NEUTRAL CITATION
R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION NO. 18804 of 2017
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SABIRBHAI ALIBHAI PATEL & 4 other(s)
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & 1 other(s)
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Appearance:
MR IMRAN H PATHAN(3478) for the Applicant(s) No. 1,2,3,4,5
HCLS COMMITTEE(4998) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MR. HARDIK C THAKKAR(7133) for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MR DHAWAN JAYSWAL, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP N. BHATT
Date : 08/08/2023
ORAL ORDER
1. The present application is filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (`Code' for short) praying to quash and set aside the FIR registered as C.R.No.I-22 of 2017 with Mahila Police Station, Bharuch under the provisions of Sections 498(A), 323, 504, 506(2) and 114 of Indian Penal Code.
2. The facts of the case of the present applicants are as under:-
2.1 The applicants state that the impugned FIR came to be filed by the complainant stating that she got Page 1 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined married with the applicant on 10.5.2015 at Surat and after the marriage, she started residing with her in-laws in a joint family; that disputes arose between them when the complainant came to know about the illicit relation of the applicant no.1 and the applicants caused physical and mental harassment; that the applicant nos.2 and 3 used to quarrel with the respondent no.2-complainant on small issues and used to treat her with cruelty; applicant no.4 also was provoking the husband and mother-in-law with regard to household work and thereby caused mental and physical torture; that the applicant no.5 was also taunting her and thereby caused mental harassment to her; it is this complaint which is sought to be quashed by way of this application.
3. Heard learned advocates for the parties. 3.1 Learned advocate for the applicants submitted that the FIR is filed after a delay of almost eleven months. There is no specific allegation regarding any sort of demand raised by the applicants and no other particulars are given. He has submitted that the allegations made in the present FIR are general in nature and it is filed Page 2 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined with an oblique motive to exert pressure on the applicants. He submitted that the applicant no.1 is the husband, applicant nos.2 and 3 are the mother-in-law and father-in-law of the complainant and the applicant no.4 is the married sister-in-law of the complainant who is residing separately in Bharuch and applicant no.5 is the brother-in-law. He has further submitted that there is no specific allegation against any of the applicants in the FIR and the respondent no.2 was making various expensive demands and therefore because of disputes and differences between the applicant no.1 and the respondent no.2-complainant, she herself left the matrimonial house and started residing with her parents before more than eleven months of filing of the FIR. He, therefore, submitted that there is nothing to constitute an offence under the provisions invoked in the impugned complaint.
3.2 In support of his submission he has placed reliance in the case of Preeti Gupta & Anr. V/s. State of Jharkhand & Anr., reported in (2017) 7 SCC 667 and submitted that this is nothing but abuse of the process of law and therefore the impugned FIR is required to be Page 3 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined quashed and set aside.
4. Per contra, learned APP and learned advocate for the respondent no.2-complainant has submitted that considering the tenor of the FIR, prima facie, the ingredients of Sections 498A, 323, 504, 506(2) and 114 of Indian Penal Code are made out. He has further submitted that considering the short span of marriage, the Court has to take into consideration the allegations made in the FIR which constitute the offences against the present applicants. He, therefore, submitted that there is no case made out to interfere by exercising powers under Section 482 of the Code as it is a case for trial.
5. I have considered the rival submissions of the parties, perused the FIR and other documents produced on record. It transpires that there are marital relations between the complainant and the applicant no.1 i.e. they are wife and husband and their marriage span is of more than one year; that the marriage is solemnized on 10.5.2015 and she left her matrimonial house on 16.5.2016; that no specific incident is stated in the FIR Page 4 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined which is the primary specific requirement of the sections invoked by the complainant. Moreover, the entire family members are implicated by the complainant and though the sister-in-law-applicant no.4 herein was staying separately at Bharuch at that time, she is also implicated in the complaint.
During the course of hearing, it is pointed out that the trial before the learned trial Court has proceeded, concluded and the applicant no.1 herein-husband of the complainant, against whom this application was permitted to be withdrawn vide order dated 22.8.2017, has been acquitted after full fledged trial. It is further pointed out, after the order of withdrawal was passed by this Court on 22.8.2017, the order dated 12.9.2017 was passed by the learned trial Court continuing the proceedings for the applicant no.1 and concluding the proceedings for applicant nos.2 to 5. It seems that it is an inadvertent mistake on the part of the learned trial Court. This application is permitted to be withdrawn qua applicant no.1 and the application was continued for the rest of the applicants.
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6. At this stage, it will be fruitful to mention the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Preeti Gupta & Anr. (supra), wherein it is observed in paragraph 33 thus:-
"33. The ultimate object of justice is to find out the truth and punish the guilty and protect the innocent. To find out the truth is a herculean task in majority of these complaints. The tendency of implicating husband and all his immediate relations is also not uncommon. At times, even after the conclusion of criminal trial, it is difficult to ascertain the real truth. The courts have to be extremely careful and cautious in dealing with these complaints and must take pragmatic realities into consideration while dealing with matrimonial cases. The allegations of harassment of husband's close relations who had been living in different cities and never visited or rarely visited the place where the complainant resided would have an entirely different complexion. The allegations of the complaint are required to be scrutinized with great care and circumspection. Experience reveals that long and protracted criminal trials lead to rancour, acrimony and bitterness in the relationship amongst the parties. It is also a matter of common knowledge that in cases filed by the complainant if the husband or the husband's relations had to remain in jail even for a few days, it would ruin the chances of amicable Page 6 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined settlement altogether. The process of suffering is extremely long and painful."
7. Further, it will also be fruitful to mention the judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of State of Haryana V/s Bhajan Lal reported in AIR 1992 SC 604, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed thus -
"In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Ch.XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by this court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extraordinary power under Art.226 or the inherent powers under sec.482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases by way of illustration wherein such power could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae and to give an exhaustive list of myriad kinds of cases wherein such power should be exercised.
(1) Where the allegations made in the first information report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face Page 7 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused.
(2) Where the allegations in the first information report and other materials, if any, accompanying the FIR do not disclose a cognizable offence, justifying an investigation by police officers under sec.156(1) of the Code except under an order of a Magistrate within the purview of sec.155(2) of the Code.
(3) Where the uncontroverted allegations made in the FIR or complaint and the evidence collected in support of the same do not disclose the commission of any offence and make out a case against the accused.
(4) Where, the allegations in the FIR do not constitute a cognizable offence but constitute only a non-cognizable offence, no investigation is permitted by a police officer without an order of a Magistrate as contemplated under sec.156(2) of the Code.
(5) Where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint are so absurd and inherently improbable on the basis of which no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. Page 8 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023
NEUTRAL CITATION R/CR.MA/18804/2017 ORDER DATED: 08/08/2023 undefined (6) Where there is an express legal bar engrafted in any of the provisions of the Code or the concerned Act (under which a criminal proceeding is instituted) to the institution and continuance of the proceedings and/or where there is a specific provision in the Code or the concerned Act, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party.
(7) Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide and/or where the proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge."
8. In view of the above and on perusing the contents of the FIR, it appears that the family members of the applicant no.1 are unnecessary roped in by the complainant and there are casual references made by her without allegations of active involvement and no specific instances are narrated by the complainant. No specific details are stated in the FIR and are general and vague and are bereft of specific instances. There is no active involvement established of the applicants in meting out cruelty from the contents of the F.I.R. Page 9 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023
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9. In this view of the matter, this is a fit case to exercise the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code. Accordingly, this application is allowed. The impugned FIR being C.R.No.I-22 of 2017 with Mahila Police Station, Bharuch, as well as subsequent proceedings, if any, arising out of the same FIR are hereby quashed and set aside qua the present applicants. Rule is made absolute. Direct service is permitted.
(SANDEEP N. BHATT,J) SRILATHA Page 10 of 10 Downloaded on : Sun Sep 17 00:42:34 IST 2023