Penal Code, 1860 – SS.343, 370 and 120B – Correctness of Rejection – No offence u/s.343 IPC – Allegations u/s.370 IPC diminished in the statement u/s.164 CrPC – Allegation u/s.120B IPC speculative:
Held: The High Court erred in rejecting Ajay Malik's quashing petition – The investigating agency failed to establish a prima facie case against Ajay Malik for the alleged offences – The allegations, even if taken as true, did not disclose the commission of an offence u/s.343 of the IPC, especially given the High Court's finding of an alternative exit being available to the complainant – Regarding s.370 of the IPC, the allegations against Ajay Malik diminished in the complainant's statement u/s.164 of the CrPC, and her no-objection affidavits consistently stated she was neither trafficked nor wrongfully confined by him – The charge under s.120B of the IPC was speculative, as the material on record showed minimal interaction between Ajay Malik and co-accused related only to hiring the domestic worker – The allegations were vague and the complainant's stance under oath that she was not illegally confined made proceeding to trial a futile exercise – The case was deemed fit for quashing. [Paras 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29] CrPC – S.320 – Rejection of Compounding Application – S.370 IPC not a compoundable offense u/s.320 CrPC:
Held: Ajay Malik sought compounding of the alleged offences based on the complainant's no-objection affidavit which stated the parties had amicably settled the dispute – S.320 of the CrPC lists compoundable offences but s.370 of the IPC is not included therein, and is therefore a non-compoundable offence – The High Court rejected the compounding application on this ground, and the Supreme Court agreed with this reasoning – However, the Court emphasized that a delicate balance ought to be struck in cases wherein the parties seek compounding of the offences – Though well-intentioned, an excessively moralistic order may unnecessarily prolong criminal proceedings, which have no logical conclusion and only serve to further distress the parties. [Paras 30, 31, 32] Criminal Trial – Discharge – Discharge of Ashok Kumar from criminal proceedings – Upheld in light of mitigating factors – No substantive justification for his inclusion: Held: The Court upheld the High Court's decision to allow Ashok Kumar's criminal revision and discharge him from the criminal proceedings – Ashok Kumar was not named in the initial FIR but was added in a supplementary chargesheet u/s.343 and 120B of the IPC – However, the court took note of several mitigating circumstances, firstly, there was no direct allegation against him by the complainant; secondly, his inclusion via a supplementary chargesheet was lacking substantive justification; and thirdly, that there exists no evidence to suggest that he ever visited the premises or was aware and acting in furtherance of any wrongful confinement of the Complainant – The Court also referenced its finding from Issue (1) regarding the alternative exit being available to the complainant, which negated the claim of wrongful confinement itself – Given the demonstrable lack of mens rea or direct involvement, the Court found his discharge well-founded and warranted no interference. [Paras 33, 34, 35, 36] Domestic Workers – Rights of – Existing legal framework – insufficient protection of domestic worker’s rights – Committee to be constituted – Submission of report within 6 months to introduce a legal framework:
Held: No, the existing legal framework in India does not sufficiently protect the rights of domestic workers – There have been several attempts through various bills to regulate their working conditions and provide social security, but none have materialized into tangible laws – The court directed the Ministry of Labour and Employment in tandem with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the Ministry of Law and Justice, to jointly constitute a committee comprising subject experts to consider the desirability of recommending a legal framework for the benefit, protection and regulation of the rights of domestic workers – The committee is to submit a report within
6 months for the Government of India to consider introducing such a legal framework. [Paras 39, 41, 49, 50, 55]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Harshit Anand, Hony. Associate Editor (Verified by: Kanu Agrawal, Adv.). Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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