HC quashes case against teacher booked for abetting student’s suicide

Bombay HC strikes down criminal case against Wadala schoolteacher accused of abetting student's suicide by slapping her, citing lack of intention to cause death.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) last week struck down a criminal case registered against a schoolteacher from Wadala for allegedly abetting the suicide of one of his minor students. The girl had ended her life purportedly because the teacher had slapped her in the classroom for remaining absent for two days.

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While quashing the FIR registered against the teacher, Anil Pal, the division bench of justice Bharati Dangre and justice Manjusha Deshpande noticed that the complaint filed by the father of the girl did not disclose that the teacher had any intention that the minor girl should die by suicide.

The teacher was booked by the Wadala Truck Terminus police in October 2018 for abetting the suicide of his student, a minor daughter of complainant Mahendra Lallan Sharma. The girl hanged herself at home and after asking her classmates, Sharma found out that the teacher had slapped his daughter in school for remaining absent for two days.

Based on Sharma’s complaint, the police had booked the teacher under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment to suicide of the minor girl. A month after registration of the FIR, Pal approached the high court and acting on his petition, the court restrained the Wadala TT police from filing a chargesheet against him.

The court last week struck down the FIR, observing that to constitute the offence of abetment the abettor must be shown to have “intentionally” aided the commission of the crime and there has to be a positive act on his part in the form of instigation or intentionally aiding or illegal omission.

The court therefore held that the act of the teacher – slapping his student would not fall within the ambit of abetment as contemplated under section 107 of the Indian Penal Code. The judges noticed that the complaint filed by the father of the deceased did not disclose that the teacher had any intention that the minor girl should die by suicide.

The judges said that “in the absence of any intention, the act could not definitely attract an offence punishable under section 305 (abetment of suicide of a minor) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC,” and struck down the FIR against the teacher observing that the “continuation of the proceedings against him would be an abuse of process of law.”