New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea seeking framing of guidelines to deal with incidents of suicide committed by married men subjected to domestic violence, saying that the petitioner is portraying a one-sided picture.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta asked the petitioner’s counsel, “Do you expect us to believe that these husbands had died due to the harassment of the wives.....certainly mistaken….”. The petitioner also sought a direction for the constitution of a “National Commission for Men” to safeguard men’s interests.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that there is no provision or avenue where one can vent before taking the extreme step. Justice Kant said, “You want to have an association of people who want to commit suicide in future…”.
“There is an individual case, where somebody is actually harassed by the wife or leads to committing suicide. Whomsoever are the victims of the crime, his family members can always file a case, prosecute the person…..”, said Justice Kant, while expressing disinclination to consider the matter. The counsel urged the court to consider the data given by the government, which has been included in the petition. The bench said it does not say that the harassment by the wife and could be a family problem may be with the brother or father.
The bench told the counsel that he wants to portray a one-sided picture and queried, “Can you give us the data of young girls dying in one year, two years and three years of their marriage?” The counsel said it is not disputing that but it is happening both ways.
The bench emphasised that nobody wants to commit suicide, it depends on the facts of an individual case. The counsel urged the court to take a sympathetic view in the matter and pointed out that the suicide rate is completely glaring. Justice Kant said, “There is no question of misplaced sympathy for anyone…you want to project a one-sided picture, which we are not inclined to accept”. After hearing submissions, the bench dismissed the petition as withdrawn.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari, citing the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data published in 2021 on accidental deaths in India, which said 1,64,033 people died by suicide across the country that year. The plea said that out of these 81,063 were married men, while 28,680 were married women.
“Around 33.2 per cent of men ended their lives because of family problems and 4.8 per cent due to marriage-related issues in the year 2021. In this year, a total of 1,18,979 men committed suicide, which is about 72 per cent, and a total of 45,026 women committed suicide, which is about 27 per cent,” the plea said while citing the NCRB data.
