Holding

The accused’s repeated monetary demands and his statement urging his wife to die that very day constituted instigation, satisfying the requirements of Section 107 IPC and making him liable for abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC.

Summary

Prem Chand married Veena Rani in 1973 and repeatedly tormented her, demanding money and physically abusing her. On 15 September 1975, after a quarrel in which Prem Chand told her she could relieve his financial woes by dying that very day, Veena Rani set herself on fire and died of severe burns. The trial court convicted Prem Chand under Section 306 IPC for abetting suicide, but the Punjab and Haryana High Court acquitted him, holding there was no proof of instigation. On special leave, the Supreme Court examined the evidence, held that Prem Chand's persistent demands and his explicit encouragement to die amounted to instigation under Section 107 IPC, thereby constituting abetment of suicide under Section 306 IPC. The Court restored the conviction, modified the sentence to credit time already served, imposed a fine of Rs.20,000 (with Rs.18,000 payable to the victim's father), and set aside the High Court judgment.

Issues considered

Whether the accused's conduct and statements amounted to instigation of his wife's suicide within the meaning of Section 107 IPC.
Whether the High Court erred in acquitting the accused on the ground of lack of evidence of abetment.
Whether the conviction under Section 306 IPC should be restored and the appropriate sentence imposed.

Legislation cited

Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 113A, s. 113B
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 107, s. 304B, s. 306, s. 313, s. 498A

Subjects

suicideabetmentinstigationdowry deathSection 306 IPCSection 107 IPCIndian Evidence Act 113AIndian Evidence Act 113Bcriminal lawmarital cruelty

Judgment

BRIJ LAL 'y.-
A
v.
PREM CHAND & ANR.

APRIL 20, 1989

B [S. NATARAJAN AND A.M. AHMADI, JJ.]
'r-
Indian Penal Code-Sections 304B, 306 and 498A-Dowry
Offences-Punishment for-What would constitute instigation for com- ~

c
mission of offence-Would depend on facts of case-Act of abetment-
To be judged in the conspectus of evidence of the case.

Prem Chand, accused-respondent, had married Veena Rani,
-
deceased, in the year 1973. Veena Rani was then employed in the State
~
Bank of Patiala. Soon after their marriage the accused resigned his job
as Prosecuting Sub-Inspector and started his practice at Sangrur.
Veena Rani got herself transferred to Sangrur and the couple set up
D house there. From the very beginning Veena Rani had an unhappy
married life because the accused constantly tormented her to get more
money from her parents. The accused was also given to beating her
frequently.
)..
Veena Rani gave birth to a male child. Even after child-birth the
E accused did not stop ill-treating her. Unable to bear the ill-treatment,
Veena Rani took leave on loss of pay and went away to her parents. She
later filed an application under section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act in
the Court at Patiala for restitution of conjugal rights. At this stage, a
...
compromise was brought about between the parties and Veena Rani
came back to live with the accused at Sangrur. But nothing changed, _..,
F and the accused continued to torment her for money.

The immediate provocation for the accused stepping up his ill-
treatment of Veena Rani was his demand ofRs.1,000 to pay the balance
...
amount of the scooter price which he had purchased. Veena Rani had
no funds of her own. She, therefore, wrote to her brother and mother
G narrating her woes and requesting them to send Rs. 1,000. In spite of
Veena Rani writing to her brother and mother, the accused did not ~
relent in the immediate compliance of his demand.

On 15.9.1975, the day of the tragedy, the accused and Veena Rani
had a quarrel and thereupon both of them went to the house of Shri Hari
H Om, Advocate, who advised the accused not to torment Veena Rani.
612
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND 613

-::.{ There, in the presence of Hari Om, the accused went to the extent of A
saying that Veena Rani may go to hell hut he should get the money
forthwith. Veena Rani reacted by saying that she preferred death to
such life. The accused, far from expressing regret for his conduct,
drove her to despair by further saying that she can provide him relief
quicker by dying on the very day. Thereafter, the accused left Veena
J Rani at their house and went to court at about 9.00 a.m. At IO.IS a.m. B
\ shrieks were heard from their house, and when people rushed in, they
·~ found Veena Rani lying on the ground with extensive buru injuries.
Before her death in the hospital, Veena Rani told the doctor that she
had been tortured at home and that she wanted to die as early as
possible.

The Additional Sessions Judge found the accused guilty under
c
section 306, I.P.C., and sentenced him to undergo R.I. for four years.
The Judge held that the accused had been tormenting and also physi-
cally assaulting Veena Rani, and that Veena Rani had committed
suicide by reason of the accused's instigation.
D
The High Court, on appeal, acquitted the accused holding that
even though Veena Rani had committed suicide on account of her un-
happy married life, there was nothing on the record to show that the
_,l,,_ appellant in any manner instigated the deceased to commit suidde.

In thi:; Court, two special leave petitions have been filed, one by E
the father of Veena Rani and the other by the State of Punjab. On
- behalf of the appellants it was contended that the High Court had
completely erred in its appreciation of the evidence and in its applica-
tion of the law. On behalf of the accused it was contended that even if
~- the prosecution evidence was accepted in full, there was no material to
show that the suicidal death of Veena Rani was abetted in any manner F
_.. by the accused.

Allowing the appeals and restoring the conviction of the accused
under s. 306, this Court,

HELD: (I) Veellll Rani's death w_as undoubtedly due to suicide G
and not due to any accident or homicide. [62IA]

(2) There is overwhelming evidence in the case to establish
that Veena Rani's life was made intolerable by the accused by
constantly demanding her to get him money and also beating her
frequently. [620G I H
614 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

(3) Viewed in the background of Veena Rani's plight during the )<:.-
A
few days preceding her death and the events that took place on the
morning of the tragedy, the utterances by the accused to the effect
that she can provide him relief quicker by dying on the very same day
would have certainly been seen by Veena Rani as an instigation to her to
commit suicide. [6210; 6228] .
B
(4) No mother, however distressed and frustrated, would \-
easily make up her mind to leave her young child in the lurch and J·
commit suicide unless she had been goaded to do so by someone close to '
her [6228-C]

(5) When the evidence is of so compulsive and telling in nature
c against the accused, the High Court, it is regretted to say, has dealt with
the matter in a somewhat superficial manner and acquitted the accused · --1-·
on the basis of imaginary premises. The High Court has failed to com-
prehend the evidence in its full conspectus and instead has whittled
down the evidence by specious reasoning. [624E-F]
D
(6) As to what constitutes instigation would depend upon the facts
I of each case. Therefore, in order to decide whether a person has abetted
by instigation the commission of an offence or not, the act of abetment
has to be judged in the conspectus of the entire evidence in the case. The ).. .
act of abetment attributed to an accused is not to be viewed or tested in
E isolation. [627A-Bl

(7) S11ch being the case, the instigative effect of the words used by -
the accused must be judged on the basis of the distraught condition to
which the accused had driven Veena Ran.i. [6278-C]
. ..,..
F (8) In the instant case, the abetment of the commission of suicide
by Veena Rani is clearly due to instigation and would therefore fall
under the first clause of section 107, IPC. [626E-F]

(9) The degradation of society due to the pernicious system of
dowry and the unconscionable demands made by greedy and un-
G scrupulous husbands and their parents and relatives resulting in an
alarming number of suicidal and dowry deaths of women has shocked
the Legislative conscience to such an extent that the Legislature has
deemed it necessary to provide additional provisions of law, procedural
as well as substantive, to combat the evil and has consequently intro-
duced Sections l l3A and 1138 in the Indian Evidence Act, and section
lf 498A and 3048 in the Indian Penal Code. [627E-G]
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND [NATARAJAN ,J.] 615

(10) It is not a case where Veena Rani had wanted to commit
A
suicide for reasons of her own and the accused had facilitated her in the
commi.siou of suicide,as would attract Explanation II to Section 107
IPC. [6i6A] -- . - --- -

Sri Ram v. State of UP., [1975] 2 SCR 622; distinguished.
B
·\ (11) Taking all factors into consideration including the fact that
more than 11 years have elapsed since the High Court acquitted the
accused and the accused is now leading a settled life, the Court con-
sidered the plea of leniency, and while restoring the conviction of the
accused under section 306 modified the sentence to the period already
undergone and enhanced the fine to Rs.20,000, out of which Rs.18,000 C
.t· were to be giv~n io .the father of the deceased for being utilised for the
maintenance of Veena Rani's son. [628E]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Crim.inal Appeal
No. 477 of 1978.
D
From the Judgment and Order dated 23.11.1977 of the Punjab
and Haryana High Court in Criminal Revision No. 880 of 1976.

WITH

- Criminal Appeal No. 288 of 1989.

From the Judgment and Order dated 23.11.1977 of the Punjab
and Haryana High Court in Cr!. A. No. 670 of 1976.
E

S.K. Bisaria and J.K. Nayyar for the Appellant in Cr!. Appeal

...
. No. 477 of 1978.

R.C. Kohli and R.S. Suri for the Appellant in Criminal Appeal
F

No. 288 of 1989.

S.K. Mehl~, Dhuru Mehta and Atul Randa for the Respondent.
G
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by:

NATARAJAN, J. Appeal No. 477 of 1978 by Special Leave and
Appeal No. 288 of 1989 by Special Leave arising out of Special Leave
(Cr!.) Petition No. 250 of 1980 are directed against a judgment of the
Higfi-Court of Punjab and Haryana in Criminal Appeal No. 670 of11976 H
616 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1989) 2 S.C.R.
• ><-
whereunder a learned single Judge of the High Court had set aside the
A
conviction of respondent Prem Chand and acquitted him of the charge
under Section 306 J.P.C. The former appeal has been filed by the
father of the deceased Veena Rani while the latter appeal has been
filed by the State of Punjab. The facts of the case are in brief as under:

B Deceased Veena Rani who died of burn injuries on 15.9.1975 )--
was married to the respondent Prem Chand (hereinafter referred to as
accused) in the year 1973. Veena Rani, who had passed the M.A. and l
B.Ed. degree examinations was employed in the State Bank of Patiala
and was earning about Rs. 600 to 700 per month. The accused, who
had obtained a degree in Jaw was a prosecuting Sub-Inspector and
---
soon after marriage he resigned his job and set up practice in his native
c place Sangrur. When the accused resigned his job and set up practice .....
in Sangrur, Veena Rani obtained a transfer to Sangrur from Patiala
and the couple set up house in a building owned by PW 5 Krishan
Dutt. From the very beginning Veena Rani had an unhappy married
life because of the accused constantly demanding her to get more
D money from her parent's house. Even though the accused had joined
the office of a senior advocate by name Shri O.P. Singhal, his earnings
were meagre and consequently the house-hold expenses were borne by
her from out of her salary. Besides tormenting Veena Rani to get more
.)...__
money from her parents, the accused was also given to beating her
frequently. Veena Rani complained to her parents, brother and

-
E brother-in-Jaw about the cruel treatment meted out to her by the
accused. PW 4 Shanti Devi and PW 14 Khem Chand, -the mother and
brother respectively of Veena Rani and PW 17 Kuldip Rai, her
brother-in-law have deposed about Veena Rani telling them about the

..
accused ill-treating her and physically assaulting her. Apart from
them, PW 5 Krishan Dutt, the landlord has also testified that the .~
F accused was in the habit of beating Veena Rani and that on hearing her
cries he used to intervene and advise the accused to stop beating her.
Since the accused did not mend his ways and continued his beatings of
Veena" Rani. PW 5 Krishan Dutt asked the accused to vacate his
house.

G Veena Rani conceived and gave birth to a male child. But even )...--
after the child birth, the accused did not stop ill-treating her. Unable
to bear the ill-treatment, Veena Rani took leave on loss of pay and
went away to her parent's house at Patiala. The separation had no
effect on the accused and hence Veena Rani filed an application under
Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act in the Court at Patiala for restitu-
H tion of conjugal rights. As a counter move, the accused also filed a
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND [NATARAJAN, J.J 617
-~
similar petition in the Court at Sangrur. However, the enquiry of that
petition was stayed by the Senior Sub Judge, Sangrur till the disposal A
of the earlier petition filed by Veena Rani at Patiala. At that stage of
matters, Shri O.P. Singhal, who was acting as the courisd for the
accused and PW 9 Shri Hari Om, another advocate at Sangrur who was
appearing for Veena Rani brought about a compromise between the
parties and in terms thereof Veena Rani came back 'io Sangrur to live B
---\
... with the accused. The re-union, however, took place only after the
accused's counsel Shri 0 .P. Singhal had personally assured that their
would be no danger to Veena Rani's life at the hands of the accused.
- This time, the parties set up residence in a house belonging to
PW 12 Nathu Ram. Nothing changed, however because the accused
started tormenting Veena Rani almost from the day of re-union for c
t- money and continued beating her. PW 12 Nathu Ram was a witness to
the accused quarrelling with Veena Rani and beating her. The
immediate provocation for the accused stepping up his ill-treatment of
Veena Rani was his purchase of a scooter for Rs.3,500 from one A.N.
Jindal. The accused was able to obtain only Rs.2,500 from his father D
for buying the scooter and for the balance amount of Rs.1,000 he
asked Veena Rani to get tile same from her parents. Veena Rani had
no funds of her own because she had been on leave on loss of pay for
~ several months and had joined duty at the Bank only on 13.8.1975. She
was in a fix and therefore she wrote a letter on 10.9.75 to her brother
PW 14 Khem Chand as under: E

"Dear brother, the day I came here he is asking for Rs. one
thousand from the same day to repay the loan of the scooter. He does
not pay any expenses which are required by me. Because I will receive
my pay only on 26th September and all things are as they were
before." Again just one day before her death i.e. 14.9.1975, she wrote F
to her mother PW-4 Shanti Devi a pathetic Jetter as follows:

"Yesterday I was to come to see Saroj in the evening
but there is a quarrel in the house. I have no money, if I
have any requirement I must fulfil myself, otherwise no
alternative than to go on weeping and crying. Because he is G
saying that I am to repay the loan of Rs.1,000 and I am to
pay Rs.100 for the house rent. Dear mother, you know it
very well that I have not received my pay. It is therefore I
am unable to pay anything for the household expenses. It is
therefore, I am in a very bad condition at my house. I do
not understand what to do. Whenever I talk to go to any H
618 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.
)<-
A place, the same day there is an uproar in the house and he
does not turn up till 12.00 in the night and unhealthy
atmosphere develops in the house. Dear mother, please
send me Rs.1,000 immediately through Bhupinder. Dear
mother, 1 am very sad on this account and unhappy. The
whole day I remain weaping. Manish (the child) is alright.
B YQU do not worry but please send me Rs.1,000 immedia-
tely."
.~

-
In spite of Veena Rani, writing to her brother and mother for a
sum of Rs.1,000 being sent immediately, the accused did not relent in
his insistence for immediate compliance of his demand. This led to a
quarrel between the husband and wife on the 15th morning and there-
c upon both of them went to the house of PW-9 Shri Hari Om at 6.30
a.m. itself. After-PW-9 Shri Hari Om woke up, he made enquiries and
·-f..
Veena Rani told him that the accused was "demanding money from
her and annoying her on that account" in spite of her telling him that
she had written letters to her brother and mother. He advised the
p accused not to torment Veena Rani for money but in spite of it the
accused said he wanted immediate payment of the sum of Rs. J,000.
The accused went to the extent of saying that Veena Rani can go to
hell but he should get his sum of Rs.1,000 forthwith. Veena Rani
reacted by saying that because of the accused quarrelling with her every )-__
day over the payment of money, she preferred death to life in this world.
E The accused, far from expressing regret for his conduct, drove her to
despair by further saying that she can provide him relief quicker by
dying on the very same day and that she need not postpone her death
to the next day. PW-9 Shri Hari Om then sent the parties home saying
that the matter can be talked over in the evening.
-
~
F After things had gone to such a pitch the accused and Veena
Rani left the house of PW-9 Hari Om at about 9.00 a.m. and went back
to their house. After leaving Veena Rani in the house, the accused
-+
went to the Court. At about 10.15 a.m. PW-12 Nathu Ram was
informed by one Keemat Rai, advocate that shrieks were heard com-
ing from the house occupied by the accused and Veena Rani. Both of
G them rushed to the house and saw Veena Rani lying on the ground ~
with extensive burn injuries on her body. At once PW-12 Nathu Ram
rushed on his bicycle to the Court and informed the accused and
PW-11 D.K. Jindal, about Veena Rani having sustained bum injuries.
Thereupon all of them came to the house and the accused with the help
of PW-11 D.K. Jindal removed Veena Rani to the Civil Hospital at
H Sangrur. PW-9 Hari Om on coming to know of Veena Rani having
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND [NATARAJAN, J.] 619

sustained burn injuries, had information sent to PW-17 Kuldip Rai and
A
also made arrangements for a phone message being given to the
parents of Veena Rani at Patiala. Thereafter he went to the hospital
but by then Veena Rani had died.

Veena Rani was seen by Dr. B.R. Dular at the hospital at 10.45
.~ a.m. and the doctor found her to have sustained severe burns and to B
'< be in a state of shock. Veena Rani who was given treatment by PW-19
'+ Dr. J .K. Sharma told him that she had been tortured at home and that
she wanted to die as early as possible. At 11.30 a.m. Veena Rani died.
- At the autopsy, it was noticed that she had sustained 19 burn injuries.
Her death was certified to be due to shock resulting from the burn
injuries.
c
On receipt of an intimation from the hospital entries were made
in the general diary and subsequently a case was registered on the basis
of representations made to PW-18, the Deputy Superintendent of
Police by PW-16 Kuldip Rai and another relation. Investigation of the
case resulted in a chargesheet being laid against the accused under b
Section 306 I.P.C.

In his statement under Section 313 Cr. P.C. the accused denied
having ill-treated Veena Rani but admitted that he had asked her to
give him a sum of Rs.1,000 for payment of the balance money for the
scooter purchased by him. He however stated that he had offered to E

- repay the amount as soon as he received his G.P.F., amount. He
denied having told Veena Rani at the house of PW-9 Shri Hari Om
that she may go to hell and that she can put at an end to her life the
same day without waiting for the morrow. He has also stated that
Veena Rani was of an irritable nature and would get agitated for no
reason whatever. Lastly, he has stated that on coming to know of her F
"- having sustained burn injuries, he had rushed home and taken her to
the hospital to save her life but unfortunately she could not be saved.

After a detailed consideration of the prosecution evidence and
the statement of the accused, the Additional Sessions Judge, Sangrur,
fou'nd the accused guilty under Section 306 I.P.C. and sentenced him G
to undergo R.I. for four years. The learned Addi. Sessions Judge held
that the accused had been tormenting and also physically assaulting
Veena Rani and that Veena Rani had committed suicide by reason of
the accused's instigation.

The accused preferred an appeal to .the High Court and a learned H
620 S UP)l.EME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

single judge of the High Court has acquitted the accused holding that
A
even though Veena Rani had committed suicide on account of her
unhappy married life "there is nothing on the record to show that the
appellant in any manner instigated the deceased to commit suicide."
Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court the father of Veena
Rani and the State have preferred the two appeals under considera-
B tion.

Shri R.S. Suri, learned counsel for the State and Mr. S.K.
Bisaria, learned counsel for the father of Veena Rani took us through
the evidence in the case and the judgments of the Addi. Sessions Judge
and the High Court and argued that the fligh Court has completely
erred in its appreciation of the evidence and in its application of the
c law and therefore the appeals should be allowed and the conviction
and sentence awarded to the accused should be restored. Shri S.K.
Mehta, learned counsel for the accused contended that even if the
prosecution evidence is accepted in full, there is no material to show
that the suicidal death of Veena Rani was abetted in any manner by
D the accused and hence the judgment of the High Court does not call
for any interference. ·

We have considered the evidence and the arguments of the
counsel in great detail. The evidence brings out with telling effect the
distressed life that Veena Rani was leading almost from the day of her
E marriage with the accused. Since the accused had resigned his job and
set up practice as an advocate at Sangrur, she got herself transferred
from Patiala to a branch of the Bank at Sangrur. The parties lived as
tenants in a portion of the house of PW-5 Krishan Dutt and Veena
-
Rani was meeting the household expenses from out of her salary
because the accused had no income as a lawyer. In spite ofVeena Rani
F spending her entire salary on the household, the accused was
constantly demanding her for money and made her life miserable by
frequently beating her. These matters have been spoken to by PW-4
Shanti Devi, PW-14 Khem Chand and PW-17 Kuldip Rai. Besides
them, independent witnesses viz. PW-5 Krishan Dutt, PW-9 Shri Hari
Om and PW-12 Nathu Ram have also spoken about the ill-treatment
G of Veena Rani and their evidence has gone unchallenged. There is thus
overwhelming evidence in the case to establish that Veena Rani's life
was made intolerable by the accused by constantly demanding her to
get him money and also beating her frequently.

Before considering the question whether the accused had abet-
H ted Veena Rani in her committing suicide, we must point out that
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND [NATARAJAN, J.] 621
-~
Veena Rani's death was undoubtedly due to suicide and not due to any
A
accident or homicide. When Veena Rani had set fire to herself no one
else except her one and half year old son was in the house. Hearing her
shouts PW-12 Nathu Ram and Keemet Rai rushed to the house and
found her lying on the ground with burn injuries. The accused was at
once informed in the court and he removed her to the hospital along
-<' with others. Despite treatment, she succumbed to her injuries by B

... about 11.30 a.m. The autopsy revealed that her death was due to
severe shock resulting from the burn injuries sustained by her. In such
circumstance, the suicidal death of Veena Rani is an incontrovertible
!":... factor.

The crucial question for consideration is whether Veena Rani
put an end to her life of her own will and volition or whether her
c
.Jr
' committing suicide had been abetted in any manner by the accused.

To determine this question, we must see the plight of Veena
Rani during the few days preceding her death and the events which
had taken place on the morning of 15.9.75 itself. It is an admitted fact D
that the accused was wanting a sum of Rs.1,000 for paying the balance
of sale price for the scooter purchased by him and that he was demand-
ing Veena Rani to get him the amount from her parents. The accused
_A_ has himself admitted in his statement under Section 3'13 Cr. P.C. this
fact but has stated that he wanted it only as a loan and not as a gift.
Besides the letter, (annexure 3) written by Veena Rani to her b,·other E

- and mother respectively throw considerable light on the matter. In the
letter to the brother dated 10.9.75, Veena Rani has stated that even on
the day she came to Sangrur the accused began demanding a sum of
Rs.1,000 for being paid for the scooter purchased by him. The accused
-..l. would not wait and hence she had again to write a letter to her mother
on 14.9.75. Therein she has stated that she was in a very bad condition F
~ and that her mother should send her Rs.1,000 immediately. These two
letters written in quick succession reveal fully the amount of pressure
the accused must have been applying on Veena Rani to get him a sum
of Rs.1,000. So constant should have been his demand for money that
on the morning of 15-9-75 even at about 6.30 or 7 a.m. the accused and

--< Veena Rani had to go to the house of PW-9 Shri Hari Om to seek a
solution. Even in front of PW-9 Shri Hari Om, the accused had insisted
G

that Veena Rani should get him a sum of Rs.1,000 forthwith. When
Veena Rani pleaded inability to make immediate payment, the
accused told her that he did not care even if she went to hell but he
wanted immediate payment. When Veena Rani stated in despair that
she had enough of torment and that she preferred death to living, the H
622 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S,C.R.

A accused added fuel to fire by saying that she may put an end to her life
the very same day and she need not wait till the next day to quit this
world. Such an utterance by the accused would have certainly been
seen by Veena Rani as an· instigation to her to commit suicide.
Otherwise, she would not have set fire to herself within a short time
after she reached home. One significant factor to be noticed is that
B but for being spurred to action, Veena Rani would not have easily
reconciled herself to forsaking her one and a half year old son and
commit suicide. No mother, however distressed and frustrated; would
easily make up her mind to leave her young child in the lurch and
commit suicide unless she had been goaded to do so by someone close
to her. Yet another factor to be borne in mind is that there is no
-
evidence as to what transpired between the accused and. Veena Rani
c after. they had left the house of PW-9 Shri Hari Om. The only two
persons who could speak about it are the accused and Veena Rani and
since she is dead it is only the accused who can throw some light on the
matter. Strangely enough, the accused has not said anything about it
in his statement under Section 313 Cr. P.C. He has not said a word that
D he had assuaged the wounded feelings of Veena Rani before he left for
Court. His silence on this aspect of the matter would therefore mean
that he had not changed his stand subs~quently.
).._. .
We may now look to the relevant provisions of the law. Section
3061.P.C. under which the accused was charged reads as under:

"306 LP .C. If any person commits suicide, whoever abets
the commission of such suicide, shall be punished with
imprisonment of either description for a term which may
-
extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine."

F Section 107 I.P.C. sets out as to what..<:onstitutes abetment. The
Section reads as follows: ~

"107. A person abets the doing of a thing, who---

First. Instigates any person to do that thing; or
d
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 cons-
piracy, and in order to the doing of that thing; or

H Thirdly .-Intentionally aids, by any act or illegal omission,
the doing of that thing.
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND [NATARAJAN, J.] 623

Explanation 1.-A person who, by wilful misrepresenta- A
tion, 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.

Illustration (omitted) B

Explanation II-Whoever, either prior to or at the time of
the commission of an act, does anything in order to facili-
tate the commission of that act, and thereby facilitates the
commission thereof, is said to aid the doing of that act."

The learned Additional Sessions Judge has in the course of his
c
judgment observed that Explanation-II to Section 107 l.P.C. would
also be attracted to the facts of the case. The relevant portion in the
judgment reads as under:

"Thus when the circumstances attending this case are read D
alongwith the aforesaid Explanation No. II given under
Section 107 1.P.C., it is clear that the accused prior to the
commission of the suicide by Veena Rani, had constantly
committed certain acts and that has facilitated the commis-
sion of suicide and thus he had aided in the committing of
that said act by Veena Rani." E

- A few lines below the Sessions Judge has given his finding as
under:

"The question of abetment actually depends upon the
nature of the act abetted and the manner in which the F
abetment was made. The offence of abetment is complete
when the alleged abettor has instigated another to commit
the offence. It is not necessary for the offence of abetment
that the offence must be committed. It is only, in the case
of a person abetting an offence by intentionally aiding
another to commit that offence and the uttering of hot G
words by the accused to his wife in the presence of Shri
Hari Om PW 9 clearly indicates that the accused had abet-
ted an act complained of."

From the portion extracted above, it may be seen that though the
Addi. Sessions Judge has observed that Explanation II would have H
624 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

A
relevance to the case, he has in fact awarded conviction to the accused ¥-
on the basis that the accused had instigated Veena Rani to commit
suicide and had thereby abetted the commission of suicide by Veena
Rani.

Having regard to the evidence in the case, there can be no doubt
B whatever that the Addi. Sessions Judge was perfectly right in holding
that the accused had instigated Veena Rani to commit suicide and
therefore he woud be guilty under Section 306 I.P.C. A person can
abet the commission of an offence in any one of the three ways set out
.,
~

c
in Section 107. The case of the accused would squarely fall under the
first category, viz. instigating a person to do a thing. In such circums-
lances, the need to invoke Explanation II does not arise. Mr. Mehta
-
contended that since Explanation II to Section 107 I.P. C. has no appli-
cation to the facts of the case and since the Addi. Sessions Judge has ~-
convicted the accused on the premise· that Explanation II is attracted,
the High Court was right in setting aside the conviction of the accused.
We are unable to accept this argument because the Addi. Sessions
D Judge, though he has referred to Explanation II, has actually found
the accused guilty only on the ground he had abetted the commission
of the offence by instigation.

When the evidence is of so compulsive and telling a nature A.
against the accused, the High Court, we regret to say, has dealt with
E the matter in a somewhat superficial manner and acquitted the accused
on the basis of imaginary premises. The High Court has failed to
comprehend the evidence in its full conspectus and instead L has whit-
tied down the evidence by specious reasoning. To mention a few, the
High Court has failed to give due weight to the letter Veena Rani
-
wrote to her brother on 10.9.1975 merely because in the last line she
~
F has written "in any way there is nothing to worry. This time everything
will be alright." This one sentence in the Jetter cannot efface the
frantic nature of Veena Rani's appeal for money to satisfy the demand t
of the accused. As regards the last letter dated 14.9.75, the High Court
has totally lost sight of it. The High Court has failed to see that unless
Veena Rani was very desperate, she would not have written to her
G mother for money within four days of the letter to her brother. As
regards the happenings on the morning of 15.9.75, the High Court has }.--
failed to grasp their gravity. Unless a serious quarrel had taken place,
the accused and Veena Rani would not have gone to the house of PW 9
Shri Hari Om in the early hours of the morning itself to seek a solution
to the problem. Despite PW 9 Shri Hari Om counselling patience, the
H accused refused to relent and insisted upon immediate payment of
BRIJ LAL v. PREM CHAND [NATARAJAN, J.) 625

-'f.... Rs.1,000 and made it clear that the money was more important to him
than Veena Rani's life and that if Veena Rani wanted to die, she may A
put an end to her life the very same day and give him relief forthwith.
The High Court has viewed the accused's conduct and utterances as of
no consequence because PW. 9 Shri Hari Om has stated in cross-
examination that he thought it was "an ordinary quarrel between the
husband and wife as they had been doing so previ~usly also." The B
~ High Court has failed to realise that the effect of the accused's utte-
·~ ranees on Veena Rani's mind should be assessed in the context of the
overall evidence in the case and not on the basis of the opinion of PW 9

-
!t Shri Hari Om about the nature of the quarrel. PW 9 Shri Hari Om
despite his having been the counsel for Veena Rani, could not have
realised the effect of the utterances of the accused on the mind of
Veena Rani. Furthermore the High Court has failed to notice that the C
~ accused has not thrown any light as to what transpired between him
and Veena Rani after they had left the house of PW 9 Shri Hari Om.
The fact that Veena Rani had forsaken her young son and had set fire
to herself within a short time after reaching home will g\) to show that
she would not have acted in that manner unless she had felt instigated D
to commit suicide by the utterances of the accused. The High Court,
besides unfortunately failing to give due weight to the evidence in the
case, has drawn certain inferences which are not at all warranted. Fm:
_ ~.4._. example, the High Court has stated that since Veena Rani was an \
earning member, the accused would not have stood to gain by instigat-
ing her to commit suicide. This inference is totally wrong because the E

-
clear evidence in the case is that the accused had placed greater value
on the payment of the money demanded by him than upon the life of
his wife. Then again, the High Court has remarked that Veena Rani
was suffering from depression and a diseased mind and hence she
.-J.... whouHld.ghhavCe commd!Ueddsuicide .. we arde at ahl?ss to k n~w whFereffrrom
t e 1 ourt enve matena1 to raw t 1s cone1us1on. ar om F
there being any evidence, to show that Veena Rani was having a
·-'\ diseased mind, PW 5 Krishan Dutt and PW 12 Nathu Ram, have stated
that Veena Rani was a woman of gentle and amiable disposition. She
was working in the Bank without any complaint whatever about her
mental condition. Even the accused has not stated that she was of
diseased mind ..We are, therefore, more than satisfied that the judg- G
ment of the High Court suffers from serious errors and infirmities and
is therefore manifestly unsustainable.

Mr. Mehta relied upon the observations in Sri Ram v. U. P. State,
[1975] 2 SCR 622 to contend that even if the accused had told Veena
Rani that money was more important to him than her life and that she H
626 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

can put an end to her life the very same day instead of waiting for the X-
A
morrow, it cannot be construed that the accused had done anything to
facilitate the commission of suicide by Veena Rani as would attract
Explanation II to Section 107 LP .C. We do not find any merit in the
contention. The facts in Shri Ram's case were entirely different. The
question in that case was whether by shouting that "the Vakil has
.B come", Violet, one of the accused, had abetted the commission of the \.
offence of murder of one Kunwar Singh by the other accused persons r
who were hiding behind a shisham tree and coming out of their place j ·
of concealment and one of them shooting Kunwar Singh with a gun
carried by him. Though the Sessions Judge and the High Court had'
held that Violet's act would amount to abetment of the commission of
the offence of murder in terms of Explanation II to Section 107 I.P .C.,
-
c this Court held that "apart from the words attributed to Violet, there
is nothing at all to show that she was aware of the nefarious design of ·-,_
Sia Ram and his associates." It was in that context this Court observed
as follows. '

D "Thus in order to constitute abetment, the abettor must be
shown to have "intentionally" aided the commission of the
crime. Mere proof that the crime charged could not have
been committed without the interposition of the alleged
abettor is not enough compliance with the requirements of ,.l._
Section 107."
E
In the instant case, we have already seen that the committing of
suicide by Veena Rani was due to the accused's instigation. It is not a
case where Veena Rani had wanted to commit suicide for reasons of
her own and the accused had facilitated her in the commission of
-
suicide.
F
It was then urged by Mr. Mehta that since two views could be
~-
taken of the evidence we should not allow the appeals and set aside the
acquittal of the accused solely on the ground that the view taken by the
High Court does not commend itself for our acceptance. We are fully
alive to the position in law that where two views could reasonably be
G taken of the prosecution evidence in a case, the Appellate Court
should not interfere with the acquittal of an accused merely because lr-
the view taken by the Trial Court and/or the High Court was less
acceptable than the other view which could have been taken on the
evidence. This principle will however have no application where the
evidence does not afford scope for two plausible views being taken but
H still the Trial Court or the High Court acquits an accused for reasons
BRIJ LAL v. PREM 'CHAND [NATARAJAN, J.] 627
-';/.,
which are patently wrong and the error leads to an element of
A
perversity pervading the judgment.

As to what would constitute instigation for the commission of an
offence would depend upon the facts of each case. Therefore in order
to decide·whether a person has abetted by instigation the commission
of an offence or not, the act of abetment has to be judged in the B
··--<
·-. conspectus of the entire evidence in the case. The act of abetment
attributed to an accused is not to be viewed or tested in isolation. Such
being the case, the instigative effect of the words used by the.accused
~ must be judged on the basis of the distraught condition to which the
accused had driven Veena Rani. Full well knowing her helpless state
and frustration, if the accused had told her that he set greater store on
the sum of Rs. 1,000 required by him than her life and that she can die
c
f' the very same day and afford him early relief, it is not surprising that
Veena Rani committed suicide a little later on account of the accused's'
instigation.

It would not be out of place for us to refer here to the addition of. D
Sections l 13A and l 13B to the Indian Evidence Act and Sections 498A
and 304B to the Indian Penal Code by subsequent amendments. Sec-
lion 113A Evidence Act and 498A Indian Penal Code have been intro-
,;..~ duced in the respective enactments by the Criminal Law (Second
amendment) Act, 1983 {Act 46 of 1983) and Section I 13B of the
Evidence Act and 304B Indian Penal Code have been introduced by E

- Act No. 43 of 1986. The degradation of society due to the pernicious
system of dowry and the unconscionable demands made by greedy and
unscrupulous husbands and their parents and relatives resulting in an
alarming number of suicidal and dowry deaths by women has shocked
_l_, the Legislative conscience to such an extent that the Legislature has
deemed it necessary to provide additional provisions of law, pro- F
·~ cedural as well as substantive, to combat the evil and has consequently
introduced Sections 113A and 113B in the Indian Evidence Act and
Sections 498A and 304B in the Indian Penal Code. By reason of Sec-
tion 113A, the Courts can presume that the commission of suicide by a
woman has been abetted by her husband or relation if two factors are
present viz. (1) that the woman had committed suicide within a period
~ G
of seven years from her marriage, and (2) that the husband or relation
had subjected her to cruelty. We are referring to these provisions only
to show that the Legislature has realised the need to provide for addi-
tional provisions in the Indian Penal Code and the Indian Evidence
Act to check the growing menace of dowry deaths. In the present case,
however, the abetment of the commission of suicide by Veena Rani is H
628 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.
A clearly due ID instigation and would therefore fall under the first clause )(-
of Section 1071.P.C.

In the light of our conclusions, the appeals have to be allowed
and the conviction of the appellant under Section 306 I.P.C. has to be
B restored. The question however arises as to whether the sentence of 4
years R.I. awarded by the Sessions Judge should also be restored.
Mr. Mehta, learned counsel made a fervent plea for leniency on the
ground that more than 11 years have elapsed since the High Court
acquitted the accused and the accused is now leading a settled life and
,.
)._

c
that he and his family members would be ruined if he is to be sent back
to prison to serve any further term of sentence. Learned counsel also
stated that the accused has undergone imprisonment in connection
-
with the case for a period of about 10 months and, therefore, even if
we are to restore the conviction, we may reduce the sentence to the -r
period of imprisonment already undergone. Shri Suri, learned counsel
appearing for the State submitted that the State was only anxious that
the error committed by the High Court in acquitting the accused
D should be set right. He also added that in the event of the substantive
sentence being reduced, the accused should be called upon to pay a
heavy fine. Taking all factors into consideration, we think that the
ends of justice would be met if we substitute the sentence awarded to
the accused with the sentence of imprisonment for the period already ~
undergone by him and enhance the sentence of fine from Rs.500 to
E Rs.20,000 with a direction that out of the fine amount, if paid, a sum of
Rs. 18,000 should be paid to the father of Veena Rani for bringing up
Veena Rani's minor son Manish. -
The High Court judgment is accordingly set aside and the ap-
peals are allowed and the conviction of the accused under Section 306 J._
F
I.P.C. is restored but the sentence is modified to the period of im-
prisonment already undergone and fine of Rs.20,000 in default thereof .,.,
to suffer R.I. for two years. Out of the fine amount if paid, Rs.18,000
will be given to the appellant in Cr!. Appeal No. 477 of 1978 for being
utilised for the maintenance of Veena Rani's son, Manish. One
month's time from today is given to the accused to pay the fine.
G
;..-
R.S.S. Appeals allowed.