Delay in filing a complaint is critical and may indicate abuse of legal process if no prima facie case is established.

ORAL ORDER

Petitioners - accused Nos.1 to 3 are before this Court calling in question registration of a crime in Crime No.341/2023, pending before the 5^th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru, for the offences under Sections 341 , 342, 323, 504 r/w. 34 of the IPC .

2. Heard Smt. Divya R.B., learned counsel for petitioners, Sri K. Nageshwarappa, learned High Court Government Pleader for respondent No.1 and Sri A.R.Chandrashekar, learned counsel for respondent No.2.

3. Petitioners are accused Nos.1 to 3 and respondent No.2, the complainant. The complainant and the accused were in the same Institution ‘Learning Space Education Trust’. Respondent No.2 - complainant, owing to certain allegations or otherwise is said to have been removed from the trust. The alleged acts of removal from service, becomes a crime in Crime No.341/2023, registered before the police on 02.09.2020, for the afore-quoted offences.

4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioners would vehemently contend that none of the ingredients that are necessary for the offences so alleged are found in the case at hand, and if there was any abuse or wrongful restraint, the complainant would not have taken four months to register the crime.

5. Per contra, learned counsel appearing for respondent No.2 would submit that the complainant was indeed locked in a room, while she was not permitted to move around in any direction. Therefore, the investigation in the case at hand must be permitted to continue.

6. I have given my anxious consideration to the submissions made by the learned counsel for the respective parties and have perused the material on record.

7. The afore-narrated facts are not in dispute. The entire issue now gets triggered from the registration of the complaint.

The complaint reads as follows:

“To,

The Sub Inspector,

Hulimavu Police station

Bengaluru – 560 076

Subject: FIR for wrongful confinement abusing, abutting and physical assault

Myself Dr. Monica Arora M.Pharm, Ph.D, HOD, Dept of pharmaceutical chemistry Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy, Lal Bagh West gate, Bangalore and co-partner at Little Elly Pre-school Begur, Karuna Dham 454, Opp. to SNN Raj Serenity off Bannerghatta Road, Nobal residency, phase 2, Begur, Bengaluru 6. I would like to submit FIR against Miss Preeti Maneesh, Maneesh Puttur And Nanda Malvade for Wrongly confining, abusing, abutting and physical assault on me on 8^th May 2023, timing 9 AM at the Little Elly Pre School premises. I visited school premise like my every day schedule. I found Miss Preeti maneesh who is also centre head for the school she was waiting with her mother- Nanda Malvade and her husband (Maneesh Puttur) both of them are no where related to school functioning process. I was forcibly asked to sit in the school and have a discussion without any prior notification, when I shared I will not be able to attend the meeting as I was not informed prior and was having work commitment also listening to this they got furious and locked me inside the school premises by Maneesh Puttur, Preeti Maneesh, I tried to get out of the school, they were consistently abusing and assaulting me, I tried to run away also but as gate were closed and they never allowed me to come near the gate, I was trembling with fear and was acquaintance (Anil Dawanehya) reached school to help and get me out of the school, He was also abused by them.

This whole incident is so unfortunate and shook me that I am not able to function properly as I am fearful of my life and I have danger from them.

Please take strict again against them and please file the FIR against them and do the needful, as early as possible.

(Emphasis added)

The complaint narrates that on 08.05.2023 at 09.00 a.m., the incident has happened, but t