3 min readMumbaiJun 4, 2026 05:42 PM IST The Bombay High Court has quashed an FIR registered against six people, holding that mere demands for loan repayment cannot be a proximate cause of abetment of suicide in the absence of wilful instigation or conspiracy. The court noted that while the police had registered a case alleging that a retired teacher killed himself by consuming poison because of harassment over loan repayments, the postmortem report and chemical analysis showed that he had died of a heart attack and that no poison was detected in his body. Justice Ranjitsinha R Bhonsale, sitting at the Kolhapur circuit bench, passed a ruling last month on an application filed by six persons seeking the quashing of a 2022 FIR registered against them under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 306 (abetment of suicide) and subsequent proceedings pending before a magistrate’s court. Advocate Rupesh Bobade, appearing for the six people, argued that no proximate cause linked them to any act of instigation or abetment. Despite this, “shockingly and with mala fide intent”, …