Ishan v Shriyan Vs State of Karnataka

ISHAN V SHRIYAN S/O VINAY SHRIYAN, AGED ABOUT 18 YEARS, RESIDING AT NO. B-603, 6TH FLOOR, GOPALAN RESIDENCY, TELECOM LAYOUT, BHUVANESHWARI NAGAR, BENGALURU - 560 040.

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…PETITIONER

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(BY SRI. SHREEDHAR KOTRASHETTI, ADVOCATE FOR SRI. C.R. DESAI, ADVOCATE)

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AND:

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STATE OF KARNATAKA BY

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Digitally signed by SHARADAVANI B Location: High Court of Karnataka

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KEMPAPURA AGRAHARA POLICE STATION, REPRESENTED BY THE STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA,

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BENGALURU - 560 001.

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2. PRADEEP L.N

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S/O T.L. NANJUNDAIAH AGED 47 YEARS NO.A-1101, 11TH FLOOR, GOPALAN RESIDENCY, TEMPLE LAYOUT, K P AGRAHARA, BENGALURU - 560 023.

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…RESPONDENTS

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(BY SRI. M.R. PATIL, HCGP FOR R1; SRI. B. RAJENDRA PRASAD, ADVOCATE FOR R2)

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HC-KAR

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THIS CRL.P IS FILED U/S 482 OF CR.PC (FILED U/S 528 BNSS) PRAYING TO QUASH THE FIR IN CR.NO.15/2025 REGISTERED BY THE KEMPAPURA AGRAHARA POLICE STATION, BENGALURU FOR OFFENCE P/U/S 108 AND 3(5) OF THE BNS, 2023 PENDING ON THE FILE OF THE XXIV ADDL.CJM, BENGALURU AND ALL FURTHER PROCEEDINGS PURSUANT THERETO INSOFAR AS THE PETITIONER IS CONCERNED.

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THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SACHIN SHANKAR MAGADUM

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ORAL ORDER

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The petitioner, an engineering student, hardly aged about 18 years, is seeking quashing of proceedings pending in Crime No.15/2025 registered by Kempapura Agrahara police station for the offence punishable under sections 108 and 3(5) of the BNS, 2023.

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Facts leading to the case are as under:

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A crime has been registered at the instance of respondent No.2/defacto complainant, alleging that his son, who was pursuing engineering, committed suicide. It is alleged that the present petitioner, arrayed as accused

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No.1, along with another friend, arrayed as accused No.2, abetted the commission of suicide. Relying upon the contents of the death note allegedly left behind by the deceased, the crime has been registered for the aforesaid offences.

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Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent No.1, and the learned counsel for respondent No.2/defacto complainant.

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The material on record discloses a deeply distressing set of facts. As per the prosecution case, a young student pursuing engineering has ended his life, leaving behind a death note. Before proceeding to consider

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the matter further, this Court finds it appropriate to reproduce the contents of the said death note, which reads as follows:

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"Hi mama and papa,

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I'm going to be very open about everything here. I cannot do this anymore. I am too financially burdened.

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In November, I was manipulated and forced into taking out a loan against mama's gold. It started off with 1 pair of bangles, then it become 2, then 3, then a chain too, either way, the total gold loan debt is nearly 6.2 lakh. As you can guess, its all gone, I lost it all.

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Even after losing so much, Ishan arranged money from a person named Vrushank to help me. "We'll clear it together" is what Ishan said. Anyway, Vrushank gave nearly 1.5 lakh, and now he's demanding 30 lakh back.

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Ishan has thrown me under the bus and its solely my responsibility. I cannot do this. Vrushank is threatening to torture me, and my parents. I request the police to protect my parents.

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I blame my suicide fully on Ishan V Shriyan for betraying me and throwing me under the bus. At 18 years of age having 36 lakh debt is no joke. I apologise to you ma and pa for going down this path. Things should not have ended like this, it’s a shame it has to be this way.

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I love you mama and papa"

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On a plain reading of the death note, certain

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significant factual details emerge. The deceased, who was the son of respondent No.2, admits in the opening part of

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the note that he had pledged his mother’s gold ornaments, starting with one pair of bangles, then two, later three, and eventually even a chain, to raise funds for discharging a gold loan, which had by then accumulated to nearly Rs.6.2 lakh. He candidly admits that the entire amount raised was lost.

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In the subsequent part of the note, the deceased narrates that despite this heavy loss, it was the petitioner/accused No.1 who arranged to secure further funds by approaching accused No.2, Vrushank. According to the note, accused No.2 advanced a sum of Rs.1.5 lakh, allegedly on the assurance by the petitioner that “we’ll clear it together.” However, the deceased further alleges that accused No.2 later began demanding an exorbitant amount of Rs.30 lakh in return.

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In the third unnumbered paragraph, the deceased

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states that accused No.2 was threatening to torture both

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him and his parents, and specifically requests the police to ensure the safety of his parents.

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In the concluding portion of the note, the deceased places sole blame for his decision to commit suicide on the petitioner, accusing him of betrayal and “throwing him under the bus.” He laments that at just 18 years of age, he was saddled with a debt of Rs.36 lakh, apologises to his parents, and signs off with an expression of love for them.

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If the contents of the death note are accepted at face value, the question that squarely arises for consideration is whether the allegations against the petitioner, as recorded therein, would satisfy the essential ingredients of abetment of suicide under Section 108 of the BNS, 2023.

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It is well settled that to attract Section 108, there must be a demonstrable act of “abetment” as defined in Section 45 of the BNS, 2023. Abetment, in the context of suicide, is constituted only when there is:

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i. Instigation — A direct provocation, incitement, or urging by words or conduct, creating in the mind of the victim an irresistible compulsion to commit suicide; or

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ii. Conspiracy — An agreement to commit suicide, followed by an act or illegal omission in pursuance of that agreement; or

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iii. Intentional aiding — Any wilful act or illegal omission that has the effect of facilitating the commission of suicide.

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The jurisprudence under Section 306 of the IPC,

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which is in pari materia with Section 108 of the BNS, has consistently held that mere proof of suicide, or even proof that the accused had some association with the events preceding the suicide, is not sufficient. The act or omission attributed to the accused must be proximate, specific, and of such a nature that it can be said to have left the victim

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with no option except to take his own life. The causal link

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must be direct and not remote or speculative.

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In the present case, the death note does not disclose any instigation, active participation, or wilful act by the petitioner which was intended to drive the deceased to commit suicide. The role attributed to the petitioner is limited to facilitating the arrangement of a hand loan from accused No.2, purportedly with the intention of helping the deceased in his financial difficulty. The allegation of betrayal in the note, though emotionally charged, is not in itself indicative of any overt act amounting to instigation or intentional aiding in the legal sense.

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This Court has, in a catena of decisions, reiterated that for an offence under Section 108 of the BNS, the conduct of the accused must be such that it leaves a clear, unbroken chain between the accused’s act and the suicide. Unless such tangible material is forthcoming, criminal prosecution cannot be permitted to proceed merely on the

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basis of conjectures or strained interpretations of

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emotional statements in a suicide note.

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On a careful reading of the death note, even if its contents are taken at face value, this Court finds that the allegations therein do not disclose any material that would satisfy the essential ingredients of “abetment” as defined under Section 45 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, so as to attract Section 108 thereof. The note does not reveal that the petitioner had at any point of time instigated the deceased to commit suicide by way of direct provocation, incitement, or any act calculated to create in his mind an irresistible compulsion to take his own life. There is equally no allegation suggesting the existence of any conspiracy between the petitioner and any other person to bring about the deceased’s death, nor is there any overt act done in pursuance of such a conspiracy. The narration in the note, at best, attributes to the petitioner the role of arranging a loan from accused No.2, ostensibly to assist the deceased in a financial crisis of his own

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making; such conduct, even if assumed to be true, cannot by itself be construed as intentional aiding in the commission of suicide, which requires a wilful act or omission directly facilitating the suicide. Mere expression of grievance or feelings of betrayal against the petitioner, unaccompanied by evidence of a proximate, culpable act meeting the statutory test, falls short of constituting abetment in law.

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For the foregoing reasons, this Court passes the following:

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ORDER

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i. The criminal petition is allowed;

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ii. The proceedings pending in Crime No.15/2025, registered by Kempapura Agrahara police station, Bengaluru, for the offences punishable under sections 108 and 3(5) of the BNS, 2023 and pending on the file of XXIV Addl. Chief Judicial Magistrate,

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