IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
SHAMPA DUTT (PAUL), J.
Susmita Chakraborty – Appellant
Versus
The State of West Bengal & Anr. – Respondents
CRR 445 of 2020
Decided on : 03-05-2023
Indian Penal Code, 1860 – Sections 341, 506, 34, 323, 354 – Offence of wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation - Quashing of Proceedings – Revision has been preferred praying for quashing of proceedings in connection with Charge Sheet against petitioner arising out – Petitioner’s case is that family picked up a quarrel with family of petitioner commotion between the two families – Held, Criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge – Court have consistently been followed recent judgment of this Court in Neeharika Infrastructure – Careful perusal of case diary materials on record ingredients required to constitute offence as alleged are prima facie not present against accused persons – Revision allowed.
JUDGMENT :
Shampa Dutt (Paul), J.:
1. The present revision has been preferred praying for quashing of proceedings in connection with Charge Sheet being Charge Sheet No. 39 dated 28/02/2014 under Sections 341/506/34 of the Indian Penal Code against the petitioner and arising out of Jagacha Police Station Case No. 470/2013 dated 30/12/2013 under Sections 323/341/354/506/34 of the Indian Penal Code, corresponding to G.R. Case No. 9672 of 2013, and all orders passed therein, now pending before the Learned 4th Judicial Magistrate, Howrah.
2. The petitioner’s case is that the Opposite Party No. 2 and other members of her family picked up a quarrel with the family of the petitioner and over the said issue, there was a commotion between the two families on 02/08/2013 and the late grandmother of the petitioner namely Jyotiprabha Chakraborty lodged a First Information Report at Jagacha Police Station which was registered as Jagacha Police Station Case No. 269/2013 dated 03/08/2013 alleging therein “That the informant is the co-owner of the premises situated at B-4, Royal Jyoti Residency, 68, Subinoy Ghosh Sarani, Jagacha, Howrah and the co-owner of a lift situated in the aforesaid building. Since 23/04/2013 the lift facility of the said lift had stopped and due to that the informant and other flat owners were facing serious trouble, the informant being an octogenarian.
3. On 02/08/2013 in the morning at about 11.30 a.m. the representative of the Laser Elevator Pvt. Ltd. had come to the said flat for restoration/repair of the lift but at that time one of the flat owner namely Suman Kr. Ganguly resisted the representatives of the elevator company and he refused to hand over the key of the lift to the representatives of the elevator company. As a result the lift could not be repaired. The said accused person also abused the son of the informant and the representative of the elevator company and also assaulted the son of the informant by kicks and blows and the accused persons also snatched the mobile phone of the informant’s son worth Rs. 5000/-and also money worth Rs. 5000/-”.
4. It is the case of the petitioner that the investigating agency conducted the investigation in a biased manner and submitted a final report being final Report No. 247/2013 dated 23/09/2013.
5. On 20/02/2015 a prayer for further investigation of the case was made before the Learned Trial Court by the late grandmother of the present petitioner namely Jyotiprabha Chakraborty, who was the de-facto complainant, by way of filing a Narazi Petition. However for several reasons the said Narazi petition could not be taken up for hearing and the record of the case was also misplaced and could not be traced out.
6. The de-facto complainant of Jagacha Police Station Case No. 269/2013 dated 03/08/2013 namely Jyotiprabha Chakraborty succumbed to her prolonged illness and died on 08/10/2019 leaving behind her legal heirs.
7. Finally the record was traced out on 26/09/2019 and a fresh notice was issued upon the de-facto complainant for hearing of the Narazi petition on 16/12/2019.
8. The legal heirs being of the deceased de-facto complainant of the said Jagacha Police Station Case No. 269/2013 dated 03/08/2013 intend to file a substitution application for pressing the Narazi petition.
9. Almost four months after filing the aforesaid case, the Opposite Party No. 2 to wreck vengeance, filed a complaint at Jagacha Police Station on 30/12/2013 against the members of the family of the petitioner who was aged about 19 years at that time and a student, being Jagacha Police Station Case No. 470/2013 dated 30/12/2013 under Sections 323/341/354/506/34 of the Indian Penal Code, inter alia, alleging that:-
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the court can quash criminal proceedings if they are manifestly attended with mala fides and maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive fo....
Criminal proceedings cannot be initiated for civil disputes; a prima facie case must exist to avoid abuse of legal processes.
The court's decision to exercise the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. is predicated on the facts of each case, and the court cannot weigh the material to determine the truth in the co....
The court established that charges cannot be sustained without adequate evidence, and magistrates must provide reasons for their decisions to ensure justice.
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