The single-judge bench of the Jharkhand High Court held that the inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate prosecution. The Court refused to quash the FIR registered for the offenses punishable under Section 306/511 of the Indian Penal Code.
Brief facts
The factual matrix of the case is that the informant alleged that the Petitioner attempted to commit the abetment of suicide of the informant. The Petitioner no. 3 was married to an informant and petitioner No. 3 was having an illicit relationship with someone else. The FIR was registered for the offenses punishable under Section 306/511 of the Indian Penal Code. Aggrieved by this, the present criminal miscellaneous petition is filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
Contentions of the Petitioner
The Petitioner submitted that the Petitioner had been falsely implicated in the present case. It was furthermore submitted that prior to this case, the Petitioner had filed a case for the offenses punishable under Section 498A/504/506/307/34 of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act and the instant case has been filed to save the skin of the informant and to take revenge upon the petitioners.
Contentions of the State
The state submitted that the contention of the Petitioner that the allegations are false will be taken up at the appropriate stage during the investigation and the same is not a ground to quash the FIR.
Observations of the court
The Hon’ble Court observed that it is well-settled law that the inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate prosecution. The court relied upon the judgment titled Monica Kumar (Dr.) and another v. State of U.P. and others.
The court noted that the defense taken by the Petitioner could be taken either during the investigation of the case or during the trial of the case.
Based on these considerations, the court was of the opinion that the instant case was not a fit case to quash the FIR registered for the offenses under Section 306/511 of the Indian Penal Code.
The decision of the court
With the above direction, the court dismissed the criminal miscellaneous petition.
Case Title: Asha Devi V. The State of Jharkhand
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary
Case No.: Cr.M.P. No. 2652 of 2021
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr. Pradeep Kumar Nayak, Advocate
Advocate for the State: Mrs. Priya Shrestha, Spl. P.P.
Advocate for the Opposite Party no. 2: Mr. A.K. Sahani, Advocate : Mr. Pankaj Verma, Advocate
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