Maharashtra minister's PA gets bail in wife suicide abetment case, court says no specific intent

Mumbai, Feb 24 (PT) Granting bail to a Maharashtra minister's personal assistant (PA), arrested for abetting the suicide of his dentist wife, a court in Mumbai has held that there is no evidence of a direct role or specific intent by the accused to drive the deceased to take her own life.

Anant Garje, the PA of minister Pankaja Munde, was arrested in November last year.

The court said it is evident from the record of the case that the "deceased was mentally disturbed having known the fact of extra marital affair of her husband", her reaction appeared "disproportionate to a common life stressor".

Additional sessions judge Rupali Pawar had granted bail to Garje on Monday.

In the reasoned order, made available on Tuesday, the court noted for abetment "there must be a clear intention to push the deceased to a point where he/she has no option but to end his/her life".

"If the accused's actions were negligent, rude or even harassing but lacked the specific intent to cause the death, he cannot be said to have abetted the commission of suicide," it said.

The judge emphasised that the Supreme Court has frequently cited that there must be a direct and proximate link between the alleged provocation and the act of suicide.

"General matrimonial discord does not automatically qualify as legal abetment unless it reaches a level of systematic torture intended to cause death," the order stated.

It highlighted that if the deceased was exceptionally sensitive and took his/her life due to a trivial disagreement, the accused cannot be blamed.

Garje's wife Gauri Palve, 28, hanged herself in her flat at Worli in central Mumbai on November 22, allegedly due to a domestic dispute, around nine months after their marriage.

She had been working as a dentist in the civic-run KEM Hospital.

Based on a complaint filed by Palve's father, the police had registered a case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on charges of abetment of suicide, criminal intimidation, and voluntarily causing hurt, among others, leading to Garje's arrest on November 24, 2025. Palve's family alleged that she took the extreme step due to torture and harassment by Garje.

Garje, in his plea filed through advocate Mangesh Deshmukh, stated that the allegations against him were "vague', and that he was "absolutely innocent" and falsely implicated.

Police had opposed his plea, saying that on November 22, 2025, the accused threatened to commit suicide to hide his own mistakes and recorded a voice clip to frame his wife.

He sent this audio clip to her, and out of fear that he would tarnish her social image by sending it to others, his wife was driven to end her life, police said.

The court hearing both sides, and perusal of record, noted that it is evident that the deceased was mentally disturbed having known the fact of extra marital affair of her husband.

"The record of the case nowhere reveals that the applicant had requisite mens rea for the commission of suicide of the deceased or he ever had instigated, aided or conspired for the commission of the suicide by the deceased," the court said.

It asserted that there is no evidence of proximity between the alleged provocation and the act of suicide.

"It also transpires from the record that the applicant did not play a direct role in the decision making of the deceased for committing the suicide," the court said.

On the contrary, the sessions judge, emphasised that as per the case details "the deceased reacted disproportionately to a common life stressor".

Therefore, in the given facts of the case, Garje cannot be said to have abetted his wife's suicide.

With the chargesheet already filed, the court found that continued custodial interrogation was no longer necessary and granted him bail. PTI AVI NP