Man can't be convicted of wife's suicide merely on speculation: SC

The Supreme Court has held that a man cannot be convicted of abetment to wife's suicide merely on the basis of speculation and conjectures, without any overt and illegal act.

An inference without material support cannot lead to a conviction. In all crimes, the ingredient of Mens Rea (mental elements) cannot be assumed to be present, but it has to be visible and conspicuous, a bench of Justices N V Ramana, Surya Kant and Hrishikesh Roy said that while acquitting Gurcharan Singh, a man from Barnala, Punjab in the case of abetment to his wife's suicide, Shinder Kaur, a mother of two infants, in 1997.

The court said the trial court and the High Court erred in concluding that the deceased was driven to commit suicide, by "the circumstances or atmosphere in the matrimonial home".

This is nothing more than an inference, without any material support, which cannot form the basis of conviction under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC, the bench said.

The top court said the trial court and the High Court speculated on the unnatural death and without any evidence concluded only through conjectures, that the appellant is guilty.

"Insofar as the possible reason for a young married lady with two minor children committing suicide, in the absence of evidence, conjectures cannot be drawn that she was pushed to take her life, by the circumstances and atmosphere in the matrimonial home," the court said.

"What might have been the level of expectation of the deceased from her husband and in-laws and the degree of her frustration, if any, is not found through any evidence on record. More significantly, wilful negligence by the husband could not be shown by the prosecution," the bench added.