Gujarat High Court
Harshadbhai Chhaganbhai Patel vs State Of Gujarat on 13 February, 2025
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/CRIMINAL MISC.APPLICATION (FOR QUASHING & SET ASIDE
FIR/ORDER) NO. 23678 of 2015
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HARSHADBHAI CHHAGANBHAI PATEL & ORS.
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS.
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Appearance:
MR HR PRAJAPATI(674) for the Applicant(s) No. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
ABRAR G SAIYED(9571) for the Respondent(s) No. 3
NOTICE SERVED BY DS for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MR SOAHAM M JOSHI, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DIVYESH A. JOSHI
Date : 13/02/2025
ORAL ORDER
1. By this application under Section 482 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973, the applicants-original accused
persons seek to invoke the inherent powers of this Court
praying for quashing of the proceedings of the Criminal Case
No.474 of 2015 pending before the Court of the learned
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad arising
from the F.I.R. being C.R. No.I-138 of 2014 filed before the
Khokhara Police Station, District-Ahmedabad City, for the
offence punishable under Sections-498(A), 294(b) r/w. 114 of
the I.P.C. and Sections-3 & 7 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
2. Pursuant to the registration of the FIR, investigation was
carried out and ultimately, at the end of day, charge-sheet was
submitted before the competent court against the applicants
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by the Investigating Officer, which ultimately, culminated into
Criminal Case No.474 of 2015. As soon as the applicants have
came to know about the submission of chargesheet, they have
approached this Court by way of filing present application.
3. Mr. H.R. Prajapati, learned advocate, who appears on
behalf of the applicants submits that during the pendency of
the proceedings, the applicant no.1 i.e. father-in-law has
passed away and therefore, he is not pressing the present
application qua applicant no.1. He further submits that the
respondent no.3 is the wife of accused no.1 and applicant
nos.2 to 7 are the in-laws of respondent no.3. He further
submits that the accused no.1 who is husband of respondent
no.3 has not approached this Court. It is the specific case of
the complainant that the mental and physical torture was
given to her by the accused persons and one fine day, she was
driven out from the matrimonial home by the accused persons
and therefore, she has registered the complaint against the
accused persons.
4. Mr. Prajapati, learned advocate further submits that the
marriage of the complainant was solemnized with accused
no.1 viz. Jaimin Harshadbhai Patel on 26.02.2002 as per the
hindu rites and rituals and out of their marriage, they have two
children. He further submits that the applicant no.3 is the
sister-in-law, whereas, the applicant no.4 is the husband of
applicant no.3. The applicant no.5 is the mama sasra;
applicant no.6 is the masi sasu and the applicant no.7 is the
one of kaka sasra. He further submits that the applicant nos.4,
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7 are residing separately. He further submits that the accused
no.1 and complainant residing alongwith the children and
applicant nos.1 and 2 at Baroda. He further submits that the
so-called incident occurred on 20.10.2014 and FIR is registered
on 21.11.2014 and therefore, there was gross delay and
registering the FIR. He further submits that if the Hon'ble Court
would make cursorily glance upon the allegations levelled
against the applicants - accused, in that event, it would have
been found out that general vague and reckles allegations
were levelled against the present applicants - accused. He
submits that no specific instance and/or averments made with
regard to particular incident is mentioned in the body of the
FIR and that too, after a lapse of period of 12 years of marriage
life. He further submits that in-fact, on the strength of
registration of the FIR, the Investigating Officer has carried out
the investigation and ultimately, at the end of day, he has
submitted charge-sheet before the competent court. As soon
as the summons served to them, they have approached this
Court by way of present petition and considering the
averments made in the memo of petition as well as charge of
accusations levelled against the accused persons, this Court
has stayed the further proceedings. Since then, the matter is
lying in standstill position. He further submits that in-fact, the
situation is altogether different than narrated in the FIR.
In-fact, the husband was constrained to file an application in
the form of complaint before the police station on 22.10.2014
by narrating certain factual aspects that the respondent no.3-
wife is administrating threat to register false complaint against
him and his family members and implicate them by registering
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false and fabricated offences. He further submits that in-fact,
the respondent no.3 is a law graduate student and after
completion of her graduation, she has already started practice
in legal field and her father is also a practicing advocate. He
further submits that this a clear cut case of misuse of process
of law, as span of marriage life is more than 12 years and after
lapse of 12 years, the FIR is filed. He further submits that in-
fact, the husband has filed one application under Section-13(1)
(A) of the Hindu Marriage Act before the Family Court for the
purpose of getting divorce. As soon as the copy of notice
served to the respondent no.3, immediately, as a counter-
blast, the present FIR has been filed against almost all the
family members of the husband and the husband has not filed
any application before this Hon'ble Court. Therefore,
considering the principle of law laid down in the Achin Gupta
v. State of Haryana and Another, reported in (2024) 4
Supreme 347, wherein, it is held that the criminal
proceedings are allowed to continue against the appellant, the
same will be nothing short of abuse of process of law and
travesty of justice. Therefore, the proceedings instituted
against present applicants-accused are nothing but sheer
abuse of the process of law and required to be quashed and
set aside. He further submits that during the pendency of the
present proceedings, a suit preferred by the husband, had
already been entertained by the learned Principal Judge,
Family Court at Baroda on 19.10.2022 and considering the
cruelty meted upon the husband by the respondent -wife, the
judgment and award of divorce decree had already been
passed the learned Principal Judge, Family Court at Baroda. A
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copy of the said order is already placed on record. He further
submits that during the pendency of the suit, it was brought to
the notice of the learned Principal Judge, Family Court that
both the girls are residing with the father at Baroda and one
daughter viz. shreya is a major. Therefore, respondent-wife has
filed a pursis jointly stating that the daughter viz. Shreya is a
major and she has already shown her willingness to reside with
her father, in that event, the respondent no.3 has no objection.
In view of the joint pursis, the custody of daughter has already
been given to the father. He further submits that as per the
principle of law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the
case of R.P. Kapur Vs. State of Punjab reported in AIR
1960 SC 866 and in the case of State of Haryana & Ors. Vs.
Bhajan Lal & Ors. reported in 1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335, the
proceedings instituted against the present applicants-accused
nothing but maliciously and requires to be quashed and set
aside.
5. Mr. Soaham Joshi, learned APP appearing for the
respondent - State has objected the present application with
the vehemence and submitted that on the strength of the FIR
registered against applicants-accused by the respondent no.3,
the Investigating Officer has carried out the investigation and
recorded the statements of number of witnesses and
considering the materials available on record, the Investigating
Officer concerned has collected sufficient and ample evidences
against the accused persons and came to the conclusion that
charge-sheet is required to be submitted before the competent
court and ultimately, submitted charge-sheet befor the
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concerned court. Therefore, the proceedings instituted against
the present applicants-accused are not required to be quashed
and set aside.
6. Having heard learned advocates for the respective
parties and on perusal of the contents of the FIR, the issue falls
for my consideration is as to whether the case is made out for
invoking inherent powers of this Court?
7. I would like to refer to the decision of Hon'ble Apex Court
in the case of Preeti Gupta Vs. State of Jharkhand,
reported in 2010 Criminal Law Journal 4303(1), wherein,
the Hon'ble Apex Court observed the following:-
"28. It is a matter of common knowledge that
unfortunately matrimonial litigation is rapidly increasing
in our country. All the courts in our country including this
court are flooded with matrimonial cases. This clearly
demonstrates discontent and unrest in the family life of
a large number of people of the society.
29. The courts are receiving a large number of cases
emanating from section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code
which reads as under :
"498-A. Husband or relative of husband of a woman
subjecting her to cruelty.-Whoever, being the husband or
the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such
woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment
for a term which may extend to three years and shall
also be liable to fine. Explanation.- For the purposes of
this section, 'cruelty' means :
(a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is
likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause
grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether
mental or physical) of the woman; or
(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is
with a view to coercing her or any person related to her
to meet any unlawful demand for any property or
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valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any
person related to her to meet such demand."
30. It is a matter of common experience that most of
these complaints under section 498-A IPC are filed in the
heat of the moment over trivial issues without proper
deliberations. We come across a large number of such
complaints which are not even bona fide and are filed
with oblique motive. At the same time, rapid increase in
the number of genuine cases of dowry harassment are
also a matter of serious concern.
31.The learned members of the Bar have enormous
social responsibility and obligation to ensure that the
social fiber of family life is not ruined or demolished.
They must ensure that exaggerated versions of small
incidents should not be reflected in the criminal
complaints. Majority of the complaints are filed either on
their advice or with their concurrence. The learned
members of the Bar who belong to a noble profession
must maintain its noble traditions and should treat every
complaint under section 498-A as a basic human
problem and must make serious endeavour to help the
parties in arriving at an amicable resolution of that
human problem. They must discharge their duties to the
best of their abilities to ensure that social fiber, peace
and tranquillity of the society remains intact. The
members of the Bar should also ensure that one
complaint should not lead to multiple cases.
32. Unfortunately, at the time of filing of the complaint
the implications and consequences are not properly
visualized by the complainant that such complaint can
lead to insurmountable harassment, agony and pain to
the complainant, accused and his close relations. 33.
The ultimate object of justice is to find out the truth and
punish the guilty and protect the innocent. To find out
the truth is a herculean task in majority of these
complaints. The tendency of implicating husband and all
his immediate relations is also not uncommon. At times,
even after the conclusion of criminal trial, it is difficult to
ascertain the real truth. The courts have to be extremely
careful and cautious in dealing with these complaints
and must take pragmatic realities into consideration
while dealing with matrimonial cases. The allegations of
harassment of husband's close relations who had been
living in different cities and never visited or rarely visited
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the place where the complainant resided would have an
entirely different complexion. The allegations of the
complaint are required to be scrutinized with great care
and circumspection. Experience reveals that long and
protracted criminal trials lead to rancour, acrimony and
bitterness in the relationship amongst the parties. It is
also a matter of common knowledge that in cases filed
by the complainant if the husband or the husband's
relations had to remain in jail even for a few days, it
would ruin the chances of amicable settlement
altogether. The process of suffering is extremely long
and painful.
8. In the case of Geeta Mehrotra and anr. Vs. State of
U.P. reported in AIR 2013, SC 181, the Supreme Court
observed as under:-
"19. Coming to the facts of this case, when the contents
of the FIR is perused, it is apparent that there are no
allegations against Kumari Geeta Mehrotra and Ramji
Mehrotra except casual reference of their names who
have been included in the FIR but mere casual reference
of the names of the family members in a matrimonial
dispute without allegation of active involvement in the
matter would not justify taking cognizance against them
overlooking the fact borne out of experience that there is
a tendency to involve the entire family members of the
household in the domestic quarrel taking place in a
matrimonial dispute specially if it happens soon after the
wedding.
20. It would be relevant at this stage to take note of an
apt observation of this Court recorded in the matter of
G.V. Rao vs. L.H.V. Prasad & Ors. reported in
(2000) 3 SCC 693 wherein also in a matrimonial
dispute, this Court had held that the High Court should
have quashed the complaint arising out of a matrimonial
dispute wherein all family members had been roped into
the matrimonial litigation which was quashed and set
aside. Their Lordships observed therein with which we
entirely agree that: "there has been an outburst of
matrimonial dispute in recent times. Marriage is a sacred
ceremony, main purpose of which is to enable the young
couple to settle down in life and live peacefully. But little
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matrimonial skirmishes suddenly erupt which often
assume serious proportions resulting in heinous crimes
in which elders of the family are also involved with the
result that those who could have counselled and brought
about rapprochement are rendered helpless on their
being arrayed as accused in the criminal case. There are
many reasons which need not be mentioned here for not
encouraging matrimonial litigation so that the parties
may ponder over their defaults and terminate the
disputes amicably by mutual agreement instead of
fighting it out in a court of law where it takes years and
years to conclude and in that process the parties lose
their "young" days in chasing their cases in different
courts."
The view taken by the judges in this matter was that the
courts would not encourage such disputes.
21. In yet another case reported in AIR 2003 SC 1386 in
the matter of B.S. Joshi & Ors. vs. State of Haryana &
Anr. it was observed that there is no doubt that the
object of introducing Chapter XXA containing Section
498A in the Indian Penal Code was to prevent the torture
to a woman by her husband or by relatives of her
husband. Section 498A was added with a view to punish
the husband and his relatives who harass or torture the
wife to coerce her relatives to satisfy unlawful demands
of dowry. But if the proceedings are initiated by the wife
under Section 498A against the husband and his
relatives and subsequently she has settled her disputes
with her husband and his relatives and the wife and
husband agreed for mutual divorce, refusal to exercise
inherent powers by the High Court would not be proper
as it would prevent woman from settling earlier. Thus for
the purpose of securing the ends of justice quashing of
FIR becomes necessary, Section 320 Cr.P.C. would not
be a bar to the exercise of power of quashing. It would
however be a different matter depending upon the facts
and circumstances of each case whether to exercise or
not to exercise such a power."
9. I would like to refer to the decision of Hon'ble Apex Court
in the case of Achin Gupta v. State of Haryana and
Another, reported in (2024) 4 Supreme 347, wherein the
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Hon'ble Apex Court has observed and held as under:
"20. It is now well settled that the power under Section
482 of the Cr.P.C. has to be exercised sparingly, carefully
and with caution, only where such exercise is justified by
the tests laid down in the Section itself. It is also well
settled that Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. does not confer
any new power on the High Court but only saves the
inherent power, which the Court possessed before the
enactment of the Criminal Procedure Code. There are
three circumstances under which the inherent
jurisdiction may be exercised, namely (i) to give effect to
an order under the code, (ii) to prevent abuse of the
process of Court, and (iii) to otherwise secure the ends of
justice.
10. At the outset, it is apt to refer the law laid down by the
Hon'ble Apex Court in case of State of Haryana & Ors. Vs.
Bhajan Lal & Ors. reported in 1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335. The
relevant para reads as under:
"In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various
relevant provisions of the Code under Ch.XIV and of the
principles of law enunciated by this Court in a series of
decisions relating to the exercise of the extraordinary
power under Article 226 or the inherent powers u/s 482 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure which we have extracted
and reproduced above, the following categories of cases
are given by way of illustration wherein such power could
be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any
Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it
may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly
defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible
guidelines or rigid formula and to give an exhaustive list of
myriad kinds of cases wherein such power should be
exercised.
(1) where the allegations made in the First Information
Report or the complaint, even if they are 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;
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(2) where the allegations in the First Information Report
and other materials, if any, accompanying the F.I.R. do not
disclose a cognizable offence, justifying an investigation by
police officers under Section 156(1) of the Code except
under an order of a Magistrate within the purview of
Section 155(2) of the Code;
(3) where the uncontroverted allegations made in the FIR
or 'complaint and the evidence collected in support of the
same do not disclose the commission of any offence and
make out a case against the accused;
(4) where the allegations in the FIR do not constitute a
cognizable offence but constitute only a non-cognizable
offence, no investigation is permitted by a police officer
without an order of a Magistrate as contemplated under
Section 155(2) of the Code;
(5) where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint
are so absurd and inherently improbable on the basis of
which no prudent person can ever reach a just conclusion
that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the
accused;
(6) where there is an express legal bar engrafted in any
of the provisions of the Code or the concerned Act (under
which a criminal proceeding is instituted) to the institution
and continuance of the proceedings and/or where there is
a specific provision in the Code or the concerned Act,
(7) where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended
with mala fide and/or where the proceeding is maliciously
instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance
on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private
and personal grudge."
11. The Hon'ble Apex Court in case of R.P. Kapur Vs. State
of Punjab reported in AIR 1960 SC 866, has summarized
some categories of cases where inherent power can and
should be exercised to quash the proceedings, which are as
under:-
(i) where it manifestly appears that there is a legal bar
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against the institution or continuance e.g. want of
sanction;
(ii) where the allegations in the first information report or
complaint taken at its face value and accepted in their
entirety do not constitute the offence alleged;
(iii) where the allegations constitute an offence, but there
is no legal evidence adduced or the evidence adduced
clearly or manifestly fails to prove the charge.
12. In view of the ratio enunciated by the Hon'ble Apex Court
in the aforesaid decisions, it is required to be noted that
whenever the accused came before the Court invoking either
the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Criminal
Procedure Code for quashing and setting aside the FIR
impugned essentially on the ground that such proceedings are
manifestly frivolous or vexatious or instituted with the ulterior
motive for wreaking vengeance, in that event, in such
circumstances, the Court owes a duty to look into the FIR with
care and a little more closely. The Court while exercising its
jurisdiction under Section 482 of the CrPC need not restrict
itself only to the stage of a case but is empowered to take into
account the overall circumstances leading to the initiation/
registration of the case as well as the materials collected in the
course of investigation.
13. Taking into consideration the nature of the dispute and
the fact, it is apparent that there are no allegations against
applicants-accused, who are the family members of the
husband, except casual reference of their names in the body of
FIR. The applicant no.1 i.e. father-in-law has passed away and
the applicants no.2 to 7 are the family members of the
accused no.1 - husband. Thus, for the purpose of securing the
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ends of justice, quashing of FIR becomes necessary. Therefore,
no useful purpose would now be served to allow to continue
with the criminal prosecution launched against the applicant. A
copy of order passed by the Family Court, Baroda alongwith
the pursis, is ordered to be taken on record.
14. For the forgoing reasons, the present application is
hereby allowed. The further proceedings of the Criminal Case
No.474 of 2015 pending before the Court of the learned
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Ahmedabad arising
from the F.I.R. being C.R. No.I-138 of 2014 filed before the
Khokhara Police Station, District-Ahmedabad City, are hereby
ordered to be quashed qua the present applicants herein. All
consequential proceedings pursuant thereto shall stand
terminated.
Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent. Direct
service is permitted.
(DIVYESH A. JOSHI,J)
A. B. VAGHELA
