Supreme Court Ruling: When Is a Boss Liable for an Employee's Suicide Due to Work Pressure?

Please find attached the latest judgment of the Honorable Supreme Court of India dated 17th May 2018, confirming that a boss or senior shall not be held guilty if an employee commits suicide due to work pressure unless it qualifies under Section 306 of the IPC.

Circumstances in this particular case were such that blame could not fall on the boss for work pressure. But bosses must remember that this ruling does not give blanket clearance for putting employees under sustained pressure all the time. There must be an urgency and importance of the work.

In my opinion, the judgment has come as a relief from other adverse judgments in lower courts. Bosses need to be humane and keep welfare in mind.

This case citation is not in line with the topic "Boss is not guilty if employee commits suicide due to work pressure."

Since the deceased never brought the allegations (threat, stop of increment, hold-up salary, mental torture, working beyond the working hours, asking for gratification, etc.) when he was alive, there was no suicide note to prove the allegations. The allegations made by the wife of the deceased have no role over the allegations, and if these allegations were reported earlier to the police before the death of the person, they would have a substantial role in the case.