A victim's retraction of allegations can be sufficient to quash criminal proceedings when it indicates that continuation would amount to an abuse of the court's process.

ORDER

The prayer in the above Crl.M.C filed under Sec.482 of the Cr.P.C is as follows:

“to quash Annexure-I F.I.R in Crime No.731/2018 of Tirur Police Station, registered by the 2nd respondent pending before the Addl.District and Sessions court-I, Manjeri and render justice to the Petitioner.”

2. Heard Sri.S.K.Adhithyan, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner/accused and Smt.Priya Shanavas, learned Public Prosecutor appearing for the respondents.

3. The petitioner herein has been arrayed as the sole accused in Crime No.731/2018 of Tirur Police Station, Malappuram, which has been registered for offences punishable under Secs.9(f) & 10 of the POCSO Act, 2012 and under Sec.3(1)(w)(i) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act , Sec.75 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and under Sec.354A(1)(i) of the IPC . 4. The prosecution case in short is that the petitioner/accused is a teacher in the school, where the minor victim girl now aged 15 years is studying and that she is an orphan girl, she has lost both her parents and she is now placed in a care institution for orphans and that sometime in July, 2015, she had gone out the class to take her Malayalam note book and she met the petitioner, who is her Malayalam teacher in the corridor and there he had pressed her shoulders and also pressed her right breast and she had wriggled out of it and later sometime in June, 2018, she had told since then to a counsellor, who had come to her orphanage. The victim girl has given the FI Statement before the police as late as on 16.11.2018 about the alleged incident which was said to have happened sometime in July, 2015. It is not now under dispute that now the minor victim girl has given a Sec.164 Cr.P.C statement before the learned Magistrate, in which he has stated that the allegations made by her in the FI Statement are wrong and that she made such wrong allegations against the petitioner, who is a teacher as he was very strict with her and the other students, which was not to her liking.

5. After hearing both sides, it is seen that indisputably the minor victim girl has now given Sec.164 Cr.P.C statement before the learned Magistrate, in which she has categorically stated that the allegations originally met by her in the FI Statement are wrong and that she had made such wrong allegations against the petitioner, who is a teacher as he is very strict with her and the other students, which was not her liking, etc. The abovesaid indisputably material has been gathered by none other than the Investigating Agency concerned in the abovesaid investigation and statement of the victim has also been recorded before the learned Magistrate under Sec.164 Cr.P.C. The petitioner is a teacher and taking note of the nature of the allegations in the instant crime as well as the present indisputable factual position, this Court has no hesitation to hold that permitting the further continuance of the present impugned criminal proceedings is nothing but an abuse to the process of the court.

6. In that view of the matter, it is ordered in the interest of justice that the impugned Annexure-1 Crime No.731/2018 of Tirur Police Station, Malappuram and all further steps taken in pursuance thereof as against the petitioner/accused will stand quashed.

7. The petitioner will produce a certified copy of this order before the Investigating Officer concerned and the jurisdictional Special Court concerned, for necessary information. Office of the Advocate General will produce a certified copy of this order to the Investigating Officer concerned, for necessary information.

With these observations and directions, the above Crl.M.C will stand finally disposed of.