Court: Bombay High Court
Bench: JUSTICE P.D. Kode
Sandesh & Ors. Vs. State Of Maharashtra & Anr. On 24 July 2013
Law Point:
Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Sections 494, 498A, 323, 34 — Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 482 — Bigamy — Cruelty — Hurt — Common Intention — Quashing of proceedings — Material on record does not denote act of omission and commission on part of applicants showing their involvement in commission of offences for which they are charge-sheeted — Applicant-accused acquitted from allegations of commission of such offences.
JUDGEMENT
Heard Mr. N.B. Kalwaghe, learned Counsel for the applicants, Mr. D.B. Patel, learned A.P.P. for respondent No. 1-State and Mr. J.Y. Ghurde, learned Counsel for respondent No. 2.
2. At the hearing of this application, the learned Counsel for the applicants submitted that instead of pressing this application for applicant No. 1-Sandesh Ramchandra Chavan, applicant No. 7-Manisha w/o Gajanan Rathod and applicant No. 9-Geeta w/o Madhukar Rathod, he is seeking leave to withdraw the application preferred for them with liberty to make an appropriate application for discharge before the Trial Court and for giving the direction to the Trial Court for deciding the same at the earliest and within some time bound period. The request is not objected by the learned Counsel for respondent No. 2 as well as learned A.P.P. for respondent No. 1-State.
3. In these circumstances, the application made by applicant Nos. 1, 7 and 9 is disposed of as withdrawn with liberty to the said applicants to apply for discharge before the Trial Court in accordance with the law. In event of such an application being preferred, the Trial Court shall decide the same at the earliest and in any event within a period of six months from today.
4. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. Heard finally with consent of the learned Counsel for the parties.
5. By the present application preferred by applicant No. 2-grand-father-in-law, applicant No. 3-cousin father-in-law, applicant No. 4-cousin father-in-law, applicant No. 5-cousin grand-father-in-law, applicant No. 6-husband of sister-in-law and applicant No. 8-husband of sister-in-law, of victim respondent No. 2 married with one Yogesh, have prayed for quashing and setting aside the proceeding against them. The said proceeding has emerged out of an investigation made by Sakharkherda Police Station upon the first information report lodged by respondent No. 2 against the said applicants and other persons named in her report for having committed the offences under Sections 498-A, 323, 494 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
6. In short, it is the case of respondent No. 2 that on 29.5.2008 she had married with Yogesh s/o Ramchandra Chavan, who is related to all these applicants. It is her case that she is having a daughter by name ‘Khushi’ out of the said wedlock. Unfortunately, the applicants and other persons named by her in the first information report commenced subjecting her with cruelty and she was also beaten by them. After investigation of the Crime No. 32/2012 registered upon first information report of Respondent No. 2, Sakharkherda Police Station submitted the charge sheet against the applicants and other persons for commission of the offences under Sections 498A, 323, 494 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
7. Mr. Kalwaghe, learned Counsel for the applicants, contended that he is not disputing that respondent No. 2 had every right to lodge report against the persons, who had allegedly subjected her to the cruelty and Sakharkherda Police Station having every right to submit the report against such persons whose involvement in the commission of the crime, as reported, was revealed during the investigation. He further contended that similarly there was nothing wrong on the part of the Trial Court in initiating the proceeding whose involvement in the commission of offences qua the victim was disclosed from the report submitted by Sakharkherda Police Station.
8. The learned Counsel further contended that, however, in the present case, the matter was not properly investigated by the police and the same has resulted in unnecessarily charge-sheeting the applicants. It is his submission that in all probability, due to the harassment allegedly received by respondent No. 2, she tried to rope the applicants along with her other relatives who might have indulged in acts of omission and commission of causing her harassment, cruelty to her as felt by her. It is submitted that the material in the charge-sheet clearly reveals that the applicants have been roped in a case and their prosecution on the basis of material either of vague nature or failing to reveal their involvement in commission of offences alleged is totally uncalled for. The learned Counsel submitted that considering material in the charge-sheet, it is clear that allegations are confined of the alleged acts being committed at the matrimonial house of respondent No. 2 at Hanwatkhed. It is submitted that all these applicants are residing separately and none of the applicants were residing at the matrimonial house of respondent No. 2, except applicant No. 2 Keshav.
9. It is urged that considering such nature of material as revealed from charge-sheet, continuing proceeding against them would be sheer abuse of the process of law and as such the proceeding instituted against them deserves to be quashed and set aside.
10. After careful perusal of the material in the charge-sheet shown to the Court by the learned Counsel for respondent No. 2, prima facie there appears substance in the said submissions canvassed. Though Mr. Ghurde, learned Counsel for respondent No. 2 attempted to lay his finger upon the material in the first information report as well as the statements of Bharat Ramrao Rathod and Sau. Sushila Ramrao Rathod respectively brother and mother of the victim-first informant. After careful perusal of said statement, prima facie, it is difficult to accept that the said material denotes act of omission and commission on part of the applicants showing their involvement in commission of offences for which they are charge-sheeted.
11. Mr. Patel, learned APP for respondent No. 1-State, was not able to point out any material prima facie showing involvement of the applicants in commission of offences alleged against them. In such state of affairs and having due regard to the tendency developed in present days of roping in as many as possible other relatives of the husband in such type of prosecution and the same being not permissible in law, which demands and/or permits only continuing the prosecution against those persons about whom the material is collected during course of investigation showing their involvement in commission of offences, the prayer made in the application deserves consideration.
12. Since the application is considered for the reliefs against some of the applicant-accused and the relevant aspects qua other accused is for consideration of the Trial Court, the detail dilation regarding the material in the charge-sheet is avoided and the limited observations are made, with a view to avoid causing of any prejudice to either of the party before the Trial Court.
13. Hence, criminal prosecution initiated against the applicants i.e. applicant No. 2-Keshav s/o Thawara Chavan, applicant No. 3-Devidas s/o Keshav Chavan, applicant No. 4-Bansi s/o Chandu Chavan, applicant No. 5-Vittal s/o Ramu Chavan, applicant No. 6-Gajanan s/o Raysingh Rathod and applicant No. 8-Madhukar s/o Padamsingh Rathod, is hereby quashed and set aside.
14. The said applicant-accused stand acquitted from the allegations of commission of such offences. The bail bonds, if any, being furnished by them and their sureties stand cancelled. Needless to add that the prosecution initiated against the other applicants-accused to continue.
15. Rule is made absolute in the aforesaid terms. No costs.
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