Mere refusal to repay a loan would not amount to abetment of suicide, a sessions court has said while giving a clean chit to a 57-year-old Bandra-based businessman whose name figured in the suicide note of a deceased.
The businessman Shahnawaz Karmali, owner of a petrol bunk in Panvel, had sought a clean chit in the case of 2017 lodged by the deceased’s wife at Khar police station. The court stated that to prove the offence, the state of mind to commit the crime must be visible to determine the accused’s culpability. Mens rea (criminal intent) and actus reus (guilty act) are the essential ingredients of abetment, the court said. There must be material on record to show that the accused had a guilty mind and in furtherance of this state of mind, he abated the deceased to commit suicide, the order stated. Therefore, the mere refusal to pay the loan amount would not amount to the offence, it said.
As per the prosecution’s case, the deceased Navroj Tejani was under huge debt after being induced to make a realty investment of Rs 7 crore in Solapur and investing in shares. At the time, Karmali had approached him for a loan and claimed to be in dire situation. The deceased had loaned the amount, but thereafter, when he was in need of money, Karmali had refused to return it and humiliated him. A few days after Karmali refused to return the amount, he died by suicide. Tejani had named many others in his suicide note too, of whom, some he accused of cheating him by inducing him to make investments and others of harassing him for money.
Additional Sessions Judge SU Hake said in the judgment that it cannot be inferred from the police statement of the deceased’s son and the deceased’s suicide note, that the applicant had created a situation that deceased was left with no other option but to die by suicide.
Holding that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against the businessman to stand trial for the offence, it discharged him from the charge.
