GAHC010257852025 2025:GAU-AS:17803

THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT

(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)

Case No. : Crl.Pet./1488/2025

NAZMUL SARKAR

S/O MOKSEDUL MOMIN @ MOKSED ALI, R/O NEWAJESPUR ,

POFULERCHAR, PS SUKCHAR , DIST SOUTH SALMARA ,ASSAM, PIN-

783135

VERSUS

THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ANR

REP. BY THE LEARNED PP, ASSAM

2:MRS ARMINA BEGUM W/O NAZMUL SARKAR

R/O NEWAJESPUR

PO FULERCHAR

PS SUKCHAR

DIST SOUT SALMARA

ASSAM

Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M ISLAM, MS A KHATUN

Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, MR A.K. HAJONG,MR I CHAKMA,MS. D GHOSH

BEFORE

HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH MAZUMDAR

ORDER

18.12.2025

Heard Mr M Islam, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner. Also heard K K

Parashar, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State of Assam; and Mr A K

Hajong, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 2.

2. The instant criminal petition has been preferred under Section 528 of the BNSS, 2023, with the prayer for setting aside and quashing of the proceedings of Special (P) Case No. 240/2024, under Section 9 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage (PCM) Act, 2006, read with Sections 6/17 of the POCSO Act, 2012, against the petitioner and the said case is pending before the learned Special Judge, South Salmara, Mankachar. The said special case has been registered pursuant to the charge sheet No. 182/2023, dated

30.11.2023, arising out of Sukchar PS Case No. 230/2023.

3. The brief facts of the case is that on 02.02.2023, the complainant, i.e., the Gaon Panchayat Secretary of Newajespur had lodged an FIR before the Officer-In-Charge of Sukchar Police Station (in short, P.S.), stating that the accused/petitioner No. 1, Nazmul Sarkar had married a young girl, who is below the permissible age of marriage. The said FIR was received and registered on 02.10.2023 as Sukchar PS Case No. 230/2023.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that at the time of marriage, the alleged victim was a minor, and now, the alleged victim is major. Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner and his wife, i.e., the alleged victim are enjoying happy married lives since the day of their marriage. In the meantime, the petitioner and his wife have been blessed with children.

5. The victim (respondent No. 2) minor girl is now more than 18 years of age and she has submitted that since they are living happily together, the continuation of the criminal proceedings against the petitioner would be detrimental to their future life.

6. I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsel of both sides.

7. The guidelines for consideration of a petition under Section 482 of the CrPC has been laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal reported in AIR 1992 SC 604. Paragraph 102 of the judgment reads as under:

“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 exercised. (1) Where the allegations made in the first information report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused. (2) Where the allegations in the first information report and other materials, if any, accompanying the FIR do not disclose a cognizable offence, justifying an investigation by poli