The Allahabad High Court has stayed the arrest of the former judge and his wife (Petitioners) in connection with an FIR registered under Section 108 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which pertains to abetment to suicide. The FIR was lodged following the death by suicide of Mahesh Nishad, who worked as a peon at the petitioners’ residence and was earlier accused by them of theft involving ₹6.5 lakh.
The Court, comprising Justices Alok Mathur and Shree Prakash Singh, noted that the only act attributed to the petitioners was filing a theft complaint and later communicating with the deceased via phone. The alleged threatening calls were not recorded or detailed in the FIR, and the Court found no direct evidence of instigation strong enough to compel suicide under the standards laid down by the Supreme Court in several cases, including Gangula Mohan Reddy and Prakash v. State of Maharashtra,2010 (1) SCC 750.
Observing that mere accusations or follow-up calls do not meet the legal threshold for abetment unless they cause inescapable mental pressure, the Court held that the essential ingredients of the offence were not made out.
The Court has directed the State to file a counter-affidavit within four weeks, with a rejoinder to be filed two weeks thereafter. In the meantime, the Court has ordered that the arrest of the petitioners be stayed until the next hearing on August 20, 2025.
Counsel for Petitioner :- Pranshu Agrawal,Chandan Srivastava
Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Read Order
