TMI Blog2022 (4) TMI 1467X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... may have been initiated by reason of political vendetta is not in itself ground for quashing the criminal proceedings - It is a well established proposition of law that a criminal prosecution, if otherwise justified and based upon adequate evidence, does not become vitiated on account of mala fides or political vendetta of the first informant or complainant. The criminal proceedings cannot be nipped in the bud by exercise of jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. only because the complaint has been lodged by a political rival. It is possible that a false complaint may have been lodged at the behest of a political opponent. However, such possibility would not justify interference under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. to quash the criminal proceedings - Whether the allegations are true or untrue, would have to be decided in the trial. In exercise of power under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., the Court does not examine the correctness of the allegations in a complaint except in exceptionally rare cases where it is patently clear that the allegations are frivolous or do not disclose any offence. The Complaint Case No.19/2018 is not such a case which should be quashed at the incepti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oner No. 1 and the said Devendra Aggarwal had fought elections against each other several times. 3. Earlier, on or about 1st January 2010, Smt. Meera Devi, wife of the Respondent No.2 had filed a complaint before the District Magistrate, Mahamaya Nagar District (now Hathras District) stating that the Respondent No.2 had been abducted by the brothers of the Petitioner No. 1, to forcibly make him vote in favour of their party, in the MLC election of 2010. In the said complaint it was alleged that the Petitioner had abused the Respondent No.2 by his caste, using filthy language. 4. On the same day, that is, 1st January 2010, Devendra Aggarwal wrote a letter to the District Magistrate for release of the Respondent No.2. In the aforesaid letter, it was stated that the Petitioners had abused the Respondent No.2 in filthy language by reference to his caste. 5. On 2nd January 2010, Meera Devi filed an application in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, Sadabad, Hathras under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C ), being Complaint No. 412 of 2010 for directions on the Station House Officer (SHO) at Chandappa Police Station to register her Complaint of abduction ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in filthy language and asked his associates to drag him into the car which they could not do, as a crowd had gathered, and there was resistance put up. The Respondent No.2 prayed for direction on the SHO, Chandappa Police Station to register the case against the Petitioners. 12. The relevant averments in the said complaint are extracted hereinbelow for convenience:4 1. The applicant belongs to Dhobi caste a scheduled caste and is former BDC Member. 2. . 3. That on 01.09.2017, at about 2.45 or 3 P.M. in the afternoon, the opposite party no.1 Ramveer Upadhyay came to VillageBisana along with his convoy of vehicles and after seeing the Complainant started abusing of his caste and on the road, he said that Saley dhobi you had forgotten your position and your wings have come out and you are running up to Supreme Court. You will be sent at a place from where you will never come back. When the Complainant said you are doing your work and I am doing my work, Ramveer Upadhyay said to his associates that pull him and put him in the car, then opposite party no.2 Ranu Pandit and 67 other unknown persons, who can be identified by face, dragged the Complainant and with the int ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e High Court and prayed that entire proceedings in Complaint Case No. 19/2018 as well as the cognizance order dated 17th September 2021 be quashed. 18. By an order dated 5th January 2022, the High Court admitted the application under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. and stayed further proceedings in Complaint Case No.19/2018 pending in the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Court No.4, Hathras. 19. However, on 7th March 2022, the High Court passed the impugned judgment and order rejecting the application filed by the Petitioners under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. 20. Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior Advocate appearing on behalf of the Petitioners questioned the jurisdiction of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Court No.4, Hathras, to take cognizance of the offence in Complaint Case No.19/2018. 21. Emphasizing Section 14 of the Atrocities Act, Mr. Ranjit Kumar argued that only the Special Judge under the Atrocities Act was competent to pass an order for issuance of summons. He argued that the order of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Court No.4, Hathras being without jurisdiction the High Court should have quashed the same in exercise of its po ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ession, whether entire criminal proceedings for the offences under the Atrocities Act, 1989 can be said to have been vitiated, as so observed by the High Court in the impugned judgment and order ? 29. On fair reading of Sections 207, 209 and 193 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and insertion of proviso to Section 14 of the Atrocities Act by Act No. 1 of 2016 w.e.f. 26.1.2016, we are of the opinion that on the aforesaid ground the entire criminal proceedings cannot be said to have been vitiated. Second proviso to Section 14 of the Atrocities Act which has been inserted by Act 1 of 2016 w.e.f. 26.1.2016 confers power upon the Special Court so established or specified for the purpose of providing for speedy trial also shall have the power to directly take cognizance of the offences under the Atrocities Act. Considering the object and purpose of insertion of proviso to Section 14, it cannot be said that it is not in conflict with the Sections 193, 207 and 209 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. It cannot be said that it takes away jurisdiction of the Magistrate to take cognizance and thereafter to commit the case to the Special Court for trial for the offences under the Atrocitie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... given to the Special Court also to take cognizance of the offences under the Atrocities Act and in the present case merely because the cognizance is taken by the learned Magistrate for the offences under the Atrocities Act and thereafter the case has been committed to the learned Special Court, it cannot be said that entire criminal proceedings have been vitiated and same are required to be quashed and set aside. 23. In view of the judgment of this Court in Shantaben Bhurabhai Bhuriya (supra), the Argument of Mr. Ranjit Kumar that the Additional District Judge and Sessions Judge, Court No.4 Hathras had no jurisdiction to take cognizance or issue summons/orders cannot be sustained. 24. There was apparently political rivalry between the Petitioner No.1 and Devendra Aggarwal. However, Complaint Case No. 19/2018 has not been lodged against the Petitioners, by Devendra Aggarwal, but by the Respondent No.2, a Dhobi by caste, which is a scheduled caste. It cannot be said that the allegations in the complaint do not make out offence under the Atrocities Act. It is specifically alleged that the Petitioners had abused the Respondent No.2 in filthy language by reference to his caste. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by Bhagwati, CJ in Sheonandan Paswan v. State of Bihar and Others (1987) 1 SCC 288. It is a well established proposition of law that a criminal prosecution, if otherwise justified and based upon adequate evidence, does not become vitiated on account of mala fides or political vendetta of the first informant or complainant. Though the view of Bhagawti, CJ in Sheonandan Paswan (supra) was the minority view, there was no difference of opinion with regard to this finding. To quote Krishna Iyer, J., in State of Punjab v. Gurdial Singh (1980) 2 SCC 471, if the use of power is of fulfilment of a legitimate object the actuation or catalysation by malice is not legicidal. 31. In Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Ram Kishan Rohtagi and Ors. (1983) 1 SCC 1 A threeJudge Bench of this Court held: 6. It may be noticed that Section 482 of the present Code is the ad verbatim copy of Section 561A of the old Code. This provision confers a separate and independent power on the High Court alone to pass orders ex debito justitiae in cases where grave and substantial injustice has been done or where the process of the court has been seriously abused. It is not merely a revisional power meant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... me taken at their face value make out absolutely no case against the accused or the complaint does not disclose the essential ingredients of an offence which is alleged against the accused; (2) where the allegations made in the complaint are patently absurd and inherently improbable so that no prudent person can ever reach a conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused; (3) where the discretion exercised by the Magistrate in issuing process is capricious and arbitrary having been based either on no evidence or on materials which are wholly irrelevant or inadmissible; and (4) where the complaint suffers from fundamental legal defects, such as, want of sanction, or absence of a complaint by legally competent authority and the like. The cases mentioned by us are purely illustrative and provide sufficient guidelines to indicate contingencies where the High Court can quash proceedings. 9. Same view was taken in a later decision of this Court in Sharda Prasad Sinha v. State of Bihar [(1977) 1 SCC 505 : 1977 SCC (Cri) 132 : (1977) 2 SCR 357 : 1977 Cri LJ 1146] where Bhagwati, J. speaking for the Court observed as follows: [SCC para 2, p. 50 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f justice to permit a prosecution to continue. This is so on the basis that the court cannot be utilised for any oblique purpose and where in the opinion of the court chances of an ultimate conviction are bleak and, therefore, no useful purpose is likely to be served by allowing a criminal prosecution to continue, the court may while taking into consideration the special facts of a case also quash the proceeding even though it may be at a preliminary stage. 35. In Inder Mohan Goswami v. State of Uttaranchal (2007) 12 SCC 1 , this Court observed: 46. The court must ensure that criminal prosecution is not used as an instrument of harassment or for seeking private vendetta or with an ulterior motive to pressurise the accused. On analysis of the aforementioned cases, we are of the opinion that it is neither possible nor desirable to lay down an inflexible rule that would govern the exercise of inherent jurisdiction. Inherent jurisdiction of the High Courts under Section 482 CrPC though wide has to be exercised sparingly, carefully and with caution and only when it is justified by the tests specifically laid down in the statute itself and in the aforementioned cases. In view of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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. 103. We also give a note of caution to the effect that the power of quashing a criminal proceeding should be exercised very sparingly and with circumspection and that too in the rarest of rare cases; that the court will not be justified in embarking upon an enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness or otherwise of the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint and that the extraordinary or inherent powers do not confer an arbitrary jurisdiction on the court to act according to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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