The Allahabad High Court quashed criminal proceedings that had been initiated against the Assistant Principal of a school in connection with the suicide of a six-year-old student, holding that there was no material to support an allegation of abetment or instigation leading to the child’s death. The case arose after a young student, reportedly caught cheating in an examination, tragically took his own life. Based on allegations made by the deceased’s sister that the Assistant Principal had humiliated the child, police registered a case including charges under provisions relating to abetment of suicide. The Assistant Principal challenged the criminal proceedings before the High Court, arguing that the suicide note, the FIR and the evidence on record did not name him nor indicate any instigation or active participation that could legally establish culpability for abetment, and that he had merely issued a warning in the absence of the school Principal, with no physical harm or direct provocation to the child. The petitioner emphasised that the sole basis for the proceedings was a statement attributed to a relative, without any corroborative evidence connecting his conduct to the child’s decision to commit suicide.
In a detailed order, the High Court, presided over by Justice Pankaj Bhatia, examined the record, including the alleged suicide note and the material collected during investigation, and observed that there was no suggestion of instigation, conspiracy, or intentional aid on the part of the Assistant Principal that directly led to the commission of suicide. The Court noted that the ingredients of the offence of abetment to suicide require proof of some positive act or intentional aid that would have driven the deceased to take his own life, and that mere allegations of humiliation or a warning without evidence of intent or proximate causation cannot satisfy this threshold. It held that continuation of proceedings under the relevant section of the Indian Penal Code, in the absence of such material, would amount to an abuse of the process of law and would expose the accused to unwarranted criminal liability. In view of settled legal principles that govern abetment to suicide, the High Court found that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case warranting continuation of the criminal proceedings against the Assistant Principal and accordingly quashed the charges.
The Court’s order underscored that while the circumstances surrounding any child’s suicide are deeply tragic, criminal liability cannot be visited on a person without clear, credible and legally sufficient evidence establishing the requisite mens rea and causative link between the accused’s conduct and the act of suicide by the victim. The decision reflects the High Court’s adherence to established jurisprudence on abetment to suicide, which requires more than speculative or uncorroborated allegations, especially in sensitive cases involving minors and educational settings. The proceedings against the Assistant Principal were therefore formally set aside, bringing an end to the criminal case in his regard.
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