The power under Section 482 Cr. P. C. can be exercised when the allegations do not prima facie constitute any offence or the FIR and evidence collected do not disclose the commission of any offence.

The present application under Section 482 Cr. P. C. has been filed for quashing of the charge-sheet No. 129 of 2002 (Case Crime No. 127 of 2002) under Sections 498-A, 323, 504, 506 Indian Penal Code and Sections 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act of Police Station Alinagar, District Chandauli.

2. The brief facts, giving rise to this application, are that applicant Mohd. Zirgham Ansari was married with Smt. Shamima Begum the sister of Riaz Ahmad, Respondent No. 3. At the time of marriage, age of Smt. Shamima Begum was quoted ten years less than she actually then was. Her date of birth in the High School Certificate was shown to be 5th of July, 1968 but in the affidavit, it was shown to be 5th of October, 1978. When the applicant and his family sent a legal notice for the same and sent the amount of Mehar, through money order, the Respondent No. 3 lodged a FIR on 12-8-2002 under Sections 498-A, 323, 504, 506 Indian Penal Code and Section 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act against the applicant and his family members. However by Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 5059 of 2002, arrest of the petitioner was stayed and later on the charge sheet (Annexure-5) was filed in the Court. It was further submitted that the charge-sheet appears to have been prepared in the mechanical way, without making any enquiry as the real brother of Respondent No. 3 is married to the sister of Javed Akhtar, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Azamgarh. The entire proceedings are in the nature of abuse of process of Court.

3. The Respondent No. 3 filed counter affidavit on the ground that the charge-sheet was filed and cognizance has been taken on 3-10-2002. The applicant and others have been summoned in pursuance of the said charge sheet and a revision would have been filed against the said summoning order and no application under Section 482 Cr. P. C. is maintainable.

4. In fact from the very day of the marriage, the husband and other family members of the applicant were unhappy on account of non-fulfillment of demand of dowry as they were also demanding a Maruti car. However, on account of intervention of the relatives and some respectable members, Smt. Shamima Begum was taken to her SASURAL, by the applicant but they started harassing Smt. Shamima

Begum on account of non-fulfillment of demand of dowry. On 12-5-2002, Smt. Shamima Begum was beaten and abandoned at the railway station. She was medically examined, the copy whereof is Annexures CA-3 and CA-4 in his counter affidavit. It is also worth-while to mention that Smt. Shamima Begum was pregnant on the date of abandonment and she delivered a baby on 26-11-2002. The date of birth of Smt. Shamima Begum was known to the applicant and his family members from before and the alleged affidavit has been manufactured. Smt. Shamima Begum was married on 3-2-2002 and there was no occasion for her to file an affidavit on 4-5-2002. There is sufficient evidence to file charge-sheet and the application under Section 482 Cr. P. C. is without substance.

5. I have heard learned A. G. A. and learned Counsel for the Respondent No. 3. The learned Counsel for the applicant did not turn up on the date of hearing, hence he could not be heard. I have also perused the affidavit filed on behalf of applicant, counter affidavit and other documents. It is settled view that a complaint or charge-sheet can be quashed only if no offence is made out. The scope and ambit of power under Section 482 Cr. P. C. has been examined by the Apex Court and this Court in number of judgments from time to time. However, in the latest pronouncement of the Apex Court reported in 2003 AIR SCW 3258, Union of India v. Prakash P. Hinduja and another, the following has been observed:

"the grounds on which power under Section 482, Cr. P. C. can be exercised to quash the criminal proceedings basically are (1) Where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirely do not prima facie, constit