Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 22: High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed the FIR registered against Assistant Professor (Political Science) Rajnesh Sharma, who was booked by the police in abetment to suicide case of a student.
After hearing both the sides, Justice Rahul Bharti observed, “this court comes across with a salient aspect that the registration of the FIR on the basis of the suicide note is actually not accompanied with a complaint by a family member of the deceased Sanjay Kumar that prior to committing suicide by him deceased had shared his distress against the petitioner”.
“This points out to the fact that even the family members of the deceased Sanjay Kumar were caught unaware about the mind-state of the deceased Sanjay Kumar. Just because Sanjay Kumar left a suicide note bearing a reference to the petitioner cannot mean that the petitioner is to be left to suffer self-condemnation for all time to come by finding himself implicated in a criminal case originating on the basis of FIR in question”, High Court said.
“If this court was to test the soundness of the registration of the FIR against the petitioner by purported suicide note of the deceased Sanjay Kumar fingering towards the petitioner as a teacher making the deceased Sanjay Kumar to end his life for unstated/unspelled act of omission or commission on the part of the petitioner, then by the same run of logic if the present petitioner, being frustrated by the fact of registration of FIR against him and his consequent suspension from the service and purported disrepute brought upon him by his implication in the FIR, was to end his life then would that act of suicide on the part of the petitioner should result in booking of the Police, the college administration or for that matter the family of the deceased Sanjay Kumar”, High Court said.
“This court finds it is a fit case wherein the jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ought to be exercised to quash the FIR No. 110/2022. Accordingly, this court holds FIR No. 110/2022 registered by the Police Station, Kathua against the petitioner as an abuse of process of law without having any basis to book the petitioner”, Justice Rahul Bharti said.