The court held that allegations in the FIR disclosed a prima facie case under Section 170 IPC, and quashing was not warranted at this stage.

JUDGMENT :

Rakesh Kainthla, J.

The petitioner has filed the present petition for quashing of F.I.R. No. 36 of 2021, dated 24.04.2021, registered for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 170 of the Indian Penal Code ( IPC ), at Police Station Dalhousie, District Chamba, H.P. and the consequential proceedings arising out of the FIR. (The parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they are arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience.)

2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present petition are that the informant made a complaint to the police, asserting that the petitioner/accused was an elected member of the Cantonment Board Dalhousie. His tenure expired on 10^th February 2021. The petitioner was inimical to the informant’s family. The petitioner moved an objection on 16^th March 2021, before the Chief Executive Officer of Dalhousie Cantonment, regarding the inclusion of the names of Bhagat Singh (informant’s father), Smt. Surinder Kaur (the informant’s mother), Inderjit Singh (the informant’s brother), and Smt. Pushpinder Kaur (the informant's sister-in-law) in the electoral role for Ward No. Five. He used the official seal to which he was not entitled. The police registered the F.I.R. and conducted the investigation. It was found after the investigation that the petitioner ceased to be a member with effect from 10th February 2021, however, he had used his official seal on 16th March 2021. As per the report of the analysis, the seal used on the documents matched the seal seized by the police from the petitioner. Hence, the police filed a charge sheet against the petitioner before the court.

3. Being aggrieved by the registration of the F.I.R., the petitioner has filed the present petition, asserting that the petitioner is innocent and was falsely implicated. Dalhousie Cantonment Board issued a public notice on 3^rd June 2020 informing the residents that the work of preparation for the electoral roll of the Cantonment Board had started. The residents were called upon to submit correct information to the concerned Officer on or before 27th June 2020 in a prescribed form. The Dalhousie Cantonment Board subsequently issued a public notice on 4^th July 2020 and called for the claims and objections to the preliminary voter list of the Dalhousie Cantonment. The petitioner, being the elected counsellor of the Cantonment Board, submitted the objections on 20^th July 2020 under his official seal and signature against the inclusion of the names of 12 persons in the preliminary voter list of the Board through one Shri Pankaj Sharma. The Joint Director of Defence Estates Western Command informed the Chief Executive Officer that the Ministry of Defence had put the preparation of electoral rolls on hold till further orders. The tenure of the petitioner expired on 10^th February 2021. Head Constable Rajesh Kumar visited the petitioner’s ofÏce on 9th June 2021 and informed him about the registration of the FIR. The petitioner narrated the correct facts to Rajesh Kumar. He submitted a complaint dated 18^th June 2021 to the Station House O Ravinder, Shri Babbar Khan, Smt. Rajinder Kaur and Shri Gurvinder Singh. The report of analysis shows that obliteration and writings were observed in the questioned document, and the original writing could be deciphered as 20/07/20. The objections submitted by the petitioner against the inclusion were tampered with to implicate him. The investigating Officer prepared the charge sheet and presented it before the court. The allegations in the FIR are absurd and inherently improbable. The evidence collected by the prosecution does not support its story. The criminal proceedings cannot be used for wreaking personal vengeance. The investigating Officer failed to consider the complaint made by the petitioner against the official of the Dalhousie Cantonment Board and falsely implicated the petitioner. Therefore, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the F.