Bombay High Court
Aatif Ali Meer Athar vs The State Of Mah. Thr. Pso, Old City Akola ... on 17 October, 2024
Author: Vinay Joshi
Bench: Vinay Joshi
2024:BHC-NAG:11861-DB
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH AT NAGPUR
CRIMINAL APPLICATION (APL) NO. 63 OF 2024
Aatif Ali Meer Athar,
Aged about 30 yrs, Occ. Student,
R/o. Kaynat Cottage Block No. 13,
Near Atlas Park Ganga Nagar,
Akola ...... APPLICANT
...V E R S U S...
1. The State of Maharashtra,
Through PSO Old City, Akola
2. Syed Mateen Syed Jamir,
Aged about 40 yrs, Occ. Business,
R/o. House No. 20, Kaynat Cottage,
Ganga Nagar, Old City, Akola .....NON-APPLICANTS
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Mr. Z.Z. Haq, Advocate for applicant.
Mr. U.R. Phasate, APP for respondent No.1 /State
Mr. M.R. Deshmukh, Advocate for respondent No.2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORAM:- VINAY JOSHI & ABHAY J. MANTRI, JJ.
DATE : 17.10.2024
JUDGMENT (Per : Vinay Joshi, J.)
Heard. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard
finally with consent of learned Counsel for the parties.
2. By this application under Section 482 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, the applicant is seeking to quash and set aside
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the First Information Report (FIR) No. 483/2023, registered at Old
City Police Station, Akola, for offence punishable under Sections
294 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.
3. The applicant's contention that after registration of FIR
by the applicant on following day, the existing report has been
maliciously lodged. On merits, it is argued that the contents of FIR
do not disclose the ingredients to constitute an offence punishable
under Sections 294 and 506 of the IPC for which crime has been
registered.
4. Learned APP appearing for respondent No. 1/State as
well as the learned Counsel appearing for respondent No. 2
informant have opposed the application by contending that the
material which is available on record constitutes an offence and
thus it is a matter of trial to appreciate the material on record.
5. We have been taken through the contents of FIR wherein
besides a general abuses, there is nothing from which it could be
construed that there is use of obscene words. The learned Counsel
for the applicant specifically relied on the decision of the Hon'ble
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Supreme Court in the case of N.S. Madhanagopal and Another Vs.
K. Lalitha [(2022)17 SCC 818] with emphasis on the observations
made in paragraph Nos. 7 and 8 of the decison. Our attention is
invited to the portion where it has been observed that mere abusive,
humiliating or defamatory words by itself cannot attract an offence
punishable under Section 294(b) of the IPC. Plain reading of the
FIR discloses that besides two words namely, "gjke[kksj" and
"eknjpksn", there is nothing which could display the obscene words
that too, to the annoyance of others. The FIR further disclose that
general allegations have been made about giving life threats without
specifying the details.
6. In above context, we have considered the incident as a
whole. Undisputedly, the alleged occurrence took place on
14.12.2023 at around 11.00 a.m. and on the very same day, in the
evening, the applicant himself has lodged report leveling similar
allegations against the informant. However, apparently after 24
hours regarding the same incident with same contents the informant
lodged similar report which speaks for itself.
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7. We have also gone through the case diary which speaks
similarly as per the contents of FIR. The essence of Section 294(b)
of the IPC is that the obscene words must have tendency to corrupt
by arousing a lustful desires which is totally absent in the words
allegedly uttered by the applicant. Thus, this case squarely falls in
the criteria Nos. 1 and 3 of the guidelines issued by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court in the case of State of Haryana Vs. Bhajan Lal
[AIR (1992) SC 604].
In view of above, the application is allowed.
The First Information Report (FIR) No. 483/2023,
registered at Old City Police Station, Akola, for offence punishable
under Sections 294 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, is hereby
quashed and set aside.
(ABHAY J. MANTRI, J.) (VINAY JOSHI, J.)
R. Belkhede,
Signed by: Mr. R. S. Belkhede Personal Assistant
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 21/10/2024 18:34:22
