The power to quash criminal proceedings should be exercised sparingly, and the stage of discharge or quashing is not for conducting a mini trial but to consider whether sufficient material is available to proceed further against the accused for trial.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Sri Aditya Tiwari, the learned counsel for the applicants, Sri Anant Pratap Singh, the learned AGA for the State and perused the record.

2. By means of the instant application filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C., the applicants have sought quashing of entire proceedings of Criminal Complaint Case No. 20685 of 2022 “Mayaram v. Rajveer Yadav & Others”, arising out of the charge sheet Case Crime/FIR No. 179/2021 under Sections 323, 504 & 506 IPC, and final report dated 27.12.2021, Police Station Hanswar, District Ambedkar Nagar, pending in the Court of Civil Judge (Jr. Div.)/FTC/ Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ambedkar Nagar including the impugned summoning order dated 20.10.2023.

3. The FIR lodged on 26.11.2021 in furtherance of an application under Section 156 (3) Cr.P.C. filed on 30.06.2021 against 5 persons, including the applicants, alleged that a property dispute is going on between the informant and the applicant no. 2, due to which reason the accused persons came to the informant’s house and started abusing him. When the informant opposed it, on the exhortation of the applicant nos. 1 and 4, the applicant no. 2 pushed the informant to the ground and he and another accused Beenu Yadav had beaten him with kicks and fists. When the informant’s daughter-in-law tried to save him, the accused persons beaten her also and snatched away a chain from her neck. The FIR further stated that the informant had called the Police by dialing 112. The police had taken both the parties to the police station but neither the informant’s report was registered, nor was he and his daughter-in-law examined medically. On 15.05.2021, the informant got himself and his daughter-in-law medically examined and thereafter he sent an application to the Superintendent f Police through registered post and when no action was taken on it, he filed the application under Section 156 (3) Cr.P.C.

4. The medico-legal examination report of the informant mentions complaint of pain over chest and a contusion over left side of back of scapula. The medico legal examination report of the informant’s daughter-in-law Sarita Pal mentions a contusion on right side of her face and complaint of pain.

5. The injured persons had supported the FIR allegations in their statements recorded during investigation. However, some villagers had stated that no such incident had taken place. The investigating officer had submitted a final report on 27.12.2021. The informant filed a protest petition. The same was allowed and was treated as a complaint. Statements were recorded under Sections 200 and 202 Cr.P.C. Besides the injured persons, an independent person has also given statement under Section 202 Cr.P.C. in support of the complaint allegations. Thereafter the applicants have been summoned to face the trial.

6. The learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the FIR has been lodged on false allegations because of a property dispute between the parties and the proceedings have been maliciously instituted. He has placed reliance on the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335, wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held as follows:-

“102. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Chapter XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by this Court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extraordinary power under Article 226 or the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases by way of illustration wherein such power could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae and to give an exhaustive list of myriad kinds of cases wherein such power should be exercis