Ashwani @ Vishwanath and 4 Others Vs State of U.P. and 2… — Dowry and Cruelty | Allahabad HC (2020)

Ashwani @ Vishwanath and 4 Others Vs State of U.P. and 2… — Dowry and Cruelty | Allahabad HC (2020)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of with direction to the respondents not to arrest petitioners no. 2 to 5 pursuant to the impugned FIR till submission of the report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C., provided all petitioners cooperate and participate in the investigation; without prejudice to petitioner no. 1's right to apply for bail/anticipatory bail in accordance with law.

Issue for consideration

Whether the first information report dated 02.12.2019 registered as Case Crime No. 813 of 2019 ought to be quashed. +1 more

Court's answer

The allegations in the first information report constitute a cognizable offence which requires to be investigated, and therefore the first information report cannot be quashed.

Ratio / Principle

Since the certified copy of the first information report was enclosed with the petition and is on record, its narration in the writ petition merely repeats the FIR and it cannot be said that there is material concealment.

Key takeaways

Looking to the facts that five persons including the husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law are involved, the writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents not to arrest petitioners no. 2 to 5 pursuant to the impugned FIR till submission of the report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C., provided all petitioners cooperate and participate in the investigation, which shall be completed most expeditiously, and without prejudice to petitioner no. 1's right to apply for bail/anticipatory bail in accordance with law.ratio¶6

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition sought quashing of the first information report dated 02.12.2019, registered as Case Crime No. 813 of 2019 under Sections 498A, 420, 323, 376, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Medical College, District Meerut. The Court held that since the petitioners had enclosed the certified copy of the FIR, narrating its facts in the writ petition did not amount to material concealment. On merits, the Court found the allegations in the FIR constituted a cognizable offence requiring investigation, so the FIR could not be quashed. Considering that five persons including the husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law were involved, the petition was disposed of with a direction that petitioners no. 2 to 5 not be arrested pursuant to the FIR till submission of the report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C., subject to all petitioners cooperating and participating in the investigation, and without prejudice to petitioner no. 1's right to apply for bail/anticipatory bail.

Court No. - 29 Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 2063 of 2020 Petitioner :- Ashwani @ Vishwanath And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Prabhat Chandra Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.,Rajeev Kumar Saini

Hon'ble Pankaj Mithal,J. Hon'ble Pradeep Kumar Srivastava,J.

The instant petition has been filed by the petitioners for the quashing of the first information report dated 02.12.2019, registered as Case Crime No. 813 of 2019, under Sections 498A, 420, 323, 376, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, Police Station Medical College, District Meerut.

Sri Rajeev Kumar Saini, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondent no. 4 contends that the petition has been filed by concealing the material contents.

The petitioners in filing the petition has enclosed the certified copy of the first information report which admittedly contains the entire facts. The narration of the said facts in the writ petition would tantamount to repeating the facts of the first information report. Since, the first information report is on record, it cannot be said that there is material concealment.

We have gone through the contents of the first information report and are satisfied that the allegations made therein constitute a cognizable offence which requires to be investigated and as such the first information report cannot be quashed. However, looking to the facts and circumstances of the case and the fact that five persons including the husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law have been involved, we dispose of the writ petition with direction to the respondents not to arrest the petitioners no. 2 to 5 pursuant to the impugned first information report, till the submission of the report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C., provided that all the petitioners cooperate and participate in the investigation which shall be completed most expeditiously. This is without prejudice to the rights of the petitioner no. 1 to apply for bail/anticipatory bail in accordance with law.

Order Date :- 10.2.2020/sailesh