PANAJI
The Assistant Sessions Judge at Panaji has discharged one Pradeep Singh Negi on charges of abetment of suicide of a married woman due to insufficient evidence.
Judge Vijayalaxmi Shirvolkar stated that there's inadequate material on record to frame charges under section 306 IPC against Negi, a native of Uttarakhand.
According to the chargesheet filed by Panaji police, Negi was found accompanying the deceased Ruksar Khan when she was found hanged in her rented flat in December 2019.
The accused's lawyer, during the hearing, argued that there was no evidence to indict the accused for the suicidal death of the deceased.
"There is absolutely nothing on record to show any act of abetment being committed by the accused leading to the deceased taking the drastic step of committing suicide. The accused has been booked in the present crime only at the behest of the complainant who is the father of the deceased, who expressed suspicion in his mind about the accused being responsible for his daughter to commit suicide at the relevant time when they reached the room of their daughter, he saw his daughter Ruksar lying on the bed in the bedroom," he said.
A blue colour dupatta was hanging to the ceiling fan and the father of the deceased then saw Negi present there.
The advocate also highlighted to the court the background of the deceased, who was previously married to Imran Khan and had a five-year-old son from the marriage. The child was under the care of the deceased's mother, and the deceased and her husband had strained relations for the past six years and were not living together.
The Court, in its order, observed that the chargesheet does not disclose incriminating material giving a reason to believe that the extreme step taken by the deceased relates to the acts, deeds, or omissions of the accused.
"This court is of the opinion that the present chargesheet if allowed to proceed, by framing charges of abetment against the accused, would definitely amount to miscarriage of justice, as on merits, the prosecution does not have any case against the accused and it would be a futile exercise which would definitely cause prejudice and hardship to the accused, apart from the fact that prosecution will be doing a futile exercise of recording evidence of the witnesses listed in the charge sheet," it said while discharging the accused.
