Bombay High Court
Neeta W/O Devendra Pise vs State Of Maharashtra, Through Pso ... on 12 January, 2021
Bench: Z.A. Haq, Amit B. Borkar
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR
CRIMINAL APPLICATION (APL) NO. 630 OF 2014
Neeta W/o. Devendra Pise,
Age 41, Occ. Service,
R/o. Flat No. 103, Universal Meredian,
New Sneh Nagar,
Wardha Road, Nagpur. . . . APPLICANT
...V E R S U S..
1. State of Maharashtra through
P.S.O., P.S. Dhantoli,
Nagpur City.
2. Mrs. Darshana W/o. Dyaneshwar Bansod,
Age 45 years, Occ. Service,
R/o. Normal Quarter No. 27D,
In front of Hotel Hardeo,
Sitabuldi, Nagpur. . . NON-APPLICANTS
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Shri Firdos Mirza, Advocate for applicant.
Ms. Mayuri Deshmukh, A.P.P. for non-applicant no. 1/State.
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CORAM :- Z. A. HAQ AND
AMIT B. BORKAR, JJ.
DATED :- 12.01.2021
JUDGMENT (PER : AMIT B. BORKAR, J.) :-
1. This is an application under Section 482 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure challenging the First Information Report (FIR)
bearing Crime No. MK 1/2014 registered at the non-applicant no. 1-
Police Station on 25.01.2014 for offence punishable under Section 294
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of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(i)(viii) and 3(i)(x) of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act, 1989.
2. The FIR came to be registered in pursuance of the order
passed by the Judicial Magistrate First Class 2, Nagpur in Complaint
No. 3278/2013. It was directed that the complaint, filed before the
Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) be treated as FIR. It is alleged
in the complaint that on 06.07.2013 that the non-applicant no.2 was
called by the applicant in her cabin and hurled abuses in the name of
caste of the non-applicant no.2. It is alleged that at that time, one Dilip
Chaware and other staff were present near the cabin. It is further
alleged in the complaint that the applicant had issued Memos to the
non-applicant no.2 for trivial reasons with intention to harass the non-
applicant no.2. It is further alleged that the applicant had sent false
report, in relation to the non-applicant no.2, to their superiors.
3. The applicant therefore, filed the present application
challenging registration of the FIR. This Court on 08.10.2014 issued
notice before admission to the non-applicants. On 20.12.2014, this
Court issued 'Rule' in the present application and granted ad-interim
relief in terms of prayer clause (ii) of the Criminal Application. In
response to the complaint, the non-applicant no.1 has filed its reply
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and pointed out that as per investigation carried out by the non-
applicant no.1, there is sufficient material against the applicant. The
non-applicant no.1 has recorded statement of various witnesses, which
lends support of the complaint of the non-applicant no.2. It is further
submitted that in the enquiry report dated 20.11.2013 conducted in
pursuance on the direction of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribes Commission, it was found that the complaint in relation to the
incident in question was false. It is further submitted that on
25.08.2013, N.C.R. No. 450/2013 was issued by the non-applicant
no.1, on the basis of complaint lodged by the non-applicant no.2. The
enquiry conducted by PSI- Dhantoli on the basis of the complaint of the
non-applicant no.2, in respect of the incident in question was found to
be false.
4. The non-applicant no.2, inspite of service of notice has not
appeared in the present proceeding either personally or through
Advocate.
5. We have carefully considered contents of the FIR and reply
filed by the non-applicant no.1. It appears from the material on record
that in the initial complaint filed with the non-applicant no.1, there is
no allegation made that at the time of alleged incident , other persons
were present near the cabin. From the averment in the FIR, it appears
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that the applicant had issued Memos to the non-applicant no.2. It also
appears from the FIR that the non-applicant no.2 was disgruntled by
Memos issued by the applicant to the non-applicant no.2 and adverse
report submitted about her to their superiors. It appears that in an
enquiry conducted by the non-applicant no.1- Police Station as stated
in para no. 6 of the reply that, the report filed with the non-applicant
no.1- Police Station in relation to incident in question was found to be
false. There was another enquiry report submitted by the Assistant
Commissioner of Police, Division Nagpur City, which found the
complaint in relation to the incident alleged in the FIR to be false. The
said enquiry report was conducted in pursuance of the complaint filed
by the non-applicant no.2 with President, Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes Commission in Mumbai, in relation to the incident in
question.
6. In the light of above circumstances, we are satisfied that
continuation of proceedings against the applicant would amount to
abuse of process of law. We are satisfied that prosecution launched by
the non-applicant no.2 was not legitimate prosecution. Hence, the FIR
registered against the applicant deserves to be quashed and set aside.
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7. We therefore, pass the following order :-
The FIR bearing no. MK-1/2014 registered with the non-
applicant no.1- Police Station on 25.01.2014 for the offence punishable
under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(i)(viii) and
3(i)(x) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention
of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is quashed and set aside.
Rule is made absolute accordingly.
JUDGE JUDGE
RR Jaiswal
