Thameem Ansari vs State Rep By on 24 February, 2026

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    Madras High Court

    Thameem Ansari vs State Rep By on 24 February, 2026

        2026:MHC:1036
                                                                                                     CRL.A.No.339 of 2022
    
    
    
    
                                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
    
                                                         DATED: 24.02.2026
    
                                                                  CORAM
    
                                      THE HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE G.ARUL MURUGAN
    
                                                       CRL.A.No.339 of 2022
    
                    Thameem Ansari,
                    S/o. Batsha,
                    No.25/7, Gangai Amman Koil Street,
                    Kamarajapuram,
                    Chennai – 600 042.                                                          ...Appellant/ Accused
    
    
    
                                                                       Vs
    
                    State rep by
                    Inspector of Police,
                    J-3, Guindy Police Station,
                    Chennai.
                    Crime No.1100/2015                                                  ...Respondent/ Complainant
    
                    PRAYER : Criminal Appeal filed under Section 374(2) of Criminal Procedure
    
                    Code, to set aside the Judgment made in S.C.No.357 of 2015 dated 02.11.2021
    
                    on the file of Learned Sessions Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram, Chennai.
    
    
    
                                  For Appellant(s):               Mr.S.N.Arunkumar
    
                                  For Respondent(s):              Mr.R.Kishore Kumar,
                                                                  Government Advocate (Crl.Side)
    
    
    
    
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                                                                                            CRL.A.No.339 of 2022
    
    
    
    
                                                          JUDGMENT
    

    This Criminal Appeal has been filed challenging the conviction and

    sentence imposed on the appellant in S.C.No.357 of 2015 by judgment dated

    SPONSORED

    02.11.2021 on the file of the Sessions Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram,

    Allikulam, Chennai, whereby the appellant was convicted and sentenced to 10

    years Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs.15,000/- in default to undergo

    Simple Imprisonment for 3 months.

    2. The case of the prosecution is that the marriage between the appellant

    and the deceased Syed Sulthan Beevi was solemnized on 06.06.2004 as per the

    Mohammedan Laws and Customs. Out of wedlock, the couple had two

    daughters and were residing separately at a house in Velachery. From the time

    of marriage, the accused was not attending to any regular work and he did not

    support the family by contributing any income. The accused was mostly in a

    drunken state and harassed the deceased. The accused used to beat the deceased

    and due to the harassment, the deceased often went to her father’s and sister’s

    house to borrow money for her domestic expenses. On 07.04.2015, when the

    accused did not go for work and was at home, there was a quarrel with the

    deceased at around 2.00 p.m. The accused having been drunk, again quarrelled

    with the deceased, asked her to go and die and went to sleep. The deceased

    after bringing her daughters from the school, in view of the harassment and
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    cruelty meted out by the accused, committed suicide by hanging herself with a

    saree.

    3. On receiving the intimation about the death of his daughter, PW1 had

    visited the house of the deceased and lodged the complaint/Ex.P1. PW8/Sub

    Inspector of Police received the complaint and registered the FIR/Ex.P4 under

    Section 174 Cr.P.C. PW8/Sub Inspector of Police visited the place of

    occurrence and prepared the Observation Mahazar/Ex.P5 and Rough

    Sketch/Ex.P6 in the presence of witness/PW5. Thereafter, PW8 sent the body to

    Royapettah Government Hospital for postmortem. The saree/MO1 used to

    commit suicide was recovered by PW8 under Seizure Mahazar/Ex.P7 and then

    recorded the statements of PW1 to PW5. An Inquest was conducted by PW8

    and prepared Inquest Report/Ex.P8. PW6/Doctor examined the body on being

    taken to the hospital and issued Accident Register/Ex.P2. PW7/ Doctor

    conducted the postmortem and issued Post-mortem Certificate/Ex.P3. PW8

    thereafter altered the offence to Section 306 of IPC through the Alteration

    Report/Ex.P10.

    4. The Investigating Officer took up the investigation and arrested the

    accused. On completion of the investigation, he filed a Final Report before the

    IX Metropolitan Magistrate, Saidapet. The learned Magistrate issued summons,

    complied with Section 207 Cr.P.C. and committed the case to the Principal
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    Sessions Judge under Section 209 Cr.P.C. which was made over to the Sessions

    Judge, Mahalir Neethimandram, Allikulam, Chennai.

    5. The trial court took up the case and on the appearance of the accused,

    framed charges under Section 306 IPC. When questioned, the accused pleaded

    not guilty and stood trial. The prosecution in order to prove the charges,

    examined 9 witnesses PW1 to PW9 and marked Exs.P1 to P10. On completion

    of the prosecution evidence, when the accused was questioned under Section

    313 Cr.P.C on the incriminating material available, he denied the same as false

    and also offered an explanation that he had not committed any wrong and

    further, his wife had undergone an operation for Achalasia Cardia treatment,

    due to which she was not able to swallow solid food and she was under

    treatment. She had regularly taken Gelusil and further, she took treatment for

    nearly 8 years to conceive a child.

    6. The accused has examined DW1/Doctor and also marked Exs.D1 to

    D3 to establish that the deceased underwent a surgery and was under treatment.

    7. The trial court on conclusion of the arguments and on analyzing the

    oral and documentary evidence concluded the appellant guilty of the charge and

    convicted him for the offence under Section 306 IPC and imposed the sentence

    as stated supra. Challenging the same, the accused has preferred the above

    Appeal.

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    8. Mr.S.N.Arunkumar, learned counsel for the appellant argued that when

    the ingredients of the offence under Section 306 IPC are not met out, the trial

    court had convicted the appellant merely on assumptions and presumptions.

    When the charge against the appellant is not under Section 498A neither in

    respect of harassment nor dowry demand, the trial court had completely

    proceeded on the presumption that from the evidence it could be concluded that

    the deceased was harassed by the accused by not attending to work properly and

    not contributing to the family which had driven the deceased to commit suicide.

    None of the witnesses have spoken about the instigation of the accused in

    driving the deceased to commit suicide and when even the independent witness/

    PW4 has not spoken about any quarrel or inducement prior to the time of

    occurrence, in the absence of any material, the trial court had erroneously

    convicted the appellant.

    9. By relying on the evidence of DW1 and the documents in D1 to D3,

    the learned counsel contended that when the accused even after offering an

    explanation during questioning under Section 313 Cr.P.C. had also come up

    with the oral and documentary evidence to substantiate that the deceased had

    undergone surgery and was suffering from Achalasia Cardia, due to which the

    deceased had taken the ultimate decision to commit suicide. The trial court

    simply brushed aside the materials. When the death has happened nearly after

    11 years from the date of marriage, even presumption under Section 113-A of
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    the Evidence Act is not available and therefore, when the prosecution has not

    proved the case beyond reasonable doubt, the trial court had erroneously

    convicted the appellant and imposed the sentence against the settled

    proposition.

    10. Per contra, Mr.R.Kishore Kumar, learned Government Advocate

    (Crl.Side) appearing for the State argued that, PW1 to PW3 had deposed that

    the accused had often harassed the deceased and also asked her to go and die, as

    only then he could live peacefully. PW4/independent witness also had spoken

    about the quarrel and fight between the accused and the deceased and the fact

    that he was not attending to work, drunken and was not supporting the family

    had also been spoken to by her. Since the deceased was not able to bear the

    torture and harassment of the accused, she had left the two minor daughters and

    had taken the extreme step of committing suicide, only due to the abetment

    caused by the accused and the trial court has rightly from the evidence

    available, convicted and imposed a sentence which is justified.

    11. Heard the rival submissions of both sides and perused the materials

    available on record.

    12. The appellant and the deceased got married on 06.06.2004 as per the

    Mohammedan Laws and Customs. Out of wedlock, they were blessed with two
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    female children. On 07.04.2015, the deceased had committed suicide by

    hanging in the matrimonial house. The appellant was charged for the offence

    under Section 306 for having abetted the suicide of the deceased.

    13. At this juncture, it is apposite to refer to Section 306 IPC.

    “306. If any person commits suicide, whoever abets the
    commission of such suicide, shall be punished with
    imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend
    to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

    14. As per the above provision, any person who abets the commission of

    suicide shall be punished with the prescribed sentence. In case the death of a

    woman happens within seven years from the date of marriage, then there is a

    presumption as per Section 113-A of the Evidence Act, that the suicide has been

    abetted by the husband. However, in the instant case, the death has occurred

    almost after 11 years of the marriage and therefore, it is to be seen whether the

    prosecution has proved the charge that the appellant had abetted the suicide of

    the deceased.

    15. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Abhinav Mohan Delkar

    vs. State of Maharastra and Others reported in 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1725,

    after referring to several decisions on the aspect of abetment, held as follows:

    “21. It was held that abetment involves the mental process of
    instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing and
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    without a positive act on the part of the accused, in aiding or instigating or
    abetting the deceased to commit suicide, a conviction cannot be sustained.

    22. What comes out essentially from the various decisions herein
    before cited is that, even if there is allegation of constant harassment,
    continued over a long period; to bring in the ingredients of Section 306 read
    with Section 107, still there has to be a proximate prior act to clearly find that
    the suicide was the direct consequence of such continuous harassment, the last
    proximate incident having finally driven the subject to the extreme act of
    taking one’s life. Figuratively, ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’; that
    final event, in a series, that occasioned a larger, sudden impact resulting in
    the unpredictable act of suicide. What drove the victim to that extreme act,
    often depends on individual predilections; but whether it is goaded,
    definitively and demonstrably, by a particular act of another, is the test to find
    mens rea. Merely because the victim was continuously harassed and at one
    point, he or she succumbed to the extreme act of taking his life cannot by itself
    result in finding a positive instigation constituting abetment. Mens rea cannot
    be gleaned merely by what goes on in the mind of the victim.

    23. The victim may have felt that there was no alternative or option,
    but to take his life, because of what another person did or said; which cannot
    lead to a finding of mens rea and resultant abetment on that other person.

    What constitutes mens rea is the intention and purpose of the alleged
    perpetrator as discernible from the conscious acts or words and the attendant
    circumstances, which in all probability could lead to such an end. The real
    intention of the accused and whether he intended by his action to at least
    possibly drive the victim to suicide, is the sure test. Did the thought of goading
    the victim to suicide occur in the mind of the accused or whether it can be
    inferred from the facts and circumstances arising in the case, as the true test
    of mens rea would depend on the facts of each case. The social status, the
    community setting, the relationship between the parties and other myriad
    factors would distinguish one case from another. However harsh or severe the
    harassment, unless there is a conscious deliberate intention, mens rea, to drive
    another person to suicidal death, there cannot be a finding of abetment under
    Section 306.

    24. We have already seen that even a rebuke to “go, kill yourself”;

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    often a rustic expression against distasteful conduct, cannot by itself be found
    to have the ingredients to charge an offence of abetment to suicide. There is
    no uniformity in how different individuals respond and react under pressure.
    Many stand up, some fight back, a few runaway and certain people crumble
    and at times take the extreme step of suicide. To put the blame on the pressure
    imposed and the person responsible for it, at all times, without something
    more to clearly discern an intention, would not be the proper application of
    the penal provisions under Section 306.”

    16. The Hon’ble Supreme Court also in the case of Prakash and Others

    vs. State of Maharastra and Another reported in 2024 SCC OnLine SC 3835,

    after elaborately considering Section 306 of IPC held that to bring a charge

    under Section 306 of IPC, the act of abetment would require the positive act of

    instigating or intentionally aiding another person to commit suicide. Without

    such mens rea on the part of the accused person being apparent on the face of

    record, the charge under the aforesaid section cannot be sustained. Further

    abetment also requires some direct or indirect act on the part of the accused

    person, which led the deceased to have no other option but to commit suicide.

    “13. Section 306 of the IPC has two basic ingredients-first, an act of
    suicide by one person and second, the abetment to the said act by another
    person(s). In order to sustain a charge under Section 306 of the IPC, it must
    necessarily be proved that the accused person has contributed to the suicide
    by the deceased by some direct or indirect act. To prove such contribution or
    involvement, one of the three conditions outlined in Section 107 of the IPC has
    to be satisfied.

    14. Section 306 read with Section 107 of IPC, has been interpreted,
    time and again, and its principles are well-established. To attract the offence
    of abetment to suicide, it is important to establish proof of direct or indirect

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    acts of instigation or incitement of suicide by the accused, which must be in
    close proximity to the commission of suicide by the deceased. Such instigation
    or incitement should reveal a clear mens rea to abet the commission of suicide
    and should put the victim in such a position that he/she would have no other
    option but to commit suicide.

    15. The law on abetment has been crystallised by a plethora of
    decisions of this Court. Abetment involves a mental process of instigating or
    intentionally aiding another person to do a particular thing. To bring a charge
    under Section 306 of the IPC, the act of abetment would require the positive
    act of instigating or intentionally aiding another person to commit suicide.
    Without such mens rea on the part of the accused person being apparent from
    the face of the record, a charge under the aforesaid Section cannot be
    sustained. Abetment also requires an active act, direct or indirect, on the part
    of the accused person which left the deceased with no other option but to
    commit suicide.”

    17. Again the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Geetha vs. State of

    Karnataka reported in 2025 SCC OnLine SC 1938, considered the issue

    whether even assuming that physical blows were administered, will that per se

    constitute abetment to suicide, had held that quarrels occur in everyday life and

    unless there is an instigation on the part of the appellant to such an extent that

    the victim was left with no other option but to commit suicide, the conviction

    cannot be imposed for a charge under Section 306 IPC.

    “18. Even if we were to assume that physical blows were administered,
    will that per se constitute abetment to suicide? This Court in a case where the
    accused told the deceased “go and die” and when thereafter, the deceased
    committed suicide, absolved the accused of the charge under Section 306 by
    holding as under:

    “3. …Those words are casual nature which are often

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    employed in the heat of the moment between quarrelling people.
    Nothing serious is expected to follow thereafter. The said act
    does not reflect the requisite mens rea on the assumption that
    these words would be carried out in all events. …”
    [Swamy Prahaladdas v. State of M.P., 1995 Supp (3) SCC
    438]

    19. This Court in Madan Mohan Singh v. State of Gujarat, (2010) 8 SCC
    628, held that in order to bring out an offence under Section 306 IPC specific
    abetment as contemplated by Section 107 IPC on the part of the accused with an
    intention to bring about the suicide of the person concerned as a result of that
    abetment is required. It was further held that the intention of the accused to aid
    or to instigate or to abet the deceased to commit suicide is a must for attracting
    Section 306.

    20. In Amalendu Pal alias Jhantu v. State of West Bengal, (2010) 1 SCC
    707, this Court held that the harassment meted out to the victim should have left
    the victim with no other alternative but to put an end to his/her life.

    21. In M. Mohan v. State, (2011) 3 SCC 626, this Court followed the
    dictum in Ramesh Kumar v. State of Chhattisgarh, (2001) 9 SCC 618, wherein it
    was held as under:

    “41. This Court in SCC para 20 of Ramesh Kumar has
    examined different shades of the meaning of “instigation”. Para
    20 reads as under: (SCC p. 629)

    “20. Instigation is to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite
    or encourage to do ‘an act’. To satisfy the requirement of
    instigation though it is not necessary that actual words must be
    used to that effect or what constitutes instigation must
    necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequence. Yet
    a reasonable certainty to incite the consequence must be capable
    of being spelt out. The present one is not a case where the
    accused had by his acts or omission or by a continued course of
    conduct created such circumstances that the deceased was left
    with no other option except to commit suicide in which case an
    instigation may have been inferred. A word uttered in the fit of
    anger or emotion without intending the consequences to actually
    follow cannot be said to be instigation.”

    In the said case this Court came to the conclusion that
    there is no evidence and material available on record wherefrom
    an inference of the appellant-accused having abetted commission
    of suicide by Seema (the appellant’s wife therein) may necessarily
    be drawn.”
    Thereafter, this Court in Mohan (supra) held:—
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    45. The intention of the legislature and the ratio of the
    cases decided by this Court are clear that in order to convict a
    person under Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea to
    commit the offence. It also requires an active act or direct act
    which led the deceased to commit suicide seeing no option and
    this act must have been intended to push the deceased into such a
    position that he/she committed suicide.”

    22. This Court in Mahendra Awase v. The State of Madhya Pradesh,
    2025 INSC 76, after analyzing the long line of precedents held as under:—
    “18. As has been held hereinabove, to satisfy the
    requirement of instigation the accused by his act or omission or
    by a continued course of conduct should have created such
    circumstances that the deceased was left with no other option
    except to commit suicide. It was also held that a word uttered in
    a fit of anger and emotion without intending the consequences to
    actually follow cannot be said to be instigation.”

    23. Applying the tests laid down hereinabove, we are not able to persuade
    ourselves to hold that when the appellant’s family and the victim’s family had
    heated exchanges, there was any intention to abet or to cause any member of
    either family to take their own life. These quarrels occur in everyday life, and on
    facts we are not able to conclude that there was an instigation on the part of the
    appellant to such an extent that the victim was left with no other option but to
    commit suicide.”

    18. From the aforesaid decisions, it emerges that there should be a clear

    mens rea on the part of the accused in driving the deceased to commit suicide.

    One of the main ingredients to constitute an abetment of suicide under Section

    306 is some positive act direct or indirect on the part of the accused in

    contributing to the suicide of deceased. Even an allegation of continuous

    harassment alone cannot constitute abetment and there should be a proximate

    prior act or live link from the instigation and the suicide committed. A mere

    allegation of harassment in the absence of any proximate link to the occurrence

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    on the part of the accused which led or compelled the person to commit suicide,

    would not constitute an offence under Section 306.

    19. Keeping the above legal principles in mind, we would analyse the

    facts of the present case. PW1/father of the deceased had deposed that the

    appellant and the deceased were living separately in Velachery and they had

    two female children. The accused did not go to work properly, drunk, used to

    often quarrel with the deceased and beat her. There had been some quarrel

    earlier in respect of the deceased for not having a child and later for having a

    female child. Often the accused asked the deceased to go and die, as only then

    he could live peacefully. But, however, PW1 usually pacified his daughter.

    20. PW2/brother of the deceased had deposed that the accused was doing

    plumbing work and residing in Velachery. He was not going to work properly,

    drink and was harassing the deceased. Only after eight years, a child was born.

    The accused used to beat the deceased and around one week prior to the death,

    the accused was demanding money from the deceased. On receipt of the

    information that her sister died, he went to the house and found her sister dead.

    21. PW3/sister of the deceased had deposed that the accused regularly

    quarrelled with the deceased after consuming liquor. Even one week prior to

    the death, there was a quarrel in which the accused had injured the deceased and
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    the deceased had come to her house and informed her about the incident. On

    07.04.2015, she received the information that her sister died and she went to the

    accused house. The neighbours informed that there was a quarrel between the

    husband and wife. In the cross examination, PW3 admitted that the deceased

    underwent abortion for three times and since there were certain health issues,

    for the purpose of providing treatment, they had made the deceased stay back in

    their house. Prior to one week on the date of occurrence, there had been a

    quarrel between the husband and wife.

    22. PW4/independent witness, who is the owner of the house where the

    accused and the deceased resided, had deposed that the husband and wife

    quarrelled regularly and specifically, the accused would often quarrel after

    drinking. On the date of occurrence, all of a sudden, she heard a sound from the

    accused calling, she went and found that the deceased committed suicide by

    hanging. The deceased was normal on the date of occurrence. She is not aware

    as to what happened between them and she is also not aware of the reason why

    the deceased had committed suicide.

    23. PW6/Doctor had deposed that he had examined the body of the

    deceased when brought to the hospital and issued Accident Register/Ex.P2 and

    no injury or any adverse information was noted in the Accident Register.

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    24. PW7/Doctor had deposed that he conducted the postmortem and

    issued Postmortem Certificate/Ex.P3. He deposed that the report does not reveal

    about any adverse inference made in the body of the deceased. The Postmortem

    Certificate/Ex.P3 also states that there was no external or internal injuries seen

    anywhere in the body of the deceased.

    25. From the above evidences on record, there is no material to prove or

    establish the role of the accused in driving the deceased to commit suicide with

    an intention. Moreover, none of these evidences suggest that there had been

    any live link between the harassment as alleged to have been committed by the

    appellant, prior in point of time which is at least one week earlier and the

    suicide committed by the deceased.

    26. The accused gave an explanation when he was questioned under

    Section 313 Cr.P.C, about the possible reason for his wife to commit suicide.

    He had explained that since she had undergone a major surgery, she was not

    able to take solid food and she was suffering continuously. Further, she had

    taken continuous treatment for nearly 8 years for conceiving. To substantiate the

    same, the defence has examined DW1/Doctor who had deposed that the

    deceased had Achalasia Cardia problem, due to which she was not able to

    swallow solid food and she has undergone a major surgery. The treatment

    details were filed as Exs.D1 to D3. When the accused, who was present in the

    house at the time of the occurrence had come out with an explanation, bringing
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    materials to establish that the health of the deceased was not proper and due to

    which the deceased had taken extreme step to commit suicide, which is

    plausible, the prosecution had failed to bring any evidences to prove that the

    accused had abetted the deceased to commit suicide for the charge under

    Section 306 IPC. Moreover, the evidence on the side of accused is considered

    by the evidence of PW3 cross examination.

    27. The evidence on record does not establish any direct link between the

    role of the accused in the alleged harassment by drinking and quarrelling and

    the deceased’s decision to commit suicide. It is not proved that due to

    abetment of the accused, the deceased was left with no other option but to

    commit suicide.

    28. The trial court primarily relied on the evidence of PW1 to PW3 to

    hold that the accused had harassed the deceased by habitually being in a

    drunken state and quarrelling with her, including acts of physical assault. The

    trial court concluded that this harassment is sufficient enough for the deceased

    to make a decision to commit suicide and therefore, it would constitute

    abetment under Section 306 IPC. Further, the trial court concluded that from the

    independent witness/PW4, the presence of the accused in the house at the time

    of occurrence was established and therefore, the onus was on the accused to

    explain as to what made the deceased to commit suicide. The trial court had
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    simply ignored the defence witness and the materials filed, which was the

    explanation brought in by the accused as to the cause of suicide committed by

    the deceased.

    29. In the absence of any mens rea proved on the part of the accused in

    instigating the deceased to commit suicide and due to such an abetment, the

    deceased was left with no other option except to commit suicide, the charge

    under Section 306 IPC as against the appellant cannot be sustained. On

    reappraisal of the entire facts and materials on record, this Court finds that the

    findings arrived at by the trial court suffer from serious perversity and illegality.

    In view of the above, the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court

    cannot be sustained and needs to be interfered with.

    30. Accordingly, the conviction and sentence imposed on the appellant in

    S.C.No.357 of 2015 dated 02.11.2021 by the learned Sessions Judge, Mahalir

    Neethimandram, Chennai, is set aside and the appellant is acquitted from all the

    charges. The bail bond furnished, if any, shall stand cancelled. The fine amount

    paid, if any, shall be refunded. However the victim compensation provided to

    the minor children of the deceased is not disturbed.

    24.02.2026
    Index: Yes
    Speaking order
    Neutral Citation: Yes
    pam
    __________
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    https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 13/03/2026 03:01:42 pm )
    CRL.A.No.339 of 2022

    To

    1.The Sessions Judge,
    Mahalir Neethimandram,
    Allikulam, Chennai.

    2.The Inspector of Police,
    J-3, Guindy Police Station,
    Chennai.

    Crime No.1100/2015

    __________
    Page18 of 19
    https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 13/03/2026 03:01:42 pm )
    CRL.A.No.339 of 2022

    G.ARUL MURUGAN, J.

    pam

    CRL.A.No.339 of 2022

    24.02.2026

    __________
    Page19 of 19
    https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis ( Uploaded on: 13/03/2026 03:01:42 pm )



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