IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT JABALPUR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE B. P. SHARMA

nd

ON THE 22 OF JANUARY, 2026 MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 57437 of 2023 PRASHANT KUMAR CHOUHAN Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Appearance:

Shri Anil Khare, Senior Advocate with Shri Ravi Upadhyay -

Advocate for the petitioner.

Smt. Shipra Gupta - PL for respondent No.1/State.

Shri Paritosh Gupta, Advocate for the respondent No.2.

ORDER By way of the present petition filed under Section 528 of the BNSS

2023 (Sec.482 of the Cr.P.C), the applicant seeks quashment of FIR No.262/2019 dated 20.11.2019 (Annexure P/1) registered at Police Station Civil Lines, Jabalpur, for the offences under Sections 376(2)(d), 376(2)(k), 376(2)(n) and 313 of the Indian Penal Code and order dated 27.7.2023 (Annexure P/2) passed in ST No.225/2023 by VIII Addl. Sessions Judge, Jabalpur framing charge against the petitioner for the offence under Sections

376(2)(d), 376(2)(n) and 313 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. As per the facts discernible from the FIR, the respondent/complainant is posted as a Jail Guard at Central Jail, Narsinghpur. She was earlier posted at Jabalpur Jail on the same post since the year 2003.

In the year 2015, she came in contact with the petitioner, who was then posted as Assistant Jail Superintendent at Jabalpur Jail. The petitioner was in charge of the Establishment Section, where the complainant was also posted, due to which they frequently interacted in the course of official work. In the year 2015, on the occasion of the retirement of the complainant’s father from the post of Supervisor, Municipal Corporation, Jabalpur, she invited the petitioner to her house. Thereafter, the petitioner started visiting her residence frequently, and they also used to converse regularly on mobile phone. In the year 2016, the petitioner took the complainant to the Jail Quarters and proposed to marry her. The complainant informed him that she was a divorcee and had a three-year-old son, to which the petitioner replied that he had taken the decision after due consideration and wished to spend his life with her. On 06.08.2016, the petitioner took the complainant to his quarters and established physical relations with her on the promise of marriage. Thereafter, the complainant used to visit his quarters regularly, where the petitioner continued to have physical relations with her on several occasions. In the year 2017, the complainant was transferred to Narsinghpur; however, she continued to meet the petitioner at his quarters in Jabalpur during this period. After about five to six months, the complainant came to know that one lady, namely Neha Darshini Rajput, used to visit the petitioner’s quarter. Upon confronting the petitioner, he assured her that he would marry only the complainant and that he had no relationship with the said lady. In June 2019, the complainant became pregnant as a result of her relationship with the petitioner. When she insisted upon marriage, the petitioner stated that his father was suffering from cancer and that his family was facing difficulties, and advised her to terminate the pregnancy by taking Cleankit tablets. After consuming the tablets, the complainant suffered severe bleeding and was taken to Jabalpur Hospital by her family members, where she was treated. Thereafter, she disclosed her relationship with the petitioner to her family members. The complainant’s mother subsequently spoke to the petitioner, who assured her that due to his father’s illness, he would marry the complainant after six months. However, upon being discharged from the hospital, when the complainant went to meet the petitioner at his quarters to enquire about the assurance given to her mother, the petitioner disclosed for the first time that he had married one Prarthana Gajbhiya (Rinku) in the year 2014 and had concealed this fact to avoid losing the complainant. He further stated that he had applied for mutual divorce in March 2019 and that the matter would