Important Point
Rape case cannot be quashed at threshold.

Anuja Prabhudessai, J.

Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith with the consent of the parties.

2. This is a petition filed under article 226 of the constitution r/w section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing the C.R. No.46 of 2015 registered with Bhosari Police Station, Pune, for the offences punishable under sections 376 and 417 r/w. 34 of the IPC.

3. The brief facts necessary to decide this petition are as under:-

The Respondent No. 2 who was to marry the Petitioner No.1 had lodged the FIR dated 15.2.2015 alleging that on 9.12.2014, the Petitioner No.1 had sexual intercourse with her against her will and without her consent. The Respondent No.2 further alleged that subsequently the Petitioner No.1 and his family members called off the marriage and thereby cheated her.

4. Ms. Kshitija Sarangi, the learned counsel for the Petitioners has submitted that the FIR does not disclose offence under section 375 or 415 IPC. She has submitted that the marriage was called off in view of the lack of compatibility between the Petitioner No.1 and the Respondent No.2. She has further submitted that the Petitioner Nos.2 to 7 being the family members of the Petitioner No.1 were present at the time of finalising the marriage and they are not involved in commission of any offence as alleged. The learned counsel for the Petitioners has submitted that the allegations in the FIR do not disclose any offence and continuation of the proceedings will be abuse of process of law.

5. Mr. Shinde, the learned APP has submitted that the material on record prima facie shows the involvement of the Petitioner No.1. He fairly concedes that the material on record does not show the involvement of the Petitioner Nos.2 to 7 in commission of the offence under section 376 or 417 of the IPC.

6. Mr. Satyavrat Joshi, the learned counsel for the Respondent No.2 has submitted that the Petitioner No.1 had sexual intercourse with the Respondent No.2 under a false promise of marriage. He has further submitted that by calling off the marriage, the Petitioner No.1 and his family members have cheated the Respondent No.2.

7. We have perused the records and considered the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the Petitioners, the learned counsel for the Respondent No.2 and the learned APP for the Respondent No.1 State.

8. The legal principles in regard to quashing of first information report had been considered by the Hon'ble Apex Court in State of Haryana & Ors. V/s. Bhajanlal & Ors. 1992 SUPP (1) SCC 335 and several other subsequent decisions. Recently in Rishipal Singh Vs. State of U.P. & Anr (2014) 7 SCC 215 the Apex Court while considering the scope and ambit of section 482 of the Cr.P.C. has held that –

“A bare perusal of Section 482 Cr.P.C. makes it crystal clear that the object of exercise of power under this section is to prevent abuse of process of Court and to secure ends of justice. There are no hard and fast rules that can be laid down for the exercise of the extraordinary jurisdiction, but exercising the same is an exception, but not a rule of law. It is no doubt true that there can be no straight jacket formula nor defined parameters to enable a Court to invoke or exercise its inherent powers. It will always depend upon the facts and circumstances of each case. The Courts have to be very circumspect while exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C.”

9. The Apex Court after considering the previous pronouncements has reiterated the guidelines with regard to exercise of jurisdiction by the Courts under Section 482 Cr.P.C.

“What emerges from the above judgments is that when a prosecution at the initial stage is asked to be quashed, the tests to be applied by the Court is as to whether the uncontroverted allegations as made in the complaint prima facie establish the case. The Courts have to see whether the continuation of the complaint amounts to abuse of process of law and whether continuation of the criminal proceeding results in miscarriag