Bombay High Court
Rohit S/O Subhash Tantrapale And ... vs State Of Mah. Thr. Pso M.I.D.C., ... on 24 November, 2022
Bench: S.B. Shukre, M. W. Chandwani
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR.
CRIMINAL APPLICATION (APL) NO.1277/2021
Rohit S/o Subhash Tantrapale and another
-Vs.-
State of Maharashtra, through PSO M.I.D.C., Nagpur
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Office notes, Office Memoranda of
Coram, appearances, Court's orders Court's or Judge's Orders.
or directions and Registrar's orders.
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Mr. AM. Jaltare, Advocate for the applicants.
Mr. S.S. Doifode, A.P.P. for non-applicant No.1.
Mr. B.G. Kulkarni, Advocate for non-applicant No.2.
CORAM : SUNIL B. SHUKRE AND
M. W. CHANDWANI, JJ.
DATE : 24.11.2022
Heard learned counsel for the applicants and Mr.
Doifode, learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. Leave to amend the application is granted by adding
additional prayer regarding quashing of the chargesheet.
Amendment be carried out forthwith.
3. The affidavit dated 23.11.2022 is taken on record.
It is marked "A" for identification. The affidavit is
accompanied by a petition for divorce under Section 13(b)
of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 seeking divorce for mutual
consent before Family Court, Nagpur.
4. The facts of the case reveal that the applicant No.2,
apl1277.2021.odt
the wife of applicant No.1, had on 15.7.2021 lodged a
report against the applicant No.1 alleging commission of
repeated acts of rape and attempt of sodomy by applicant
No.1 on applicant No.2 under influence of liquor. M.I.D.C.
police accordingly registered offence under Sections 376,
377 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code against applicant
No.1. Meanwhile, husband and wife i.e. both applicants
have realized that it was a mistake on their part to stay
together and they decided to part their ways by filing a
petition for mutual divorce and that petition is pending.
One of the pleadings of the petition is that both these
applicants would work together for quashing of the crime
registered against applicant No.1 at the behest of applicant
No.2 with M.I.D.C. police. These facts clearly show that
the dispute which has arisen between applicant No.2 and
applicant No.1 have roots in their matrimonial differences
and dispute and, therefore, even though the offences
registered against applicant No.1 which are punishable
under Sections 376, 377 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code,
are quite serious offences, these offences could be said to be
having their roots in the civil dispute and, therefore, could
be treated as purely of private nature. If this is so, this case
would be squarely covered by the various judgments of the
Apex Court including the cases of Narinder Singh V/s. State
of Punjab reported in (2104) 6 SCC 466 and Parbatbhai
Aahir alias Parbatbhai Bhimsinhbhai Karmur and others
apl1277.2021.odt
V/s. State of Gujarat and another reported in (2017) 9 SCC
641. We are thus of the considered view that this is a fit
case where interference is necessary or otherwise there
would be a possibility of miscarriage of justice.
5. Both the applicants are personally present before this
Court and they have been identified by their respective
learned counsel. Both of them unanimously maintain that
they have arrived at an out of court settlement for quashing
of the crime registered against applicant No.1 as that would
help them in seeking mutual divorce before the Family
Court and that their dispute is of civil nature.
6. The application is allowed and the Crime bearing
No.404/2021 registered with the Police Station M.I.D.C.,
Nagpur and Sessions Trial No.321/2022 are hereby
quashed and set aside.
7. Considering the poor financial status of the
applicants no costs are imposed upon them.
8. Both the applicants shall appear before the Family
Court on 28.11.2022 at 11 a.m. to facilitate the conduct of
proceedings in Hindu Marriage Petition bearing
No.F-694/2022.
(M.W. CHANDWANI, J.) (SUNIL B. SHUKRE J.)
Signed By:NILESH VILASRAO
TAMBASKAR
Private Secretary
Tambaskar.
Date:24.11.2022 17:27
