IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
Patel J.N., J.
Neeta Sanjay Tadage .... Petitioner.
Versus
Vimal Sadashiv Tagade others .... Respondents.
Criminal Writ Petition No. 1122 of 1994, decided on 17-4-1997.
Advocates appeared :
S.V. Kotwal, for petitioner.
Prakash D. Naik, for respondents Nos. 1 2.
Poornima Kantharia, for respondent No. 3.
Sections 320(9) and 482-Penal Code, 1860, Section 498-A -Bilateral agreement between the accused and person injured-No compounding if not present in provision-Direction to compound under Section 498-A not proper by invoking Section 382, Cr PC Allow and compounding in non-compounding offence illegal Order compounding quashed.-Acquittal under Section 320(8) saves the accused from any stigma attaching to his character as an accused by virtue of law. In the absence of such statutory provision the accused cannot acquire such vindication of char~ acter by mere payment of compensation to the person aggrieved. Subsection (9) of Section 320 clearly provides that no offence shall be compounded except as provided by this section. In the table provided in sub-section (1) of Section 320 and sub-section (2) of Section 320. Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code does not find place and in these circumstances the Court is not vested with any power or jurisdiction to compound offence under Section 498. Even otherwise any other purpose would mean enforcement of any legal rights and performance of any legal duly as settled by catena of decision. But this does not vest the High Court with jurisdiction to direct compounding of an offence which is otherwise not provided by the statute. It is now settled that the power of superintendence conferred upon that the High Court by Article 227 is not conferred to administrative superintendence only, but includes the power of judicial revision also even where no appeal or revision lies to the High Court the ordinary law.
The Magistrate has proceeded on an erroneous assumption that he is vested with the jurisdiction to permit the compounding of offence under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code in spite of the fact that the offence is not compoundable under Section 320 of the Criminal Procedure Code and further that the two authorities relied upon by the learned trial Court placed in him such powers which otherwise the statute does not provide. As such the impugned order is quashed and set aside and the matter is remanded back to the trial Court to proceed further in accordance with the law from the stage when the application for compounding was filed by the parties.
Section 498-A-See Criminal Procedure Code. 1974, Sections 320(9) and 482,
2. The Petitioner married Sanjay, son of Respondent No. 1 and brother of Respondent No. 2 at Dhulia. After their marriage, she started residing at Thane with her husband, who is gainfully employed in the Police Department as Police Constable. Soon after the marriage, the Petitioner realised that the Respondents Nos. 1 and 2 were out to harass her and they started treating her with cruelty by putting her under restrains and even subjected her to starvation. She was not allowed even to write any letter to her parents at Dhulia without being censured by them. It is also alleged that the Respondents even went to the extreme end of levelling false insinuations about her character and in all these, the Petitioner's husband did not take any initiative to improve the situation, but on the other hand, acted in concert. The Petitioner tolerated all this with patience due to the wishes of her parents, who desired that there should be no disruption of the family tie between the Petitioner and her husband, but in spite of all this, there was no semblance of peace and harmony and the Respondents continued to ill-treat the Petitioner. On or about 2-1-1994, the Respondents attempted to liquidate the Petitioner by holding her inside the house and poured kerosene on her person, but before they could set her on fire, the Petitioner could free herself from their clutches and entered the bath room and closed it from inside. The Petitioner's husband who was present in the house, watching T. V. realising danger as the Petitioner was shouting for help, went to the bath room and took her out, and by that time, the Petitioner was in an unconscious state due to shock. She was also pregnant at that time. The Petitioner's husband then took her to a private Nursing Home, where she was medically treated and saved. It appears that the Doctor In-charge of the Nursing Home informed the Police of Vartak Nagar Police Station and the statement of the Petitioner came to be recorded by the Police Sub-Inspector at the hospital itself and on the basis thereof, an offence came to be registered under section 498A read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code. It is the case of the Petitioner that the Police tried to give a colour that on account of the harassment and ill-treatment meted out to the Petitioner, she attempted to commit suicide and as the Petitioner, a married woman, was subjected to cruelty by the relatives of the husband, the cruelty being of such a nature as was likely to drive the woman to commit suicide, an offence under section 498-A read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Vartak Nagar Police Station, Thane, on the same day at C. R. No. 1 2/94, against the Respondents. Charge sheet came to be filed against both the Respondents on or about 10-2-1994 in the Court of the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Court No. 5, at Thane, for offence under section 498-A read with section 34 Indian Penal Code, which was the subject matter of Criminal Case No. 67 of 1994. It appears that thereafter the Petitioner's husband shifted to Vasai as he was attached to the said Police Station and the Petitioner started residing with him. After the incident, the husband of the Petitioner called her parents 'from Dhule who came to Thane on 3-1-1994, and sent the Petitioner with them to Dhule and as the Petitioner was carrying (pregnant at that time), she delivered a female child on 26-6-1994 at the Hospital of Dr. S. N. Deshpande. After delivery, the Doctor advised her not to undergo journey for sometime on account of her delicate health. It is the
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