A complaint for an offence under Section 494 IPC can be filed on behalf of the aggrieved wife by her mother's brother without leave from the court under Section 198(1)(c) of the CrPC.

( 1 ) THIS petition under Section 482 Cr. P. C. has been filed for quashing the order dated 21-5-84 passed by the learned Magistrate and the order dt. 31-8-85 passed by the learned Sessions Judge.

( 2 ) SHAYAM Narain Gupta opp. party No. 2 filed a criminal complaint against the applicant Shankar Sahu alleging that his sisters daughter Lal Mani was married to the accused applicant 11 years back. The applicant turned out Lal Mani from his house and kept her jewellery and clothes etc. Thereafter the applicant married Sheo Kumari Devi accused No. 5 on 30-6-82 though Smt. Lal Mani was still alive and her marriage with the applicant was also subsisting. It was thus alleged that the applicant had committed an offence under Section 494 IPC. After recording the statement of the complainant and of some witnesses under Section 200 and 202 Cr. P. C. the accused applicant was summoned to face trial. Thereafter the complainant led evidence under Section 244 Cr. P. C. and examined two witnesses namely Shayam Narain Gupta, P. W. 1 and Pattar, P. W. 2. At the stage of framing charge, a preliminary objection was raised on behalf of the accused applicant on the ground that complaint on which the accused was being tried was a second complaint and that the complaint filed by Shayam Narain Gupta, who was maternal uncle of Lal Mani, was not maintainable as no leave of the Court had been obtained. The objection was dismissed by the learned Magistrate by the impugned order 21-5-83 and the revision preferred against the said order was dismissed by the learned Sessions Judge on 31-8-85.

( 3 ) I have heard learned counsel for the applicant and have perused the record. So far as the second complaint is concerned, it may be stated that first complaint was dismissed on 4-8-82 on the ground that the complainant was not present and on the very next day the second complaint was filed. According to the complainant he had gone to call his counsel when the case was called out and the complaint was dismissed in his absence. The order of dismissal was passed at a time prior to the summoning of the accused and therefore the dismissal of the complaint did not amount to an order of acquittal in favour of the accused applicant. The second complainant is, therefore, fully maintainable in law.

( 4 ) LEARNED counsel has next contended that the complaint has been filed by Shayam Narain Gupta who was maternal uncle of Lal Mani, the first wife of the applicant, and as leave of the Court had not been taken, the complaint was not maintainable. The person aggrieved in this case would be Smt. Lal Mani being the first wife of the applicant. The proviso (c) to sub-section (1) of Section 198 Cr. P. C. reads as follows :" (C) where the person aggrieved by an offence punishable under Section 494 or Section 495 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) is the wife, complaint may be made on her behalf by her father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter or by her fathers or mothers brother or sister or with the leave of the Court, by any other person related to her by blood, marriage or adoption. "it clearly provides that where the person aggrieved by offence punishable under Section 494 IPC is the wife, the complaint may be filed on her behalf by her mothers brother. The applicant being mothers brother of Lal Mani he was fully competent to file the complaint. It may be noticed that the expression with the leave of the Court would apply where the complaint has been filed by a person who has not been enumerated in the earlier part of Clause (c) viz. father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter or father or fathers brother or mothers brother or sister. When the complaint is filed by any other person related to by her marriage or adoption and is not one of those enumerated in the earlier part of Clause (c) of sub-section (1) of Section 198, leave of Court would be required. In the present case, since the complaint has been filed by mothers brother, no leave of Court for