Suspicion of Character and Marital Discord Not Abetment of Suicide: Uttarakhand High Court

The Uttarakhand High Court has held that suspicion regarding a spouse's character and strained marital relations are insufficient to establish the offence of abetment of suicide.

Justice Ashish Naithani set aside a 2011 conviction of a husband under Section 306 IPC, noting that ordinary matrimonial disputes do not automatically attract criminal liability.

The Court observed that the prosecution failed to prove any specific overt act of instigation or intentional aid immediately preceding the wife's death.

Since no proximate link or direct nexus was established between the husband's conduct and the suicide, the Court quashed the seven-year rigorous imprisonment sentence and acquitted the appellant.

[Husband (SDP) v. State of Uttarakhand]