SC:Stopping Salary by Employer doesn’t Attract Offence of Abetment of Suicide

May 21, 2018

Case name: Vaijnath Kondiba Khandke v. State of Maharashtra and Another

Date of Judgment: May 17, 2018

The brief facts of the case are that the deceased had committed suicide and subsequently the deceased’s wife registered FIR against the appellant alleging that her husband was suffering from mental torture as his higher officers were getting heavy work done from her husband that her husband would be called at odd hours and even on holidays to get the work done. The deceased’s wife also alleged that the appellant had stopped her husband’s salary for one month and was also threatening her husband that his increment would be stopped.

Also read Employee Forced to do Extra Work- Employer can’t be Prosecuted for Abetment of Suicide

Aggrieved by this the Appellant filed application to quash FIR on the ground that the allegations in the FIR were absurd and inherently improbable.

Also read High Court’s Inherent Power to Quash FIR

Also read Supreme Court on High Court’s Power to Quash FIR

Bench’s Verdict

The Two Judge Bench of the Supreme Court quashed the FIR in the case and made the following observations:

• That there was no suicide note left behind by the deceased and the only material on record is in the form of assertions made by the deceased’s wife.
• That it is true that if a situation is created deliberately so as to drive a person to commit suicide, there would be room for attracting Section 306 of IPC. That the facts on record in the present case are completely inadequate and insufficient to attract offence of abetment to suicide under Section 306 of IPC.
• That as a superior officer, if some work was assigned by the applicant to the deceased, merely on that count it cannot be said that there was any guilty mind or criminal intent. The exigencies of work and the situation may call for certain action on part of a superior including stopping of salary of a junior officer for a month. That action simplicitor cannot be considered to be a pointer against such superior officer.
• That the allegations in the FIR are completely inadequate and do not satisfy the requirements under Section 306 of IPC.