' KHALID MEHMOOD, J.---Ret. Brig. Ijaz Akbar and Ret. Brig. Ihsan Khattak petitioners have filed Criminal Miscellaneous (Q) Petition No,17 of 2012 and Sohrab Khan petitioner has filed Criminal Miscellaneous (Q) Petition No,19 of 2012 under section 561-A, Cr.P.C. For quashment of case F.I.R.
No,251 dated 30-5-2012 registered under section 322/34, P.P.C. At Police Station City. As both the petitions have arisen out of one F.I.R., therefore, these are proposed to be disposed of by this single judgment.
2. Briefly stated, as per prosecution version, the facts of the case are that Muhammad Rafique respondent No,2 has lodged a petition with the S.H.O. Concerned alleging therein that his son Abdul Mobeen, who was studying in 7th class in Pakistan International Public School Mandian Abbotabad has committed suicide on 28-5-2012 on account of bad behaviour/attitude of boarding staff of the school. On this, a case, vide F.I.R. No,251 dated 30-5-2012 under section 322/34, P.P.C. Was registered at Police-Station City against the petitioners.
3. Learned counsel for petitioners argued that there is nothing on record to suggest that the petitioners did any illegal act, which caused the death of the student, so section of law is not applicable in the case. It was argued that deceased died at his home in presence of his parents- who made a report vide Mad No,25 dated 28-5-2012 that the death was just an accident and subsequent F.I.R. Registered by the complainant shows that the petitioners have been charged after due consultation and deliberation with mala fide intention only to grab the money. It was contended that investigation and proceedings against the petitioners would amount to harassm ent and abuse of the process of the Court. It was further argued that name of the person from whose behaviour the deceased allegedly became annoyed has not been mentioned in the letter. It was also argued that in the impugned letter it is clearly mentioned that deceased developed hatred hostel life and he has great love and affection with his parents and family- life.
All the school staff and students appreciated the mode of school study. No one has supported the version of the prosecution. He also referred to the statements of prosecution coupled with postmortem report, which totally negate the prosecution story. He vehemently argued that no illegal act has been attributed to the petitioners. It was concluded that it is clear from the letter of deceased as well as from the statement of his mother that the cause of suicide is only that the deceased did not want hostel life.
4. On the other hand, learned counsel for State assisted by counsel for the complainant opposed the petition by contending that investigation in the case is at the initial stage and the matter is yet to be probed into by the local police. The report of FSL is still awaited. It was argued that there existed strong circumstances, as were disclosed by the deceased in his letters and diary, from which it transpired that due to maltreatment of petitioners deceased was compelled to commit suicide are the facts to be probed by the local police.
5. Arguments of learned counsel for the parties have been heard at great length and the record of the case has been gone through with their valuable assistance.
6. In the light of arguments advanced by learned counsel for the parties, the following questions have been formulated:-
(1) Whether the petitioners can be held guilty for the alleged act of the deceased / suicide?
(2) Whither the prosecution has brought any evidence on record from which it transpires that petitioners have committed illegal act, which caused the death of the deceased?
7. A perusal of initial report registered vide Mad No,25 as well as the subsequent application moved by the complainant culminated into present F.I.R. And the letter allegedly written by the deceased regarding bad behaviour of boarding staff of the school would show that none was charged by name in the letter. In the initial, report nor in the subsequent report, it transpires that from whose conduct and what type of behaviour of the petitioners, the deceased became annoyed and compelled to commit suicide. The plea of complainant taken in the initial report clearly contradicts the stance taken through the subsequent application culminated into the present F.I.R. It appears that Abdul Mobeen deceased, a student of 7th Class, was compelled by the parents to stay in the boarding house for the purpose of better achievement of education but be being minor fed up from the boarding life and committed suicide on his own.
8. Without touching the legal impact of first and second reports lodged by the complainant and that of the Medico-legal Report, waiting receipt of FSL report and other aspects of the case, the main and most important feature of the case is that the complainant alleged the cause of suicide of deceased is the illegal act of the petitioners.
9. There is no denial, that the death of minor deceased is allegedly a suicide. In this respect, the letters recovered by the prosecution have been made the basis for enrobing the petitioners in the present case. In those letters the deceased has categorically mentioned that he is committing the suicide on the ground that he did not want to live in the hostel. In one letter, he sketched a hostel and crossed the same. Whereas - the family home is also sketched and has been shown in the heart. In the last letter, which was allegedly recovered from the PTC phone lying in a room where after the suicide has allegedly been committed, in that letter it is clearly transpired that the deceased has committed the suicide because he did not want to live in the hostel.
10. So far other letters are concerned on which the prosecution based that English teacher has recovered a photograph of his mother lying in the pocket; after checking the same, it was again put into deceased's pocket. Thereafter he was beaten by the said English teacher. Through in the said letter reason for giving beating was mentioned that instead of English he spoke in Urdu. This was the only base for enroping the petitioners in the present case but in that letter dated 16-4-2012, no time and place has been mentioned whereas in another letter he apprised the way of teaching of the school and improving his study due to the methodology of teaching in the school. It is also pertinent to note that the prosecution has recorded statements of school staff as well as numerous students of the same class of the deceased and other students, who supported the sympathetic, fair, polite conduct of the petitioners and mode of teaching of the institution. The mother of the deceased had categorically stated that the deceased was not happy in the hostel life and he was reluctant to leave the home and to go to the hostel.
11. In the entire investigation and the record collected by the prosecution it is nowhere mentioned that the petitioners have committed any illegal act, which could be based for the cause of the death of deceased.
12. The suicide is a state of mind, which developed due to the circumstances, conduct behaviour of the society especially due to behaviour of one's nearer thick and thin. It has also been brought on record that the deceased has developed so love and affection with his mother that he was carrying her photograph in his pocket even during school timings. This fact has been disclosed in one of the letters of the deceased that in the class room said picture was recovered by the teacher from his pocket.
13. In fact, it was a psychological case of the minor student, who had developed acute love and affection with his family especially with his mother. He could not tolerate to live apart from the family, which adversely affected the mind of the deceased and especially on the eventful day when he was compelled by his mother, as per her statement, who asked him to join the hostel, just after that the deceased left the last letter on P.T.C.L. Phone and committed the suicide.
14. It is also on record that prior to the lodging of the F.LR., the complainant or any family member of the deceased had never complained against any teacher or the school administration regarding any illegal act or harassm ent to the deceased. Even on the day of occurrence, the petitioners were not charged by the complainant and the incident was declared as accidental one.
15. It seems that the parents had not even assessed the temperament, psychological aptitude and the extreme hatred developed against the hostel life, which caused the extreme reaction of deceased in the shape of present occurrence.
16. Admittedly, Abdul Mobeen deceased was a student of 7th class in Pakistan International Public School Mandian Abbotabad as a boarder. He had allegedly committed the suicide at home on 27- 5-2012 at 3-30 through strangulation by a cloth thrown loosely over the shoulders and the matter was initially reported vide Mad No,25 by Muhammad Rafique complainant wherein he categorically stated that his son namely Abdul Mobeen aged about 12/13 years, who was student of 7th class in PIPS Mandian was annoyed over his staying at the hostel, had come to home on 26-5-2012 due to Sunday vacation. On the eventful day, her wife informed him that Abdul Mobeen had hit the wall due to fall from the roof and as a result he died on the spot. He declared the same as an accidental affair and charged none. However, on 28-8-2012 the complainant moved an application accompanying a letter allegedly written by the deceased and asserted that deceased committed the suicide due to bad behaviour of the boarding staff of the school and requested for registration of case against the authorities of the school. On the basis of said application, impugned case/F.I.R. Was registered against the petitioners.
17. In view of all the above stated facts, I am convinced that the occurrence is an individual act, which is not the result of re-action of any illegal act of the petitioners and was caused due to the state of mind of the deceased, which was developed due to the circumstances created against the will of the deceased. No case is made out against the petitioners as section 321, P.P.C. Does not attract the ingredients laid down therein to involve the petitioners for the act of deceased. No illegal act could be said to have been committed by the petitioners, on the basis of facts admitted and patent on record, and in such circumstances allowing the prosecution or investigating agency to continue with the investigation would amount to abuse the process of law.
18. The High Court can exercise its inherent powers under section 561-A, Cr.P.C. To prevent the abuse of process of law 'and to advance the interest of justice as well as to protect the rights of the citizens guaranteed by law and the Constitution.
19. In the light of what has been discussed-above, both the petitions are allowed and case registered vide impugned F.I.R. No,251, dated 30-5-2012 under section 322/34, P.P.C. At Police Station City is hereby quashed.