The High Court Bench made the observation while hearing a case about a youth ending his life after a woman had refused to marry him. Justice Gurbir Singh granted anticipatory bail to the woman who had been booked on March 16 for abetment of suicide under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code at a police station in Ludhiana.

After hearing the parties and going through the case record, including the suicide note, Justice Singh stated that the petitioner and the youth had an intimate relationship, which later grew strained. The woman’s family had made an application to the police in that regard, and they had reached a compromise on February 27. “It means February 27 onwards and even prior to that, there was no intimacy left between the petitioner and now-deceased Rahul. No overt act thereafter has been attributed to the petitioner. She is an unmarried girl, and no recovery is to be made from her. Custodial interrogation of the petitioner is not at all necessary,” Justice Singh said.

Referring to the suicide note, Justice Gurbir Singh observed it could not be said that the petitioner ever came in contact with the youngster after February 27. The gravity of the offence was undoubtedly one of the factors in granting or denying the concession of anticipatory bail. But it was debatable whether, in the instant case, any role on the petitioner’s part resulted in suicide.

Justice Gurbir Singh stated that since the custodial interrogation of the petitioner was not necessary and her being an unmarried girl, without discussing the merits of the case, the present petition was allowed.