Smt. Ayesha and 5 Ors. Vs State of U.P. and 2 Ors. — Allahabad HC (2020) — LawSathi Research

Smt. Ayesha and 5 Ors. Vs State of U.P. and 2 Ors. — Allahabad HC (2020) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Petition disposed of with directions instead of quashing the FIR: petitioner no.2 to produce petitioner no.1 (Ayesha) before the Magistrate at Muzaffarnagar by or before 24.09.2020; Magistrate to ascertain voluntariness and, if force is alleged, pass immediate custody/protection orders, else record statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C. after calling the Investigating Officer and fixing appearance of informant/parents/natural guardian; police to submit report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C. preferably within three weeks of production; interim protection — no coercive action against petitioners till 24.09.2020 or production, whichever is earlier; no protection if the victim is not produced by the fixed date.

Issue for consideration

Whether the FIR dated 05.06.2020 (Case Crime No. 175 of 2020, Sections 366, 506 I.P.C., P.S. Bhopa, District Muzaffarnagar) should be quashed on the petitioners' claim that the victim Ayesha is an adult who voluntarily married petitioner no.2 (Moseen).

Court's answer

Petitioner no.2 was directed to produce petitioner no.1 (Ayesha) before the Magistrate concerned at Muzaffarnagar by or before 24.09.2020, whereupon the Magistrate shall record her statement to ascertain whether any force has been used on her or she has been voluntarily in the company of petitioner no.2.

Ratio / Principle

If the victim deposes before the Magistrate that force has been used on her, the Magistrate shall proceed to pass appropriate orders immediately in respect of the custody/protection of the victim.

Key takeaways

If the victim deposes that she has been voluntarily in the company of petitioner no.2 or any other person and that no force has been used on her, the Magistrate shall call upon the Investigating Officer and fix a date for appearance of the informant or the parents or natural guardian of the victim for recording her statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C.ratio¶11
On the basis of the statement of the victim and the material collected during the course of investigation, the police shall submit a report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C.ratio¶12

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Allahabad High Court (Manoj Misra and Anil Kumar-IX, JJ.) disposed of Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 8370 of 2020 seeking quashing of FIR dated 05.06.2020 (Case Crime No. 175 of 2020, Sections 366, 506 I.P.C., P.S. Bhopa, District Muzaffarnagar), lodged by the father of Ayesha (petitioner no.1) alleging she had been enticed away by Moseen (petitioner no.2); the petitioners claimed Ayesha is an adult who voluntarily married Moseen. Without quashing the FIR, the Court directed petitioner no.2 to produce Ayesha before the Magistrate concerned at Muzaffarnagar by or before 24.09.2020; the Magistrate to record whether force was used on her — if so, to pass appropriate orders immediately on custody/protection; if she deposes she is voluntarily with petitioner no.2 or any other person, to call the Investigating Officer and fix a date for appearance of the informant/parents/natural guardian for recording her statement under Section 164 Cr.P.C.; the police to submit a report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C. on the basis of her statement and investigation material, the exercise preferably within three weeks of production. No coercive action against the petitioners till 24.09.2020 or production, whichever is earlier; if the victim is not produced by the fixed date, no protection and the agency free to conclude the investigation. Order date 26.8.2020.

Court No. - 48

Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 8370 of 2020

Petitioner :- Smt. Ayesha And 5 Ors Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Ors Counsel for Petitioner :- Kshatresh Kumar,Mohammad Faisal Khan Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.

Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J. Hon'ble Anil Kumar-IX,J.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioners; learned A.G.A. for the respondents 1 and 2; and perused the record.

The instant petition seeks quashing of the First Information Report dated 05.06.2020 registered as Case Crime No. 175 of 2020, under Sections 366, 506 I.P.C. P.S. Bhopa, District Muzaffar Nagar.

The allegation in the First Information Report, which has been lodged by the father of the victim Ayesha (the petitioner no.1), is to the effect that his daughter has been enticed away by the accused Moseen (petitioner no.2).

The petitioners have prayed for quashing of the First Information Report by claiming that the victim Ayesha is adult and that she has voluntarily married Moseen (petitioner no.2).

The learned A.G.A. has submitted that it would be appropriate that this petition be disposed off by requiring the investigating agency to record the statement of the victim and, thereafter, take appropriate action as per law.

Having perused the record we deem it appropriate to dispose off this petition by providing as follows:-

The petitioner no.2 shall produce the petitioner no.1 (Ayesha) before the Magistrate concerned at Muzaffarnagar by or before 24.09.2020. Upon her production, the Magistrate concerned shall proceed to record the statement of Ayesha to ascertain whether any force has been used on her or she has been voluntarily in the company of the petitioner no.2. In case the victim deposes before the Magistrate concerned that force has been used on her, the Magistrate concerned shall proceed to pass appropriate orders immediately in respect of the custody/protection of the victim. However, in case the victim deposes that she has been voluntarily in the company of the petitioner no.2 or any other person and that no force has been used on her, learned Magistrate shall call upon the Investigating Officer of the case and fix a date for appearance of the informant or the parents or natural guardian of the victim for the purpose of recording statement of the victim under Section 164 Cr.P.C.

On the basis of the statement of the victim and the material collected during the course of investigation, the police shall submit report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C.

The aforesaid exercise shall be completed preferably within a period of three weeks from the date of production of the victim before the Magistrate concerned. Till 24.09.2020, or the date on which the victim is

produced before the Magistrate concerned, whichever is earlier, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners in the above case. Thereafter, if the victim is produced before the Magistrate concerned, as directed above, the accused shall be dealt with as per the statement of the victim.

It is further clarified that if the victim is not produced by the date fixed as above, there shall be no protection and the investigation agency shall be free to take all steps that may be necessary to bring the investigation to its logical conclusion.

With the aforesaid observations/directions, the petition is disposed off.

Order Date :- 26.8.2020 Sunil Kr Tiwari

Digitally signed by Justice Manoj Digitally signed by Justice Anil Misra Kumar Date: 2020.08.27 17:00:51 IST Date: 2020.08.27 17:08:52 IST Reason: Document Owner Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad Allahabad