ANITA HEMANT SALUNKE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Applicant No.1 is the sister of deceased Anil Gawali, who committed suicide by hanging himself in his house on 20 th June, 2020. Applicant No.2 is her son, aged 22 years. They are apprehending their arrest in connection with the suicide of Anil, which resulted into registration of C.R.No.428 of 2020 with Loni Kalbhor Police Station at the instance of his wife, Supriya. The offence punishable under Sections 306 , 323 , 504 , 506 of IPC have been invoked and applied against the present applicants.

(2.) Heard learned counsel for the applicants and learned APP Mrs.Deshmukh for the State.

(3.) The position of law has once again been crystallized by the Hon'ble Apex Court in its latest judgment in the case of Arnab Manoranjan Goswami v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. (Cri. Appeal No.742 of 2020). After making reference to Section 107 of the IPC, which defines 'abetment of a thing', it has been held that the first segment of Section 107 defines abetment as the instigation of a person to do a particular thing and the second segment defines it with reference to engaging in a conspiracy with one or more other persons for the doing of a thing, and an act or illegal omission in pursuance of the conspiracy. The third segment of abetment is founded on intentionally aiding the doing of a thing either by an act or omission. After making exhaustive reference to the settled law on this point in various authoritative pronouncements and specifically relying on the judgments of the Apex Court in S S Chheena v. Vijay Kumar Mahajan , (2010) 12 SCC 190 and in Madan Mohan Singh vs State of Gujarat , (2010) 8 SCC 628, wherein it was held that a suicide note expressed a state of anguish of the deceased and it cannot be depicted as expressing anything intentional on the part of the accused that the deceased might commit suicide. Their Lordships also reiterate the position of law laid down in Ude Singh and Ors. v. State of Haryana (Criminal Appeal No.233 of 2010 decided on 25/07/2019) wherein it was held as under: