Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ruled that a woman cannot be held criminally liable for her husband’s suicide only because of discord arising out of marriage, observing that domestic quarrels do not amount to abetment of suicide.
In a significant judgment, the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench said disagreements between spouses, including arguments, verbal abuse, or a wife leaving the matrimonial home, cannot be treated as instigation unless there is strong evidence of intent to provoke.
The ruling came in case of a woman, accused after her husband died by suicide, following domestic disputes. While allegations included quarrels and the woman returning to her parental home, the court found no evidence.
Setting aside the criminal proceedings against her, the High Court observed that criminal liability in such cases requires a proximate connect between the accused’s conduct and the suicide.
Legal experts say the ruling reiterates the principle that criminal law cannot be invoked based on conflicts within marriages without substantive proof of torture or harassment.
