Telangana High Court

Divyanshu Jain vs The State Of Telangana, on 3 June, 2024

       THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA

           CRIMINAL PETITION No.8529 of 2023

ORDER:

This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 482 of

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short 'Cr.P.C.') to

quash the proceedings against the petitioners in Crime

No.193 of 2023 of Gandhi Nagar Police Station, Hyderabad,

registered for the offences punishable under Sections 304-B,

120b and 506 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860

(for short 'I.P.C.') and Section 156 (3) of the Cr.P.C.

2. The brief facts of the case are that respondent No.2/de

facto complainant lodged a complaint before the Police,

Gandhi Nagar Police Station, Hyderabad stating that he has

two daughters. The elder daughter got solemnized with

petitioner No.1. At the time of marriage, the petitioners

demanded Rs.10,00,000/-, 250 grams of gold and 3 kgs of

silver. The elder daughter of respondent No.2 is living with

the petitioners in Mumbai. Petitioner No.1 is always insisted

on terminating the pregnancy. Later, they were blessed with

one daughter. After the birth, respondent No.2 and her elder

daughter noticed the change in behaviour of the petitioners

and they demanded additional dowry of Rs.25,00,000/-.

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Since then, they harassed the daughter of respondent No.2

mentally and physically. Petitioner No.1 is an alcoholic and

he come to home in an uncontrollable drunken state and

forced his daughter to drink alcohol by forcing it down her

throat. The daughter of respondent No.2 and his

granddaughter tried to approach the Police, for which,

petitioner No.1 had contacted respondent No.2 and

threatened him if they give complaint to the Police, he will

take the life of his daughter and his granddaughter.

3. On another occasion, his younger daughter went to

Mumbai to celebrate Diwali with her sister, then petitioner

No.1 misbehaved with her by dragging her around in an

inappropriate manner. In the year 2019, the daughter of

respondent No.2 fell sick due to stress, depression. Due to

illness, she had to be hospitalized at Global Hospital in

Mumbai. The treatment revealed that she was suffering from

an intestine ulcer for which, she was prescribed medicine by

the Doctor in Mumbai. Though the time span of steroid

treatment was for short time period, he mislead the Doctor by

saying that the daughter of respondent No.2 has been feeling

continuously sick. He is well aware that the overdose of

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steroids would act as a slow poison, and his intentions of

taking her life would succeed. Further, petitioner No.2 has

taken the hair stands and nails of the daughter of respondent

No.2 to perform black magic on her.

4. Later, in Hyderabad the daughter of respondent No.2

has taken medical treatment in C.C. Shroff hospital, there the

doctors had clearly mentioned that this illness had initially

occurred due to mental illness, excessive stress and

unnecessary steroid dosages. The daughter of respondent

No.2 informed to respondent No.2 that her husband and his

parents are harassed her mentally and physically.

Thereafter, due to the overdose of steroids, the daughter of

respondent No.2 passed away. Basing on the said complaint,

the Police registered a case in Crime No.193 of 2023.

5. Heard Sri P. Pradeep Kumar, learned counsel appearing

on behalf of the petitioners as well as Sri S. Ganesh, learned

Assistant Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of

respondent No.1 and Sri Praveen Kumar Challa, learned

counsel appearing on behalf of respondent No.2.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that

there is no truth in the complaint. In fact, he gave good

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treatment in Mumbai, whereas, at the instance of the parents

of the deceased she came to Hyderabad. Later, when the

father of the deceased took her to Rajasthan for further

Homeopathy treatment, she died. He further submitted that

petitioner No.2 is 74 years old lady, suffering with old age

ailments and the allegations leveled against her are only bald

allegations without any specific proof. Learned counsel

further submitted that petitioner Nos.3 and 4 got married in

the year 2021 and they are permanent residents of Jaipur

and they have nothing to do with the life of the deceased and

petitioner No.1. Only to increase the gravity of the case,

petitioner Nos.3 and 4 are implicated into the case.

Therefore, the allegations leveled against the petitioners are

vague and prayed the Court to quash the proceedings against

them.

7. On the other hand, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor

and learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent No.2,

respectively submitted that the daughter of respondent No.2

fell sick due to stress. Later, petitioner No.1 has mislead the

doctors by saying that the deceased frequently falling sick,

due to which, the doctors has given overdose. Learned

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counsel for respondent No.2 further submitted that due to

the overdose of the steroids only, the his daughter died.

Therefore, there are serious allegations against the

petitioners, which require trial and prayed the Court to

dismiss the petition.

8. Having regard to the rival submissions made by both

the learned counsel and the material available on record, to

quash the proceedings under Section 482 of Cr.P.C, the Court

has to see whether the averments in the complaint prima

facie shows that it constitute the offence as alleged by the

Police.

9. At this stage, it is pertinent to note the Judgment of the

Hon'ble Supreme Court in State of Madhya Pradesh vs.

Surendra Kori 1, wherein in paragraph No.14, it is held as

follows:

"The High Court in exercise of its powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. does not function as a Court of appeal or revision. This Court has, in several judgments, held that the inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C., though wide, has to be used sparingly, carefully and with caution. The High Court, under Section

(2012) 10 Supreme Court Cases 155

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482 Cr.P.C., should normally refrain from giving a prima facie decision in a case where the entire facts are incomplete and hazy, more so when the evidence has not been collected and produced before the Court and the issues involved, whether factual or legal, are of wide magnitude and cannot be seen in their true perspective without sufficient material."

10. Reverting back to the facts of the present case, the

petitioner No.1 harassed the deceased by demanding

additional dowry and he always used to come to home in

drunken condition. He forced the deceased to drink alcohol

by forcing it down her throat. In the year 2019, when the

deceased fallen sick due to stress, petitioner No.1 mislead the

doctors and given unnecessary steroid dosages. Therefore,

the allegations leveled against the petitioners are serious in

nature. Further, a perusal of the record reveals that the

investigation is not yet concluded and without investigation,

this Court cannot conclude that it is a false case and the

cause of death has to be investigated by the Police.