Penal Code, 1860 – ss.498A, 323, 504, 506 r/w s.34 – Ingredients of – When not made out – Complaint filed by respondent no.2-wife making vague allegations alleging dowry demand and threat by the appellants (step mother-in-law, step brother-in-law, father-in-law and one other person) to deny her and her husband a share in the property – Petition u/s.482, CrPC filed by the appellants for quashing, dismissed by High Court – Correctness:
Held: Impugned judgment set aside – Criminal proceedings were filed with mala fide intention only to harass the appellants – Though all the allegations related to demand of dowry, the complainant chose not to involve her husband in the criminal proceedings – Complainant and her husband distributed amongst themselves, the institution of civil and criminal proceedings against the appellants with the husband instituting the civil suit and the complainant filing criminal proceedings – The provocation for the Complaint/FIR was essentially the property dispute between father and son and it intended only to further their interest of the civil dispute – Allegations made were general, vague, and omnibus and lacked in particulars and details – The essence of the complaint was in the alleged threat to deprive the husband any share in the property with respect to which the husband had already filed the suit for declaration – No offence made out on the basis of vague and unclear allegations – Further, the domestic violence complaint filed by respondent no.2 with identical allegations was also rejected as being false and untenable – None of the ingredients of ss.498A, 323, 504, 506 r/w s.34 made out, criminal proceedings against the appellants are abuse of process of law – FIR and chargesheet quashed. [Paras 13-15, 17, 18]
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s.482 – Constitution of India – Article 226 – Duty of the court, when complaint/FIR is frivolous/vexatious/instituted with ulterior motive or is civil in nature – Discussed.
Quashing – Of criminal proceedings after filing of charge sheet – Permissibility:
Held: There is no prohibition against quashing of the criminal proceedings even after the filing of charge sheet. [Para 16]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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