In Brief
M. Vijayakumar was convicted of abetting suicide (Section 306, IPC) after being acquitted of kidnapping and wrongful confinement charges. The High Court confirmed the conviction under Section 306, reasoning that he failed to explain how the deceased entered a tailor shop where he later died. The Supreme Court allowed his appeal, holding that conviction for abetment requires proof of mens rea and a direct instigating act—neither established here. The acquittal on kidnapping charges made a suicide abetment conviction logically untenable. Additionally, the Court found that Section 106 of the Evidence Act was wrongly applied to shift the burden to the appellant; it cannot relieve the prosecution of proving its case. The appellant was acquitted of all charges.
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