Amid Atul Subhash row, SC says mere harassment is not enough to prove abetment to suicide

34-year-old techie Atul Subhash died by suicide on Monday accusing his estranged wife and her family members of harassment and extortion in an 81-minute video and a 24-page suicide note.

Based on a complaint by Atul's family, Bengaluru police have registered an abetment to suicide case against his wife Nikita and three others.

The Supreme Court's observation came as it was hearing a challenge against a Gujarat High Court order that refused to grant relief to a man and his family members accused of abetment of his wife's suicide.

"For a conviction under Section 306 of the IPC, it is a well-established legal principle that the presence of clear mens rea - the intention to abet the act - is essential. Mere harassment, by itself, is not sufficient to find an accused guilty of abetting suicide," the bench said in its December 10 order.

The bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice PB Varale said there must be an active or direct action by the accused that led the deceased to die by suicide.

In the Gujarat case, the top court discharged the accused in the abetment to suicide case. However, it upheld the charge under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which involves domestic violence against a woman by her husband or his family members.

According to the bench, the woman married in 2009 and the couple had no children for five years after the wedding. Due to this, she was allegedly harassed physically and mentally. In 2021, she committed suicide and her father accused her husband as well as her in-laws of abetment and cruelty.

The sessions court ordered the framing of charges against them under both counts and the high court upheld this.

The top court, however, said, "For a person to be charged under this section (306), the prosecution must establish that the accused contributed to the act of suicide by the deceased."

"Thus, in cases of death of a wife, the court must meticulously examine the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as assess the evidence presented. It is necessary to determine whether the cruelty or harassment inflicted on the victim left them with no other option but to end their life," it said.

"Mere allegations of harassment are insufficient to establish guilt. For a conviction, there must be evidence of a positive act by the accused, closely linked to the time of the incident, that compelled or drove the victim to commit suicide," the court added.

The observations have significance in the Atul Subhash case in which his wife Nikita, her mother Nisha Singhania, brother Anurag Singhania, and uncle Sushil Singhania are booked for abetting his suicide.

The FIR has been filed under Sections 108 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). are booked for abetting his suicide.

In a suicide video, he alleged that he and his family were slapped with charges of murder, dowry harassment and unnatural sex. However, Nikita later withdrew the case.

Atul had refuted the dowry charges by Nikita and also claimed there was no link between the dowry demand and the death of Nikita's father.

Atul claimed he came across Nikita on a matrimonial site and his wife lives in Bihar's Samastipur only two days before moving to Bengaluru.

Atul was found hanging at his home on Monday with a 24-page suicide note.

In the suicide note, Atul alleged his wife was getting Rs. 40,000 per month for maintenance despite having a job at Accenture and even asked for Rs. 2-4 lakh more.