Allahabad High Court

Smt. Shila vs State Of U.P. And Another on 1 July, 2024

Author: Raj Beer Singh

Bench: Raj Beer Singh





HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
 
 


Neutral Citation No. - 2024:AHC:106428
 
Court No. - 76
 

 
Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 13890 of 2024
 

 
Applicant :- Smt. Shila
 
Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another
 
Counsel for Applicant :- Ankit Saran,Ram Murti Yadav,Rohan Gupta
 
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Ratnesh Kumar Tiwari,Santosh Kumar
 

 
Hon'ble Raj Beer Singh,J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the applicant, learned counsel for the applicant and learned AGA for the State.

2. This application under Section 482 CrPC has been filed for quashing of the entire proceedings, including the chargesheet and the cognizance order dated 21.9.2023 of S. T. No. 1819/2023, arising out of Case Crime No. 195/2022 (State Versus Shivam and others), under Sections-498A, 304B, 506 IPC and Sections 3 / 4 of D. P. Act, pending in the Court of Sessions Judge, Kanpur Dehat.

3. Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the allegations levelled in the first information report are wholly false and no prima facie case is made against the applicant. Applicant is mother-in-law of the deceased. The marriage of deceased with son of applicant has taken place on 9.5.2021. It was submitted that in fact deceased was suffering from kidney related disease and she was taken to the hospital for treatment. In this connection learned counsel has referred the statement of Dr. Deshraj Gurjar, M. D. M. Nefrologist, Dr. Mohd. Arif Khan, Nefrologist and Dr. Amrita Shah, Gynecologist, who had inter alia stated that both the kidneys of the deceased were damaged. It was submitted that the subsequent treatment of deceased was got done by parental family of the deceased. Referring to the first information report and the statement of witnesses, it was submitted that the allegation against the accused persons is that no proper treatment was provided to the deceased. The deceased has died at her parental home. Though, as per post mortem report cause of death could not be ascertained and viscera was preserved but there is no evidence that any poison was administered to the deceased. It is further submitted that only general allegations have been levelled against all the accused persons. No specific role has been attributed to the applicant and there is no specific demand of dowry and in view of these facts and circumstances, no prima facie case is made out against the applicant. In this connection, learned counsel has placed reliance upon Mirza Iqbal alias Golu Versus State of Uttar Pradesh; AIR 2022 Supreme Court 69.

4. Learned AGA as well as learned counsel for informant have submitted that the applicant is mother-in-law of the deceased. The deceased has suffered death other than under normal circumstances, within eight months of her marriage. Initially first information report was registered on 15.4.2022 under Sections 498-A, 313, 506 IPC and Sections-3 / 4 of D. P. Act. The deceased died on 29.4.2022. In post mortem cause of death of could not be ascertained, hence, viscera was preserved. As per viscera report, organochloro insecticide was found in the viscera of the deceased. It was submitted that before the incident, deceased has made statement to the investigating officer, which falls within the category of dying declaration. In her statement to the investigating officer, deceased has inter alia stated that after marriage, she was treated properly for about one month but when she became pregnant, her pregnancy was got terminated by administering some medicine and thereafter some complications have developed. In her statement, deceased has also stated that when the family members of applicant were asked to provide treatment to deceased, they demanded short amount of dowry, which was to the tune of Rs. 5,00,000/- and told that only after receipt of amount, they would provide treatment to her. It was submitted that this statement of deceased clearly shows that deceased was being harassed on account of dowry and that the ingredients of Section 304 B IPC are made out.

5. I have considered the rival submissions and perused the record.

6. In the case of Mirza Iqbal alias Golu (supra) in para 11 Apex Court has held as under:

"11. The appellants are brother-in-law and mother-in- law respectively of the deceased. A perusal of the complaint filed by the 2nd respondent, pursuant to which a crime was registered, does not indicate any specific allegations by disclosing the involvement of the appellants. It is the specific case of the 1st appellant that he was working as a cashier in ICICI Bank at Khalilabad branch, which is at about 40 kms from Gorakhpur. The alleged incident was on 24.07.2018 at about 8 p.m. When the investigation was pending, the 1st appellant has filed affidavit before Senior Superintendent of Police on 08.08.2018, giving his employment details and stated that he was falsely implicated. It was his specific case that during the relevant time, he was working at ICICI Bank, Khalilabad branch, Gorakhpur and his mother was also staying with him. The Branch Manager has endorsed his presence in the branch, showing in-time at 09:49 a.m. and out-time at 06:25 p.m. Even in the statement of 2nd respondent recorded by the police and also in the final report filed under Section 173(2) of Cr.P.C., except omnibus and vague allegations, there is no specific allegation against the appellants to show their involvement for the offences alleged. This Court, time and again, has noticed making the family members of husband as accused by making casual reference to them in matrimonial disputes. Learned senior counsel for the appellants, in support of her case, placed reliance on the judgment of this Court in the case of Geeta Mehrotra and Anr. v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Anr.1. In the aforesaid case, this Court in identical circumstances, has quashed the proceedings by observing that family members of husband were shown as accused by making casual (2012) 10 SCC 741 reference to them. In the very same judgment, it is held that a large number of family members are shown in the FIR by casually mentioning their names and the contents do not disclose their active involvement, as such, taking cognizance of the matter against them was not justified. It is further held that taking cognizance in such type of cases results in abuse of judicial process. Paras 18 and 25 of the said judgment, which are relevant for the purpose of this case, read as under:

"18. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court in Ramesh case [(2005)3 SCC 507 : 2005 SCC (Cri) 735] had been pleased to hold that the bald allegations made against the sister- in-law by the complainant appeared to suggest the anxiety of the informant to rope in as many of the husband's relatives as possible. It was held that neither the FIR nor the charge- sheet furnished the legal basis for the Magistrate to take cognizance of the offences alleged against the appellants. The learned Judges were pleased to hold that looking to the allegations in the FIR and the contents of the charge-sheet, none of the alleged offences under Sections 498-A, 406 IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act were made against the married sister of the complainant's husband who was undisputedly not living with the family of the complainant's husband. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court were pleased to hold that the High Court ought not to have relegated the sister-in-law to the ordeal of trial. Accordingly, the proceedings against the appellants were quashed and the appeal was allowed.

25. However, we deem it appropriate to add by way of caution that we may not be misunderstood so as to infer that even if there are allegations of overt act indicating the complicity of the members of the family named in the FIR in a given case, cognizance would be unjustified but what we wish to emphasise by highlighting is that, if the FIR as it stands does not disclose specific allegation against the accused more so against the co-accused specially in a matter arising out of matrimonial bickering, it would be clear abuse of the legal and judicial process to mechanically send the named accused in the FIR to undergo the trial unless of course the FIR discloses specific allegations which would persuade the court to take cognizance of the offence alleged against the relatives of the main accused who are prima facie not found to have indulged in physical and mental torture of the complainant wife. It is the well-settled principle laid down in cases too numerous to mention, that if the FIR did not disclose the commission of an offence, the court would be justified in quashing the proceedings preventing the abuse of process of law.

Simultaneously, the courts are expected to adopt a cautious approach in matters of quashing, especially in cases of matrimonial disputes whether the FIR in fact discloses commission of an offence by the relatives of the principal accused or the FIR prima facie discloses a case of overimplication by involving the entire family of the accused at the instance of the complainant, who is out to settle her scores arising out of the teething problem or skirmish of domestic bickering while settling down in her new matrimonial surrounding."

7. Now, coming to the facts of the present case, it may be seen that the deceased has suffered unnatural death within eight months of her marriage. As stated earlier in viscera of the deceased, organochloro insecticide has been found and thus, death of deceased is other than under normal circumstances. There is statement of deceased that the accused persons have told that they would provide treatment to the deceased only after Rs. 5,00,000/- was paid. The informant and his family members have also made allegations of dowry demand against accused persons, including applicant.

8. The legal position on the issue of quashing of criminal proceedings is well-settled that the jurisdiction to quash a complaint, FIR or a charge-sheet should be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional cases. However, where the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint and material on record even if taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused, the charge-sheet may be quashed in exercise of inherent powers under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. In well celebrated judgement reported in AIR 1992 SC 605 State of Haryana and others Vs. Ch. Bhajan Lal, Supreme Court has carved out certain guidelines, wherein FIR or proceedings may be quashed but cautioned that the power to quash FIR or proceedings should be exercised sparingly and that too in the rarest of rare cases. In this connection, a reference may also be made to the case of R. Kalyani vs. Janak C. Mehta and Others, 2009 (1) SCC 516, Rupan Deol Bajaj vs. K.P.S. Gill (1995) SCC (Cri) 1059, Rajesh Bajaj vs. State of NCT of Delhi, (1999) 3 SCC 259 and Medchl Chemicals & Pharma (P) Ltd vs. Biological E Ltd. & Ors, 2000 SCC (Cri) 615. It has been held that if a prima facie case is made out disclosing ingredients of the offence, court should not quash the charge sheet/complaint. It is equally well settled that at this stage questions of fact cannot be examined and a mini trial cannot be held.

9. In the instant matter, considering the allegations made in the first information report and statements of witnesses, including the statement of deceased, at this stage it cannot be said that no case is made out against the applicant. The facts of the case of Mirza Iqbal alias Golu (supra) are on different footing and the said case law does not provide any help to the applicant. It is well settled that at this stage matter cannot be examined meticulously and a mini trial cannot be held. In fact the submissions raised by learned counsel for the applicant call for determination on questions of fact, which may adequately be discerned/adjudicated only by the trial court. Even the submissions made on point of law, can also be more appropriately gone into by the trial court. In the instant matter, in view of allegations made in the first information report and the material collected during investigation, it cannot be said that no prima facie case is made out against the applicant. Hence, the prayer as made above is hereby refused.

10. However, considering the facts of the matter, it is directed that in case, applicant appears/surrenders before the court concerned within a period of four weeks from today and applies for bail, her bail application shall be considered and decided expeditiously in accordance with settled law.

11. With the aforesaid observations, the instant application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. is finally disposed of.

Date :- 1.7.2024