New Delhi: Holding that the surviving partner in a mutual suicide pact has to be punished for abetment, Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld conviction of boyfriend of Telugu actress Pratyusha in her death case in 2002 as both of them had consumed poison together but he survived. Dismissing his plea challenging the conviction, the court directed G Siddhartha Reddy, to surrender within four weeks.A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and Manmohan said a suicide pact involves mutual encouragement and reciprocal commitment to die together and the survivor’s presence and participation acts as a direct catalyst for the deceased’s actions. “It is pertinent to mention that abetting as defined under Section 107 IPC is not limited to physical act of supplying means to commit suicide. Accordingly, any psychological assurance or instigation, as long as the same is intentional and directly related to the commission of offence, also constitutes abetment,” it said.Writing the judgement for the bench, Justice Manmohan said it is the reciprocal commitment of each party to commit suicide which provides necessary impetus/support to the other to go through with the act.“In a suicide pact, it is implicit that each participant knows the intent of the other to commit the act knowing that their withdrawal from the pact will likely deter the other. Each party’s resolve to commit the act is, therefore, reinforced and strengthened due to the participation of the other party. Suicide in a suicide pact is conditional upon mutual participation of the other. In other words, if not for the active participation of both the parties, the act would not occur,” he saidHolding him guilty under Section 107 of IPC, the court said “His participation directly facilitated the deceased’s suicide. Notably, it is not his defence that the deceased was the dominant personality who pressured him into the pact. His culpability therefore stands established”.In 2011, the Andhra Pradesh High Court reduced the jail sentence of G Siddhartha Reddy to two years from the five years earlier awarded by trial court.
