Allahabad High Court
Narendra Kumar Gupta @ Tinku vs State Of U.P. on 17 February, 2021
Author: Manju Rani Chauhan
Bench: Manju Rani Chauhan
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD Court No. - 81 Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 693 of 2021 Applicant :- Narendra Kumar Gupta @ Tinku Opposite Party :- State of U.P. Counsel for Applicant :- Pawan Kumar Singh Kaushik,Beerendra Singh Pal Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A. Hon'ble Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan,J.
1. Supplementary affidavit filed today by learned counsel for the applicant is taken on record, stating therein his separate living of his brother and the deceased.
2. Heard Sri Pawan Kumar Singh Kaushik, learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A. for the State as well as perused the entire material available on record. Learned counsel for the parties agree that the present application may be disposed of at this stage without calling for any further affidavits.
3. This application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed for quashing the impugned charge sheet no. 290-A of 2020 dated 1.7.2020 as well as cognizance order dated 01.07.2020 in Case No. 1229 of 2020 (State vs. Narendra Kumar Gupta @ Tinku and others) arising out of Case Crime No. 327 of 2019, under Sections 498-A, 304-B IPC and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Kotwali, District Ballia, pending in the Court of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ballia.
4. Before addressing on the legal aspects of the case, which have been raised, before this Court, it would be worthwhile to record the following relevant facts for deciding the present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C.:
Brief facts of the case are that a first information report has been lodged on 21.08.2019 at 23.23 p.m. by the first informant namely, Vinod Kumar Gupta, father of the deceased against the seven named accused persons including the present applicant alleging therein that, on 06.05.2013, the marriage of daughter of informant, namely, Sangeeta Gupta was solemnized with Virendra Kumar Gupta as per Hindu Rituals and Rites and sufficient money was given as per the capacity to in-laws by the parents of the deceased at the time of the marriage of his daughter. But the in-laws were not satisfied with the aforesaid dowry and soon after the marriage, they started torturing/harassing the daughter of the informant for non fulfilment of additional demand of dowry and finally she expired on 20.08.2018. Hence the first information report was lodged against the accused persons including the applicant namely, Narendra Kumar Gupta @ Tinku (brother-in-law) (Devar), Virendra Kumar Gupta (husband), Beena Gupta (mother-in-law), Arvind Gupta (brother-in-law), Ravindra Gupta (brother-in-law (Jeth), Vandana Gupta (sister-in-law) (Jethani) and Reeta Gupta (sister-in-law) (Jethani) of opposite party no.2 respectively. After lodging of the FIR, the Investigating Officer proceeded by preparing inquest report on 20.08.2019 and post mortem of the body of the deceased was conducted 21.08.2019.
After recording the statements of the witnesses and collecting the other documentary as well as oral evidence in view of the provisions of Chapter-XII Cr.P.C. the Police submitted a charge-sheet dated 01.07.2020 against seven accused persons, namely, Beena Gupta, Virendra Kumar Gupta, Arvind Gupta, Ravindra Gupta, Tinku Gupta (the applicant herein), Vandana Gupta and Reeta Gupta under Sections 498-A, 304-B I.P.C. as also under Sections 3/4 D.P. Act. Upon submission of the aforesaid charge-sheet dated 01.07.2020, the cognizance was taken by the Court concerned and the case was committed to the Court of Sessions by taking cognizance vide Order dated 01.07.2020 and by the same order, all the charge-sheeted accused persons have been summoned.
The applicant, who is also a charge-sheeted accused, has already been enlarged on bail in the aforesaid case by a Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 09.11.20209 passed in Criminal Misc. Bail Application No. 34197 of 2020 (Narendra Kumar Gupta @ Tinku).
5. Learned counsel for the applicant has made the following submissions:
(I) The applicant is the brother-in-law (Devar) of the deceased and he has no concern whatsoever with day-to-day affairs between his brother and the deceased. The applicant has not harassed/ tortured for demand of dowry. Hence he has wrongly been charge sheeted without there being any credible evidence against him. The complainant/informant has falsely roped the entire family members of the applicant. The Investigating Officer, after investigation, has submitted the charge-sheet against the applicant and has exonerated the other accused persons, which makes the prosecution case doubtful.
(II) The applicant is living separately from his brother and deceased. The allegation for additional demand of dowry is false, concocted and engineered. It has been made only in order to falsely implicate the applicant and his entire family members. Prior to the institution of the first information report, there has been no complaint for any kind of dowry or maltreatment by the informant or her daughter (deceased) against the applicant or his family members.
(III) He has further submitted that the present criminal proceedings initiated against the applicant are not only malicious but also amount to an abuse of the process of the court of law. On the cumulative strength of the aforesaid submissions, it is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that the proceedings of the above mentioned criminal case are liable to be quashed by this Court.
6. Per contra, Mr. Pankaj Srivastava, learned A.G.A. for the State has opposed the prayer made by the learned counsel for the applicant by contending that prima facie case for the alleged offence is made out against the applicant. He further submits that the applicant has been rightly charge sheeted as the death of the deceased in unnatural, therefore, from the evidence collected and on the basis of the statement of the witnesses, charge sheet has rightly been submitted against the applicant. There is consistency in the prosecution story as unfolded in the first information report and statements of the informant under Section 161 Cr.P.C. The medical examination report of the victim also corroborates the prosecution story. There are specific allegations made against the applicant and his parents qua the demand of dowry. All the submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicant are only for grant of bail to the applicant during the course of trial and not for quashing of the charge-sheet and the entire proceedings of the aforesaid criminal case. The correctness or otherwise of the aforesaid submissions of the learned counsel for the applicants can only be examined after framing of charge against the applicant. At this pre-trial stage, the same cannot be examined.
Lastly, the learned A.G.A. states that this High Court may not quash the entire criminal proceedings under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for which he has relied upon the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Mohd. Allauddin Khan Vs. The State of Bihar & Others reported in 2019 0 Supreme (SC) 454, wherein the Apex Court has held that the High Court had no jurisdiction to appreciate the evidence of the proceedings under Section 482 Cr.P.C. because whether there are contradictions or/and inconsistencies in the statements of the witnesses is an essential issue relating to appreciation of evidence and the same can be gone into by the Judicial Magistrate during trial when the entire evidence is adduced by the parties. However, in the present case the said state is yet to come.
Learned A.G.A. has further relied upon the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Rajeev Kaurav Vs. Balasahab & Others reported in 2020 0 Supreme (SC) 143, wherein the Apex Court has held that it is no more res integra that exercise of power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash a criminal proceeding is only when an allegation made in the FIR or the charge sheet constitutes the ingredients of the offence/offences alleged. Interference by the High Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is to prevent the abuse of process of any law or Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice. It is settled law that the evidence produced by the accused in his defence cannot be looked into by the Court, except in very exceptional circumstances, at the initial stage of the criminal proceedings. It is trite law that the High Court cannot embark upon the appreciation of evidence while considering the petition filed under Section 482 CrPC for quashing criminal proceedings. It is clear from the law laid down by this Court that if a prima facie case is made out disclosing the ingredients of the offence alleged against the accused, the Court cannot quash a criminal proceeding.
The learned A.G.A. further relied upon the judgments of this Court in the cases of V.K. Rai & Another Vs. State & Another passed in Application U/S 482 No. 3707 of 2004, decided on 29th April, 2019 and Sri Rudra Prakash Tiwari @ Raju Tiwari & Another Vs. State of U.P. & Another passed in Application U/S 482 No. 12608 of 2020 decided on 6th October, 2020.
On the cumulative strength of the aforesaid submissions, learned A.G.A. states that this Court may not exercise its inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. in the present case, and hence the present application is liable to be rejected.
7. I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and gone through the records of the present application.
8. This Court finds substance in the contention raised by the learned A.G.A. that prima facie case for the alleged offence is made out against the applicant. There is consistency in the prosecution story as unfolded in the first information report and statements of the informant under Section 161 Cr.P.C. The medical examination report of the victim also corroborates the prosecution story. There are specific allegations made against the applicants and his parents qua the demand of dowry. All the submissions made by the learned counsel for the applicant are only for grant of bail to the applicants during the course of trial and not for quashing of the charge-sheet and the entire proceedings of the aforesaid criminal case. The correctness or otherwise of the aforesaid submissions of the learned counsel for the applicant can only be examined after the framing of charge against the applicants. At this pre-trial stage the same cannot be examined. Even otherwise, the applicant has already been enlarged on bail by a Coordinate Bench of this Court.
9. This Court also finds that the applicant is not only a named accused but also a charge-sheeted accused. The offences complained of against the applicant are under Sections 498-A, 304-B I.P.C. as also under Sections 3/4 D.P. Act, therefore, the presumption is available to the prosecution, as the death of the deceased was within seven years of her marriage. Consequently, the applicant is under heavy burden to explain as to why the deceased had taken extreme step of committing suicide by hanging herself. However, upto this stage, according to the learned A.G.A., the applicants have completely failed to discharge the said burden. The burden to proof regarding the innocence of the applicant, which is required under Sections 106 and 113-B of the Indian Evidence Act, remains undischarged, as the applicants has not been able to explain as to how occurrence has taken place. It is further submitted that specific allegations of demand of dowry have been made in the first information report as well as in the statement of the first informant. Therefore, the allegations with regard to demand of dowry and the commission of cruelty upon the deceased for non-fulfilment of the alleged demand of dowry has been attributed to all the accused including the present applicant, who are direct beneficiary of the said demand of dowry. Whatever be the circumstances, it was an unnatural death, but even if it is a case of suicide, then too it would be death which had occurred in unnatural circumstances. Even in that eventuality, Section 304-B I.P.C. is attracted and this position is not disputed.
10. This Court comes on the issue whether it is appropriate for this Court being the Highest Court to exercise its jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash the charge-sheet and the proceedings at the stage when the Magistrate has merely issued process against the applicant and trial is to yet to come only on the submission made by the learned counsel for the applicant that present criminal case initiated by opposite party no.2 are not only malicious but also abuse of process of law. The aforesaid issue has elaborately been discussed by the Apex Court in the following judgments:
(i) R.P. Kapur Versus State of Punjab; AIR 1960 SC 866,
(ii) State of Haryana & Ors. Versus Ch. Bhajan Lal & Ors.;1992 Supp.(1) SCC 335,
(iii) State of Bihar & Anr. Versus P.P. Sharma & Anr.; 1992 Supp (1) SCC 222,
(iv) Zandu Pharmaceuticals Works Ltd. & Ors. Versus Mohammad Shariful Haque & Anr.; 2005 (1) SCC 122, and
(v) M. N. Ojha Vs. Alok Kumar Srivastava; 2009 (9) SCC 682.
11. In the case of R.P. Kapur (Supra), the following has been observed by the Apex Court in paragraph 6:
"Before dealing with the merits of the appeal it is necessary to consider the nature and scope of the inherent power of the High Court under s. 561 -A of the Code. The said section saves the inherent power of the High Court to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Code or to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice. There is no doubt that this inherent power cannot be exercised in regard to matters specifically covered by the other provisions of the Code. In the present case the magistrate before whom the police report has been filed under s. 173 of the Code has yet not applied his mind to the merits of the said report and it may be assumed in favour of the appellant that his request for the quashing of the proceedings is not at the present stage covered by any specific provision of the Code. It is well-established that the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court can be exercised to quash proceedings in a proper case either to prevent the abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice. Ordinarily criminal proceedings instituted against an accused person must be tried under the provisions of the Code, and the High Court would be reluctant to interfere with the said proceedings at an interlocutory stage. It is not possible, desirable or expedient to lay down any inflexible rule which would govern the exercise of this inherent jurisdiction. However, we may indicate some categories of cases where the inherent jurisdiction can and should be exercised for quashing the proceedings. There may be cases where it may be possible for the High Court to take the view that the institution or continuance of criminal proceedings against an accused person may amount to the abuse of the process of the court or that the quashing of the impugned proceedings would secure the ends of justice. If the criminal proceeding in question is in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by an accused person and it manifestly appears that there is a legal bar against the institution or continuance of the said proceeding the High Court would be justified in quashing the proceeding on that ground.
Absence of the requisite sanction may, for instance, furnish cases under this category. Cases may also arise where the allegations in the First Information Report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, do not constitute the offence alleged; in such cases no question of appreciating evidence arises; it is a matter merely of looking at the complaint or the First Information Report to decide whether the offence alleged is disclosed or not. In such cases, it would be legitimate for the High Court to hold that it would be manifestly unjust to allow the process of the criminal court to be issued against the accused person. A third category of cases in which the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court can be successfully invoked may also arise. In cases falling under this category the allegations made against the accused person do constitute an offence alleged but there is either no legal evidence adduced in support of the case or evidence adduced clearly or manifestly fails to prove the charge. In dealing with this class of cases it is important to bear in mind the distinction between a case where there is no legal evidence or where there is evidence which is manifestly and clearly inconsistent with the accusation made and cases where there is legal evidence which on its appreciation may or may not support the accusation in question. In exercising its jurisdiction under s. 561-A the High Court would not embark upon an enquiry as to whether the evidence in question is reliable or not. That is the function of the trial magistrate, and ordinarily it would not be open to any party to invoke the High Court's inherent jurisdiction and' contend that on a reasonable appreciation of the evidence the accusation made against the accused would not be sustained. Broadly stated that is the nature and scope of the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court under s. 561-A in the matter of quashing criminal proceedings, and that is the effect of the judicial decisions on the point (Vide: In Re: Shripad G. Chandavarkar AIR 1928 Bom 184, Jagat Ohandra Mozumdar v. Queen Empress ILR 26 Cal 786), Dr. Shanker Singh v. The State of Punjab 56 Pun LR 54 : (AIR 1954 Punj 193), Nripendra Bhusan Ray v. Govind Bandhu Majumdar, AIR 1924 Cal 1018 and Ramanathan Chettiyar v. K. Sivarama Subrahmanya Ayyar ILR 47 Mad 722: (AIR 1925 Mad 39)."
12. In the case of State of Haryana (Supra), the following has been observed by the Apex Court in paragraph 105:
"105. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Chapter XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by this Court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extra-ordinary power under Article 226 or the inherent powers Under Section 482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases 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 channelized and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae 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.
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 F.I.R. 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, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party.
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."
13. In the case of State of Bihar (Supra), the following has been observed by the Apex Court in paragraph 22. :-
"The question of mala fide exercise of power assumes significance only when the criminal prosecution is initiated on extraneous considerations and for an unauthorized purpose. There is no material whatsoever is this case to show that on the date when the FIR was lodged by R.K. Singh he was activated by bias or had any reason to act maliciously. The dominant purpose of registering the case against the respondents was to have an investigation done into the allegations contained in the FIR and in the event of there being sufficient material in support of the allegations to present the charge sheet before the court. There is no material to show that the dominant object of registering the case was the character assassination of the respondents or to harass and humiliate them. This Court in State of Bihar v J.A.C. Saldhana and Ors., [1980] 2 SCR 16 has held that when the information is lodged at the police station and an offence is registered, the mala fides of the informant would be of secondary importance. It is the material collected during the investigation which decides the fate of the accused person. This Court in State of Haryana and Ors. v. Ch. Bhajan Lal and Ors., J.T. 1990 (4) S.C. 650 permitted the State Government to hold investigation afresh against Ch. Bhajan Lal inspite of the fact the prosecution was lodged at the instance of Dharam Pal who was enimical towards Bhajan Lal."
14. In the case of Zandu Pharmaceuticals Works Ltd. (Supra), the following has been observed by the Apex Court in paragraphs nos. 8 to 12:
"8. Exercise of power under Section 482 of the Code in a case of this nature is the exception and not the rule. The Section does not confer any new powers on the High Court. It only saves the inherent power which the Court possessed before the enactment of the Code. It envisages 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. It is neither possible nor desirable to lay down any inflexible rule which would govern the exercise of inherent jurisdiction. No legislative enactment dealing with procedure can provide for all cases that may possibly arise. Courts, therefore, have inherent powers apart from express provisions of law which are necessary for proper discharge of functions and duties imposed upon them by law. That is the doctrine which finds expression in the section which merely recognizes and preserves inherent powers of the High Courts. All courts, whether civil or criminal possess, in the absence of any express provision, as inherent in their constitution, all such powers as are necessary to do the right and to undo a wrong in course of administration of justice on the principle "quando lex aliquid alicui concedit, concedere videtur et id sine quo res ipsae esse non potest" (when the law gives a person anything it gives him that without which it cannot exist). While exercising powers under the section, the court does not function as a court of appeal or revision. Inherent jurisdiction under the section though wide has to be exercised sparingly, carefully and with caution and only when such exercise is justified by the tests specifically laid down in the section itself. It is to be exercised ex debito justitiae to do real and substantial justice for the administration of which alone courts exist. Authority of the court exists for advancement of justice and if any attempt is made to abuse that authority so as to produce injustice, the court has power to prevent abuse. It would be an abuse of process of the court to allow any action which would result in injustice and prevent promotion of justice.
In exercise of the powers court would be justified to quash any proceeding if it finds that initiation/continuance of it amounts to abuse of the process of court or quashing of these proceedings would otherwise serve the ends of justice. When no offence is disclosed by the complaint, the court may examine the question of fact. When a complaint is sought to be quashed, it is permissible to look into the materials to assess what the complainant has alleged and whether any offence is made out even if the allegations are accepted in toto.
9. In R. P. Kapur v. State of Punjab (AIR 1960 SC 866) this Court summarized some categories of cases where inherent power can and should be exercised to quash the proceedings.
(i) where it manifestly appears that there is a legal bar 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.
10. In dealing with the last case, it is important to bear in mind the distinction between a case where there is no legal evidence or where there is evidence which is clearly inconsistent with the accusations made, and a case where there is legal evidence which, on appreciation, may or may not support the accusations. When exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code, the High Court would not ordinarily embark upon an enquiry whether the evidence in question is reliable or not or whether on a reasonable appreciation of it accusation would not be sustained. That is the function of the trial Judge. Judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression, or, needless harassment. Court should be circumspect and judicious in exercising discretion and should take all relevant facts and circumstances into consideration before issuing process, lest it would be an instrument in the hands of a private complainant to unleash vendetta to harass any person needlessly. At the same time the section is not an instrument handed over to an accused to short-circuit a prosecution and bring about its sudden death.
11. The scope of exercise of power under Section 482 of the Code and the categories of cases where the High Court may exercise its power under it relating to cognizable offences to prevent abuse of process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice were set out in some detail by this Court in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal (1992 Supp (1) 335). A note of caution was, however, added that the power should be exercised sparingly and that too in rarest of rare cases. The illustrative categories indicated by this Court are as follows:
"(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.
(2) Where the allegations in the first information report and other materials, if any, accompanying the FIR 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 Act concerned (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 Act concerned, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party.
(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."
As noted above, the powers possessed by the High Court under Section 482 of the Code are very wide and the very plenitude of the power requires great caution in its exercise. Court must be careful to see that its decision in exercise of this power is based on sound principles. The inherent power should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate prosecution. The High Court being the highest court of a State 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 magnitude and cannot be seen in their true perspective without sufficient material. Of course, no hard-and-fast rule can be laid down in regard to cases in which the High Court will exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction of quashing the proceeding at any stage. (See: Janata Dal v. H. S. Chowdhary (1992 (4) SCC 305), and Raghubir Saran (Dr.) v. State of Bihar (AIR 1964 SC 1). It would not be proper for the High Court to analyse the case of the complainant in the light of all probabilities in order to determine whether a conviction would be sustainable and on such premises arrive at a conclusion that the proceedings are to be quashed. It would be erroneous to assess the material before it and conclude that the complaint cannot be proceeded with. In a proceeding instituted on complaint, exercise of the inherent powers to quash the proceedings is called for only in a case where the complaint does not disclose any offence or is frivolous, vexatious or oppressive. If the allegations set out in the complaint do not constitute the offence of which cognizance has been taken by the Magistrate, it is open to the High Court to quash the same in exercise of the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code. It is not, however, necessary that there should be meticulous analysis of the case before the trial to find out whether the case would end in conviction or acquittal. The complaint has to be read as a whole. If it appears that on consideration of the allegations in the light of the statement made on oath of the complainant that the ingredients of the offence or offences are disclosed and there is no material to show that the complaint is mala fide, frivolous or vexatious, in that event there would be no justification for interference by the High Court. When an information is lodged at the police station and an offence is registered, then the mala fides of the informant would be of secondary importance. It is the material collected during the investigation and evidence led in court which decides the fate of the accused person. The allegations of mala fides against the informant are of no consequence and cannot by themselves be the basis for quashing the proceedings. (See: Dhanalakshmi v. R. Prasanna Kumar (1990 Supp SCC 686), State of Bihar v. P. P. Sharma (AIR 1996 SC 309), Rupan Deol Bajaj v. Kanwar Pal Singh Gill (1995 (6) SCC 194), State of Kerala v. O. C. Kuttan (AIR 1999 SC 1044), State of U.P. v. O. P. Sharma (1996 (7) SCC 705), Rashmi Kumar v. Mahesh Kumar Bhada (1997 (2) SCC 397), Satvinder Kaur v. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) (AIR 1996 SC 2983) and Rajesh Bajaj v. State NCT of Delhi (1999 (3) SCC 259.
12. The above position was recently highlighted in State of Karnataka v. M. Devendrappa and Another (2002 (3) SCC 89)."
(Emphasis added)
15. Thereafter, in the case of M.N. Ojha Vs. Alok Kumar Srivastava, reported in 2009 (9) SCC 682 has made observations in paragraphs 25, 27, 28, 29 and 30 regarding the exercise of power under section 482 Cr.P.C. as well as the principles governing the exercise of such jurisdiction:-
"25. Had the learned SDJM applied his mind to the facts and circumstances and sequence of events and as well as the documents filed by the complainant himself along with the complaint, surely he would have dismissed the complaint. He would have realized that the complaint was only a counter blast to the FIR lodged by the Bank against the complainant and others with regard to same transaction.
26. This Court in Pepsi Foods Ltd. & Anr. Vs. Special Judicial Magistrate & Ors. [(1998)5 SCC 749 held:
"28. Summoning of an accused in a criminal case is a serious matter. Criminal law cannot be set into motion as a matter of course. It is not that the complainant has to bring only two witnesses to support his allegations in the complaint to have the criminal law set into motion. The order of the Magistrate summoning the accused must reflect that he has applied his mind to the facts of the case and the law applicable thereto. He has to examine the nature of allegations made in the complaint and the evidence both oral and documentary in support thereof and would that be sufficient for the complainant to succeed in bringing charge home to the accused. It is not that the Magistrate is a silent spectator at the time of recording of preliminary evidence before summoning of the accused. The Magistrate has to carefully scrutinise the evidence brought on record and may even himself put questions to the complainant and his witnesses to elicit answers to find out the truthfulness of the allegations or otherwise and then examine if any offence is prima facie committed by all or any of the accused."
27. The case on hand is a classic illustration of non-application of mind by the learned Magistrate. The learned Magistrate did not scrutinize even the contents of the complaint, leave aside the material documents available on record. The learned Magistrate truly was a silent spectator at the time of recording of preliminary evidence before summoning the appellants.
28. The High Court committed a manifest error in disposing of the petition filed by the appellants under Section 482 of the Code without even adverting to the basic facts which were placed before it for its consideration.
29. It is true that the court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure cannot go into the truth or otherwise of the allegations and appreciate the evidence if any available on record. Normally, the High Court would not intervene in the criminal proceedings at the preliminary stage/when the investigation/enquiry is pending.
30. Interference by the High Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure can only be where a clear case for such interference is made out. Frequent and uncalled for interference even at the preliminary stage by the High Court may result in causing obstruction in progress of the inquiry in a criminal case which may not be in the public interest. But at the same time the High Court cannot refuse to exercise its jurisdiction if the interest of justice so required where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint are so absurd and inherently improbable on the basis of which no fair-minded and informed observer can ever reach a just and proper conclusion as to the existence of sufficient grounds for proceeding. In such cases refusal to exercise the jurisdiction may equally result in injustice more particularly in cases where the Complainant sets the criminal law in motion with a view to exert pressure and harass the persons arrayed as accused in the complaint."
(Emphasis added)
16. In the case of Md. Allauddin Khan (Supra), which has been relied upon by the learned A.G.A. for the State, the Apex Court has held that the High Court had no jurisdiction to appreciate the evidence in proceedings under Section 482 Cr.P.C. The relevant paragraph nos. 15 to 17 are being quoted herein below:
"15. The High Court should have seen that when a specific grievance of the appellant in his complaint was that respondent Nos. 2 and 3 have committed the offences punishable under Sections 323, 379 read with Section 34 IPC, then the question to be examined is as to whether there are allegations of commission of these two offences in the complaint or not. In other words, in order to see whether any prima facie case against the accused for taking its cognizable is made out or not, the Court is only required to see the allegations made in the complaint. In the absence of any finding recorded by the High Court on this material question, the impugned order is legally unsustainable.
16. The second error is that the High Court in para 6 held that there are contradictions in the statements of the witnesses on the point of occurrence.
17. In our view, the High Court had no jurisdiction to appreciate the evidence of the proceedings under Section 482 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short "Cr.P.C.") because whether there are contradictions or/and inconsistencies in the statements of the witnesses is essentially an issue relating to appreciation of evidence and the same can be gone into by the Judicial Magistrate during trial when the entire evidence is adduced by the parties. That stage is yet to come in this case."
(Emphasis added)
17. The Apex Court in its another judgment in the case of Nallapareddy Sridhar Reddy Vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. reported in 2020 0 Supreme (SC) 45, dealing with a case under Sections 406 and 420 I.P.C. has observed that the Court does not have to delve deep into probative value of evidence regarding the charge. It has only to see if a prima facie case has been made out. Veracity of deposition/material is a matter of trial and not required to be examined while framing charge. The Apex Court further observed that the veracity of the depositions made by the witnesses is a question of trial and need not be determined at the time of framing of charge. Appreciation of evidence on merit is to be done by the court only after the charges have been framed and the trial has commenced. However, for the purpose of framing of charge the court needs to prima facie determine that there exists sufficient material for the commencement of trial. The Apex Court in paragraph nos. 21, 22 and 24 has observed as follows:
"21 The appellant has relied upon a two-judge Bench decision of this Court in Onkar Nath Mishra vs. State (Nct Of Delhi) & Anr, (2008) 2 SCC 561 to substantiate the point that the ingredients of Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC have not been established. This Court while dealing with the nature of evaluation by a court at the stage of framing of charge, held thus:
"11. It is trite that at the stage of framing of charge the court is required to evaluate the material and documents on record with a view to finding out if the facts emerging there from, taken at their face value, disclosed the existence of all the ingredients constituting the alleged offence. At that stage, the court is not expected to go deep into the probative value of the material on record. What needs to be considered is whether there is a ground for presuming that the offence has been committed and not a ground for convicting the accused has been made out. At that stage, even strong suspicion founded on material which leads the court to form a presumptive opinion as to the existence of the factual ingredients constituting the offence alleged would justify the framing of charge against the accused in respect of the commission of that offence."
(Emphasis supplied)
22. In the present case, the High Court while directing the framing the additional charges has evaluated the material and evidence brought on record after investigation and held:
"LW1 is the father of the de facto complainant, who states that his son in law i.e., the first accused promised that he would look after his daughter at United Kingdom (UK) and promised to provide Doctor job at UK and claimed Rs.5 lakhs for the said purpose and received the same and he took his daughter to the UK. He states that his son-in-law made him believe and received Rs.5 lakhs in the presence of elders. He states that he could not mention about the cheating done by his son-in- law, when he was examined earlier. LW13, who is an independent witness, also supports the version of LW1 and states that Rs.5 lakhs were received by A1 with a promise that he would secure doctor job to the complainant's daughter. He states that A1 cheated LW1, stating that he would provide job and received Rs.5 lakhs. LW14, also is an independent witness and he supported the version of LW13. He further states that A1 left his wife and child in India and went away after receiving Rs.5 lakhs.
Hence, from the above facts, stated by LWs. 13 and 14, prima facie, the version of LW1 that he gave Rs.5 lakhs to A1 on a promise that he would provide a job to his daughter and that A1 did not provide any job and cheated him, receives support from LWs. 13 and 14. When the amount is entrusted to A1, with a promise to provide a job and when he fails to provide the job and does not return the amount, it can be made out that A1 did not have any intention to provide job to his wife and that he utilised the amount for a purpose other than the purpose for which he collected the amount from LW1, which would suffice to attract the offences under Sections 406 and 420 IPC. Whether there is truth in the improved version of LW.1 and what have been the reasons for his lapse in not stating the same in his earlier statement, can be adjudicated at the time of trial.
It is also evidence from the record that the additional charge sheet filed by the investigating officer, missed the attention of the lower court due to which the additional charges could not be framed."
(Emphasis supplied)
24. The veracity of the depositions made by the witnesses is a question of trial and need not be determined at the time of framing of charge. Appreciation of evidence on merit is to be done by the court only after the charges have been framed and the trial has commenced. However, for the purpose of framing of charge the court needs to prima facie determine that there exists sufficient material for the commencement of trial. The High Court has relied upon the materials on record and concluded that the ingredients of the offences under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC are attracted. The High Court has spelt out the reasons that have necessitated the addition of the charge and hence, the impugned order does not warrant any interference."
(Emphasis added)
18. The Apex Court in its latest judgment in the case of Rajeev Kourav (Supra), which has been heavily relied upon by the learned A.G.A., has clearly held that the conclusion of the High Court to quash the criminal proceedings on the basis of its assessment of the statements recorded under Section 161 Cr.P.C. is not permissible as the evidence of the accused cannot be looked into before the stage of trial. The relevant portions whereof read as follows:
"6. It is no more res integra that exercise of power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash a criminal proceeding is only when an allegation made in the FIR or the charge sheet constitutes the ingredients of the offence/offences alleged. Interference by the High Court under Section 482 CrPC is to prevent the abuse of process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice. It is settled law that the evidence produced by the accused in his defence cannot be looked into by the Court, except in very exceptional circumstances, at the initial stage of the criminal proceedings. It is trite law that the High Court cannot embark upon the appreciation of evidence while considering the petition filed under Section 482 CrPC for quashing criminal proceedings. It is clear from the law laid down by this Court that if a prima facie case is made out disclosing the ingredients of the offence alleged against the accused, the Court cannot quash a criminal proceeding.
7. Mr. Shoeb Alam, learned counsel appearing for Respondent Nos.1 to 3 relied upon several judgments of this Court to submit that allegations only disclose a case of harassment meted out to the deceased. The ingredients of Section 306 and 107 IPC have not been made out. It is submitted that there is nothing on record to show that the Respondents have abetted the commission of suicide by the deceased. He further argued that abetment as defined under Section 107 IPC is instigation which is missing in the complaint made by the Appellant. He further argued that if the allegations against Respondent Nos.1 to 3 are not prima facie made out, there is no reason why they should face a criminal trial.
8. We do not agree with the submissions made on behalf of Respondent Nos.1 to 3. The conclusion of the High Court to quash the criminal proceedings is on the basis of its assessment of the statements recorded under Section 161 CrPC. Statements of witnesses recorded under Section 161CrPC being wholly inadmissible in evidence cannot be taken into consideration by the Court, while adjudicating a petition filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
9. Moreover, the High Court was aware that one of the witnesses mentioned that the deceased informed him about the harassment meted out by Respondent Nos.1 to 3 which she was not able to bear and hence wanted to commit suicide. The High Court committed an error in quashing criminal proceedings by assessing the statements under Section 161 Cr. P.C.
10. We have not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter. The High Court ought not to have quashed the proceedings at this stage, scuttling a full-fledged trial in which Respondent Nos.1 to 3 would have a fair opportunity to prove their innocence."
(Emphasis supplied)
19. In view of the aforesaid, this Court finds that the submissions made by the applicants' learned counsel call for adjudication on pure questions of fact which may adequately be adjudicated upon only by the trial court and while doing so even the submissions made on points of law can also be more appropriately gone into by the trial court in this case. This Court does not deem it proper, and therefore cannot be persuaded to have a pre-trial before the actual trial begins. A threadbare discussion of various facts and circumstances, as they emerge from the allegations made against the accused, is being purposely avoided by the Court for the reason, lest the same might cause any prejudice to either side during trial. But it shall suffice to observe that the perusal of the F.I.R. and the material collected by the Investigating Officer on the basis of which the charge sheet has been submitted makes out a prima facie case against the accused at this stage and there appear to be sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. I do not find any justification to quash the charge sheet or the proceedings against the applicant arising out of them as the case does not fall in any of the categories recognized by the Apex Court which may justify their quashing. All the judgments relied upon by the learned counsel for the applicants referred to above are clearly distinguishable in the facts of the present case.
20. The prayer for quashing the impugned charge-sheet as well as the entire proceedings of the aforesaid State case are refused, as I do not see any abuse of the court's process at this pre-trial stage.
21. The present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is, accordingly, rejected. There shall be no order as to costs.
Order Date :- 17.2.2021 Monika