Holding

The court held that without proof of instigation, mens rea, or any act of abetment, the elements of Section 107 are not met, warranting quash of the FIR.

Summary

The applicant‑accused Karanbhai sought to quash FIR No.11193034240308 filed under Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, alleging abetment of suicide of his girlfriend. The deceased had left a suicide note indicating distress over family opposition, with no allegation of direct instigation by the accused. The prosecution relied solely on the complainant’s statements and the suicide note, which the court found insufficient to establish the mens rea or act of instigation required under Section 107. Citing Supreme Court precedents on the elements of abetment of suicide, the court held that the FIR did not disclose any act, omission, or coercion by the accused. Consequently, the court exercised its inherent powers under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to quash the FIR and all related proceedings.

Issues considered

Whether the facts disclosed in the FIR and accompanying evidence satisfy the elements of abetment of suicide under Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Whether the High Court can quash the FIR under its inherent powers under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Legislation cited

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023s. 528
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023s. 107
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 482
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 306

Subjects

abetment of suicideSection 107Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhitaquash of FIRinherent powersSection 528High Court

Judgment

R/CR.MA/21932/2025 ORDER DATED: 20/01/2026

IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD

R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR QUASHING & SET ASIDE
FIR/ORDER) NO. 21932 of 2025

================================================================
KARANBHAI @ KATTO VIHABHAI MER
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ANR.
================================================================
Appearance:
MR PITAMBER ABICHANDANI for MS POONAM M MAHETA(11265) for the
Applicant(s) No. 1
MS KRINA CALLA, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR KULDEEP D VAIDYA(7045) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
================================================================

CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE VIMAL K. VYAS

Date : 20/01/2026

ORAL ORDER

1. RULE returnable forthwith. Learned APP Ms.Krina P.Calla

waives service of notice of rule for and behalf of the respondent

no.1 – State and learned advocate Ms.Poonam Maheta waives

service of notice of rule for and on behalf of the respondent no.2

– complainant.

2. By way of preferring the present application under Section

528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the

applicant-accused seeks to invoke the inherent powers of this

Court, praying to quash and set-aside the First Information

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Report No.11193034240308 of 2024 lodged before the Lathi

Police Station, District Amreli, for the offence punishable under

Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

3. It appears from the materials on record that the alleged

incident had occurred on 17.12.2024 and the complaint was

registered on 21.12.2024 by the father of the deceased. It further

appears that initially an entry regarding accidental death was

recorded, and during the investigation of the accidental death,

the statements of the parents of the deceased were recorded. The

reasons stated by the Investigating Officer in the accidental

death is that the deceased was under a dilemma as to how to

visit her maternal uncle’s house at Surat as her maternal

grandfather had died over there, and due to the said reason, she

was under constant depression and, therefore, she committed

suicide by hanging herself with the ‘chundadi’ (a long scarf-like

cloth worn by women to cover their head and shoulders) fastened

with a hook (crotchet) in the room.

4. As per the case of the prosecution, the complainant (i.e.

the father of the deceased) had, on 18.12.2024, discovered a

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two-page suicide note from a cutlery box from his home, through

which, he learned that his daughter was having an affair with

one Karan (i.e. the present applicant-accused) and because

Karan’s family members were opposed to their relationship, his

daughter was remaining distressed and, therefore, she

committed suicide by hanging herself with the ‘chundadi’

fastened with a hook in the room. The complainant, in the

complaint, has stated that as his daughter might later on came

to know that Karan is married, therefore, she took the extreme

step of ending her life by committing suicide.

5. Heard learned advocate Mr.Pitamber Abichandani for

Ms.Poonam Maheta, learned advocate appearing for the

applicant-accused and learned APP Ms.Krina Calla appearing for

the respondent – State.

6. Learned advocate Mr.Abichandani, while referring to the

suicide note, has submitted that there is nothing to even

remotely suggest that the present applicant-accused had

instigated the deceased to commit suicide. On the contrary, the

suicide note reveals that the deceased was having intimacy and

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affection with the present applicant. However, the family

members of the applicant-accused were opposed to their

relationship. In the suicide note also, the deceased has stated

the same thing that since the family members of the applicant

were against their relationship, the applicant had informed his

family that if he would not be permitted to live with her, then he

will die, however, the family members were reluctant, therefore,

they both had decided to end their lives, whereupon the

deceased took an extreme step of committing suicide. Learned

advocate has submitted that there was no instigation or

incitement or abetment on the part of the present applicant to

the deceased in committing suicide. The suicide note itself

suggests that the deceased was feeling distress and

disappointment, due to which she committed suicide. There is

no specific act, abuse, coercion, threat, or incitement on the part

of the present applicant, which may amount to abetment as

contemplated under law.

7. Learned advocate Mr.Abichandani, while pointing out to

the statement of the friend of the applicant-accused, namely,

Devjibhai @ Ajay Bhupatbhai Sabhad, has submitted that on the

fateful day of the incident, the applicant-accused and his friend

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had gone to meet the deceased at her field on the motorcycle,

and thereafter, they went to another field of the deceased, where

two persons from the deceased’s village had seen them altogether

on a motorcycle, and on the very same day, the deceased had

committed suicide. Learned advocate Mr.Abichandani has,

therefore, submitted that there are all possibilities that because

of the fear that the village people might tell about the said

incident to her family, she might have committed suicide.

Mr.Abichandani has further submitted that the evidence is silent

as to what had happened soon before the incident at the house

of the deceased.

8. Learned advocate Mr.Abichandani has submitted that the

FIR lodged by the first informant is palpably false and there is

not an iota of evidence to implicate the present applicant with

the alleged offence. The prosecution has remained silent as to

what had happened soon before the incident. Learned advocate

has further submitted that the proximity between the alleged act

of instigation by the applicant and the commission of suicide by

the deceased has not been proved. He has further submitted that

except the statement of the complainant, there is no other

evidence to connect the present applicant with the alleged

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offence. It is further submitted that the complainant has made

vague, omnibus and general allegations against the applicant,

and the FIR, even if it is considered at its face value, the same

could not even establish the offence as alleged in the FIR.

9. Learned advocate Mr.Abichandani has, therefore, urged

that considering the above, the application may be allowed and

the impugned FIR may be quashed and set-aside.

10. Learned APP Ms.Krina P.Calla appearing for the

respondent – State has vehemently opposed the present

application and has submitted that having regard to the

gravamen and seriousness of the offence, the application may

not be entertained and the same may be rejected.

11. Learned advocate Mr.Kuldeep D.Vaidya appearing for the

respondent no.2 – complainant, while vehemently opposing the

present application, has adopted the arguments canvassed by

the learned APP and has submitted that the present application

may be rejected.

12. It is settled that to attract Section 107 of the Act, the

accused must have mens rea to instigate the deceased to commit

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suicide. The act of instigation must be of such intensity that it is

intended to push the deceased to such a position under which

he or she has no choice but to commit suicide. Such instigation

must be in proximity to the act of committing suicide. In the

present case, it prima facie appears from the suicide note by the

deceased that she committed suicide out of distress and there

was no act of incitement or instigation or abetment on the part of

the present application in committing suicide by the deceased.

13. The position of law insofar as the abetment of suicide is

concerned, is well-settled. Even if the entire case put up by the

prosecution is accepted as it is, without adding anything or

subtracting, this Court is of the view that none of the ingredients

to constitute the offence of abetment punishable under Section

107 of the Act, are borne out. Only because of the fact that the

applicant is married, the elements of Section 107 of the Act

cannot be attracted since there is no reference in the suicide

note that the present applicant had misled the deceased by

saying that I am unmarried, and there is no evidence that later

on, the deceased came to know that he was already married. It is

not even the case or the evidence that the applicant hide this

fact from the deceased, and when she came to know about it,

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she committed suicide. So, the entire evidence clearly suggests

that the present applicant-accused has not committed any act or

omission, which led the deceased to commit suicide. The suicide

note is clear – there was no incitement, instigation, no threat, no

misleading fact or fake promise by the present applicant-accused

to the deceased and nothing had happened between them. Even

after perusing the impugned FIR, this Court does not find that

the essential ingredients of Section 107 of the Act are attracted.

14. At this juncture, I may refer to the decision of the Supreme

Court in case of Yadwinder Singh @ Sunny vs. State of

Punjab and another [Special Leave to Appeal (Cri.) No.7309 of

2025, decided on 27.10.2025], wherein it has been observed in

paras 16 and 17 as follows :-

“16. This Court in the case of “Nipun Aneja and Others Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh” reported in SCC OnLine SC 4091 has
succinctly explained the Principles of law governing abetment. We
quote the relevant observations as under :-

“13. The law governing Section 306 of the IPC is well
settled. Section 306 of the IPC reads as under:—

“306. Abetment of suicide. —If any person
commits suicide, whoever abets the commission of
such suicide, shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term

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which may extend to ten years, and shall also be
liable to fine.”

14. Thus, the basic ingredients to constitute an offence
under Section 306 of the IPC are suicidal death and
abetment thereof. Abetment of a thing is defined under
Section 107 of the IPC as under:—

“107. Abetment of a thing.— A person abets the
doing of a thing, who— First. — Instigates any
person to do that thing; or Secondly.— Engages
with one or more other person or persons in any
conspiracy for the doing of that thing, if an act or
illegal omission takes place in pursuance of that
conspiracy, and in order to the doing of that thing;
or Thirdly.— Intentionally aids, by any act or
illegal omission, the doing of that thing.

Explanation 1.— A person who by wilful misrepresentation,
or by wilful concealment of a material fact which he is bound
to disclose, voluntarily causes or procures, or attempts to
cause or procure, a thing to be done, is said to instigate the
doing of that thing.

Explanation 2.— Whoever, either prior to or at the time of the
commission of an act, does anything in order to facilitate the
commission of that act, and thereby facilitate the
commission thereof, is said to aid the doing of that act.”

17. This Court in Geo Varghese v. State of Rajasthan, (2021) 19
SCC 144, after considering the provisions of Section 306 of the IPC
along with the definition of abetment under Section 107 of the IPC,
has observed as under:—

“14. Section 306 of IPC makes abetment of suicide a
criminal offence and prescribes punishment for the same.

15. The ordinary dictionary meaning of the word ‘instigate’
is to bring about or initiate, incite someone to do something.
This Court in Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh,

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(2001) 9 SCC 618, has defined the word ‘instigate’ as
under:-

“20. Instigation is to goad, urge forward, provoke,
incite or encourage to do “an act”.

16. The scope and ambit of Section 107 IPC and its co-
relation with Section 306 IPC has been discussed repeatedly
by this Court. In the case of S.S. Cheena v. Vijay Kumar
Mahajan (2010) 12 SCC 190, it was observed as under:—

“25. Abetment involves a mental process of instigating
a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a
thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused
to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction
cannot be sustained. The intention of the legislature
and the ratio of the cases decided by the Supreme
Court is clear that in order to convict a person under
Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea to
commit the offence. It also requires an active act or
direct act which led the deceased to commit suicide
seeing no option and that act must have been intended
to push the deceased into such a position that he
committed suicide.”
(emphasis supplied)

17. Thus, the ingredients to constitute an offence under
Section 306 of the IPC would stand fulfilled if the suicide is
committed by the deceased due to direct and alarming
encouragement/ incitement by the accused leaving no option
but to commit suicide. The act of instigation as alleged must
be with the intention to push the deceased into such a
situation that she is left with no other option but to commit
suicide.”

15. This Court is quite conscious of the fact that the power

under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973

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(corresponding Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha

Sanhita, 2023), is extraordinary power, and it should be used

sparingly, as the exercise of such power would scuttle the FIR at

the threshold. But, if the FIR fails to make out essential

ingredients of the offence, the power should be exercised. Upshot

of the above discussion, the present application deserves

consideration.

16. In the result, the present application is allowed. The First

Information Report No.11193034240308 of 2024 lodged before

the Lathi Police Station, District Amreli, for the offence

punishable under Section 107 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,

2023, is hereby ordered to be quashed and set-aside. All

consequential proceedings arising pursuant thereto are also

quashed and set-aside.

17. Rule made absolute. Direct service is permitted.

(VIMAL K. VYAS, J.)
/MOINUDDIN

Original copy of this order has been signed by the Hon'ble Judge.
Digitally signed by: MOINUDDIN ABDULLAH SAIYED(HC00172), PRINCIPAL PRIVATE SECRETARY, at High Court of Gujarat on 20/01/2026 17:32:22

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