The Kerala High Court has ruled that cases of abetment of suicide cannot be quashed merely because of a settlement between parties when there is prima facie evidence of such abetment as punishable under the IPC.
The court, hearing a petition by a couple seeking to quash a case registered against them for allegedly abetting the suicide of the man’s mother, pointed out that cases of abetment of suicide can be quashed on grounds of settlement only when the facts of the case do not, prima facie, substantiate the allegations.
“The law regarding quashment of a crime alleging commission of an offence punishable under Section 306 of IPC is that when the facts of the case, placed as material, could not constitute anything to substantiate prima facie commission of an offence punishable under Section 306 of IPC… in such cases as an exception to the general rule, quashment of the said crime, under Section 482 of CrPC is legally permissible. At the same time, when the prosecution materials are sufficient, prima facie, merely because of settlement, a crime alleging the commission of the offence punishable under Section 306 of IPC cannot be quashed. In fact, in such cases, the relatives could not settle the case either by filing an affidavit or otherwise,” the court held.
The couple argued that whatever misunderstanding was there had been cleared as they were falsely implicated in the case. However, the prosecution did not agree and came up with evidence against the couple.
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The court, after going through the material, ruled that it could not quash the proceedings merely because the accused and the relatives of the deceased reached an out-of-court settlement. It also held that crimes involving serious offences must be examined case-by-case and whether or not to quash proceedings must be decided based on the facts of each case.
The court then dismissed the petition and asked the police probe team to continue with their job.
