evidence, including an extensive suicide note and WhatsApp messages, revealed that the relationship was consensual. "The physical relations between them were developed out of love and were consensual," she stated.
The court highlighted that there was no evidence suggesting the man provoked or instigated the woman. "Merely refusing to marry her does not constitute instigation. At most, the applicant can be said to have ended the relationship," the court remarked.
The judge also pointed out that the woman’s suicide was not an immediate consequence of the breakup. She explained that the relationship ended in July 2020, but the woman died by suicide in December 2020. "There is no proximity or direct connection between the breakup and her decision to take her life," Justice Joshi-Phalke said.
The court overturned the decision of the Sessions Court at Khamgaon, Buldhana district, which had earlier refused to discharge the man. The Sessions Court had considered the deceased’s father’s argument that the breakup caused his daughter significant emotional distress, as detailed in her suicide note.
In his defence, the accused argued that the relationship was consensual and that the deceased continued to contact him even after the breakup. He contended that his refusal to marry her could not be considered abetment. The High Court agreed with his arguments and quashed the lower court’s order.
Justice Joshi-Phalke concluded that without evidence of provocation or instigation, a broken relationship alone cannot form the basis for a charge of abetment to suicide.
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Fake notes with 'movie shooting purpose only' written on them send police into tizzy in Sirsi
Sirsi (Karnataka), Apr 8 (PTI): The police in Uttar Kannada went into a tizzy on Tuesday after they found fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination from a house in Dandeli with 'movie shooting purpose only' written on them.
Based on a tip-off, police searched a rented house at Gandhinagar in Dandeli and confiscated the fake currency notes along with a money counting machine.
Arshad Khan, who is said to be from Goa, was staying as a tenant in the house belonging to Noorjan Jhunjuwadkar, police said.
Police were informed after Jhunjuwadkar noticed that Khan was absent from the house for the past one month.
The fake currency notes had the inscription 'Reverse Bank of India' on them, but did not have the signature of the RBI governor, police said.
The notes were printed on a shining paper with only zeros written in the place of the number, and 'movie shooting purpose only' inscribed on them, police said.
A hunt is on to trace Khan to question him about the seizure, they added.
