Asking someone to retract witness statement does not amount to inciting suicide: Gujarat High Court

Merely asking someone to withdraw certain statements made on affidavit as a witness before a court does not amount to provoking or inciting that person to commit suicide, the Gujarat High Court recently said [Parakramsinh Hathubha Jadeja vs State of Gujarat]..Justice Divyesh Joshi made the observation while granting bail to a man accused of driving a watchman to die by suicide through the issue of threats against making certain statements in a property dispute."Merely (because) the accused asked the deceased (watchman) to retract his version by filing another affidavit, would not in any manner be considered as an act to instigate, incite or provoking the deceased to commit suicide and if there was any threats and/or pressure upon the deceased to do a particular act, he could have taken appropriate recourse," the Court said. .The Court was hearing a bail application filed by one Parakramsinh Jadeja, who had been in jail since August 27, 2023 for allegedly abetting the suicide of a watchman.Prior to his untimely demise, the watchman had filed an affidavit before a trial court in support of Jadeja's brother in a property dispute between the Jadeja brothers. Parakramsinh Jadeja was accused of threatening the watchman to file a new affidavit and retract his initial version before the trial court. The accused man was also alleged to have threatened the watchman with dire consequences if he (deceased watchman) did not retract his earlier statement. After receiving death threats, the deceased was said to have stopped coming to work and resumed only after a few days. Following his death, a suicide note was also recovered, which named the accused..Jadeja was arrested on August 27, 2023 and remained in judicial custody since then. He filed a plea before bail before the High Court earlier this year. While examining the bail application filed by Jadeja, the Court noted that the First Information Report (FIR) indicated that the accused had allegedly goaded the deceased watchman to file an affidavit denying his signature in a particular document. However, the Court took note that even the FIR indicated that Jadeja had never intended to drive the watchman to commit suicide. .The Court further noted that the chargesheet in the case has been filed and the investigation is complete. It proceeded to allow the accused man's release on bail. .Advocate Ashish Dagli appeared for the bail applicant. Additional Public Prosecutor LB Dabhi represented the State. Advocate PP Majumdar represented the complainant. .[Read Order]