Judgment :-

T.S. Thakur, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against a judgment and order dated 6th May, 2010, passed by the High Court of Judicalture at Allahabad whereby Criminal Revision No.1241 of 2010 filed by the appellants has been dismissed and order dated 9th March, 2010 passed by the Additional Judicial Magistrate, Bulandshahar dismissing an application for discharge affirmed. The factual backdrop in which the matter arises may be summarised as under:

3. Appellant No.3-Naveen Ahlawat and respondent no.2-Smt. Renu Ahlawat tied the matrimonial knot on 28th September, 1988. Appellant No.3 was, at that time, serving in Indian Army as a Captain. The couple were blessed with a daughter three years after marriage. According to the wife-Smt. Renu Ahlawat, the addition to the family did not make much of a difference in terms of cordiality of her relations No.1 and 2 who happen to be her parents in-law as they kept harassing her for dowry ever since the marriage was solemnised. These demands, according to her, continued even after her father had paid a sum of rupees four lakhs to the appellants. Physical and mental torture of respondent No.2-Renu Ahlawat, it is alleged, also did not stop even after the said payment, for the sake of a luxury car as an additional item of dowry. Respondent No.2-Smt. Renu Ahlawat's further case is that on 10th December, 2006 she was forced into a car by the appellants who then abandoned her at a deserted place on a lonely road near Sihi village at around 8 p.m. and threatened to kill her if she returned to her matrimonial home. When Jitender Singh and Brijvir Singh two villagers saw respondent No.2-Renu Ahlawat weeping by the side of the road, besides the car they tried to confront the appellants whereupon appellant NO.3-Naveen is alleged to have pulled out a revolver and threatened to shoot them.

4. A complaint about the incident was lodged on 13th December, 2006, by respondent No.2-Renu Ahlawat with SSP, Bulandshahar in which she gave details regarding her marriage with the appellant No.3-Naveen Ahlawat and the mental and physical harassment faced by her at their hands as also repeated demands for dowry. She also accused her sisters-in-law, Neena and Meghna for indulging in such harassment along with the appellants.

5. The jurisdictional police started investigation into the incident, in the course whereof complainant-Smt. Renu Ahlawat came to know about her husband-Naveen Ahlawat having obtained and ex parte decree for divorce against her. A copy of the said judgment and decree was collected by Smt. Renu Ahlwat on 28th November, 2006 and steps taken to have the same set aside. The decree was eventually set aside by the Court concerned.

6. The police, in the meantime, filed a closure report to which Renu Ahlawat filed a protest petition. It was on the basis of the protest petition that Judicial Magistrate, Bulandhsahar, took cognizance of an offence punishable under Section 498-A of the I.P.C. against the appellants as also against Neena and Meghna sister-in-law of the complaint. By an order dated 13th February, 2009 Neena and Meghna were discharged by the High Court of Allahabad on the ground that no specific allegations were made against them. The appellants then filed an application for discharge under Section 239 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1973 before learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bulandshahar in which they alleged that the accusations of dowry harassment levelled against them were false and so was the incident alleged to have taken place on 10th December,2006 on which date both appellants No.1 and his son appellant No.3 claimed to be otherwise engaged which according to them belied Renu Ahlawat's story of their having abandoned her on a deserted road as alleged by her. The application for discharge was, however, dismissed by the Court by order dated 9th March, 2010 holding that the grounds urged for discharge could be discharged on the basis of minor contrad