1 2025:CGHC:32470-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRMP No. 2172 of 2025 Dr. Yogendra Chaubey S/o Late Shri Kalideen Chaubey Aged About 50 Years R/o Beladula, Police Station Chakradhar Nagar, District Raigarh- Presently Residing At Teachers Colony, Indira Kala Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Police Station Khairagarh, District Khairagarh- Chhuikhadan- Gandai (C.G.) ... Petitioner(s) versus 1. State of Chhattisgarh Through The Police Station Khairagarh, District- Rajnandgaon, (C.G.) (Now District Khairagarh- Chhuikhadan-Gandai (C.G.) 2. XYZ Nil (Complainant) ...Respondent(s) For Petitioner : Mr. Goutam Khetrapal, Advocate. For Respondent/State : Mr. Sakib Ahmed, Panel Lawyer. Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Bibhu Datta Guru , Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice 14.07.2025 1. Heard Mr. Goutam Khetrapal, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. Sakib Ahmed, learned Panel Lawyer, appearing for respondent No. 1/State. BRIJMOHAN MORLE Digitally signed by BRIJMOHAN MORLE Date: 2025.07.14 18:35:30 +0530 2 2. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner with the following prayers: “i. Quash impugned FIR dated 29.03.2025 bearing Crime No. 93 of 2025 registered at Police Station Khairagarh, District Rajnandgaon (C.G.) (now District Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai (C.G.)), for the offence under Section 354, 354A, 354D, 506 and 509 of the Indian Penal Court and Section 3(2)(V) Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against the petitioner. ii. Quashing of impugned Final Report No. 111 of 2025 dated 26.05.2025 filed by Police Station Khairagarh, District Rajnandgaon (C.G.) (now District Khairagarh- Chhuikhadan-Gandai (C.G.)), before the learned Special Judge (Atrocity) for offences under Sections 354, 354A, 354D, 506, 509 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(2)(V)(A) and 3(1)(B) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, against the petitioner. iii. Quash the order of cognizance dated 27.05.2025 passed by learned Special Judge (Scheduled Castes ad Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act) and the entire criminal proceedings pending in Special Case No. 08 of 2025 before the learned Special Judge (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act) for offences under Sections 354, 354A, 354D, 506 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(2)(V)(A) and 3(1)(B) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, against the petitioner. (iv) Grant any other relief(s) which this Hon’ble Court may deem fit in favour of petitioner may also be granted.” 3 3. Brief facts of the case are that, on 29.03.2025, the complainant lodged written complaint before Police Station Khairagarh, District Rajnandgaon, (C.G.) (now District Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai (C.G.)), against the petitioner a Professor and Head of Department (HOD), Theater Department at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh. The complainant was a student in the Theater Department at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya during 2018-19. Due to the COVID- 19 lockdown, she continued her studies from home. Following the death of her mother, the complainant faced financial hardship, could not pay the department fees and hence could not continue her studies. The complainant approached the petitioner, with her exam form and fee- related query. At that time, the petitioner told her to upload her exam form on the portal and come to his house in the evening to ‘discuss the matter’, and further said she would need to spend the night with him. He added that if she had physical relations with him, her re-admission and fee issues would be taken care of. Upon her refusal, the petitioner allegedly began to harass her repeatedly through indecent remarks, scolding her unnecessarily, inappropriate behavior, and persistent pressure to visit him at his office and residence. While the complainant was in Delhi for medical treatment (mental health care), the petitioner was also in Delhi for some program and allegedly called her to Ashoka Hotel, where he once again proposed physical intimacy. He allegedly grabbed her hand and tried to pull her, but complainant managed to escape. On the basis of above written report, Police Station Khairagarh, District Rajnandgaon, (C.G.) (now District Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai (C.G.)), registered the offences punishable under Sections 354, 354A, 354D, 506 and 509 of the 4 Indian Penal Code (IPC), against the petitioner and sent the same to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rajnandgaon, for further investigation, where the offence under Sections 354, 354A, 354D, 506 and 509 of the IPC and Sections 3(1)(V)(A) & 3(1)(B) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (for short, ‘Act of 1989’) has been registered in Crime No. 93 of 2025 and upon completion of usual investigation, the final report/charge-sheet has been submitted before learned Special Judge (Atrocity), Rajnandgaon by adding the offence under Section 3(1)(V) of the Act of 1989, and accordingly the Criminal Case No. 08 of 2025 has been registered against the petitioner, which is pending before the learned Special Judge (Atrocity), Rajnandgaon. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the alleged incidents are stated to have occurred during the COVID phase and subsequently in Delhi, yet the complaint was made only on 29.03.2025 after a gap of three years. This inordinate and unexplained delay in filing the FIR seriously affects the credibility of the prosecution’s case. He also submits that the invocation of Sections 3(1)(V)(A) and 3(1)(B) of the Act of 1989 is wholly unjustified and intended only to harass the petitioner. There is no prima facie evidence to establish that the alleged acts were committed against the petitioner “on account of her caste, which is a sine qua non for attracting the provisions of the Act of 1989. 5. It is further contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the Hon’ble Court can exercise the power for quashing the case to prevent the misuse of provisions on settled parameters i.e., the bare reading of the complaint does not constitute the offence and further, there 5 was no allegation that present petitioner humiliated the complainant or committed the alleged act as she belongs to the Scheduled community. He also contended that the present complaint appears to be a classic example of misuse of protective law relating to women and SC/ST communities. The complaint is made with malafide intent to destroy the career and reputation of the petitioner, who is a senior professor and head of department. He would submit that for constitution act under SC/ST Act the an incident must have been taken place within public view, but according to the complaint it does not indicate the offence and been committed in a place within public view. Hence, this petition. 6. On the other, learned State counsel opposes the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner and submits that the investigation has been done strictly in accordance with law and after completion of investigation the final report/charge-sheet has been filed before the learned trial Court and the learned trial Court had already taken the cognizance and the trial is in progress. 7. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record. 8. The legal position on the issue of quashing of criminal proceedings is well-settled that the jurisdiction to quash a complaint, FIR or a charge- sheet should be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional cases and Courts should not ordinarily interfere with the investigations of cognizable offences. However, where the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint even if taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the 6 accused, the FIR or the charge-sheet may be quashed in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India or inherent powers under Section 528 of the BNSS. 9. In the present case, admittedly, after completion of the investigation, charge-sheet has been filed against the petitioner and the learned trial Court has taken cognizance of the evidences and upon finding prima facie evidence regarding commission of offences the trial has been initiated against the petitioner. 10. From perusal of the FIR, and charge-sheet, it transpires that the petitioner is a Professor and Head of Department (HOD), Theater Department at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh. The complainant was a student in the Theater Department at Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya during 2018-19. Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, she continued her studies from home. Following the death of her mother, the complainant faced financial hardship, could not pay the department fees and hence could not continue her studies. The complainant approached the petitioner, with her exam form and fee- related query. At that time, the petitioner told her to upload her exam form on the portal and come to his house in the evening to ‘discuss the matter’, and further said she would need to spend the night with him. He added that if she had physical relations with him, her re-admission and fee issues would be taken care of. Upon her refusal, the petitioner allegedly began to harass her repeatedly through indecent remarks, scolding her unnecessarily, inappropriate behavior, and persistent pressure to visit him at his office and residence. While the complainant was in Delhi for medical treatment, the petitioner was also in Delhi for some program and allegedly 7 called her to Ashoka Hotel, where he once again proposed physical intimacy. He allegedly grabbed her hand and tried to pull her, but complainant managed to escape. Thus, it cannot be said that no cognizable offence is made out. Hence, the present petition does not fall in any of such category, wherein, this Court can exercise jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS. 11. In view of the above, we do not find it a fit case to quash the FIR bearing Crime No. 93 of 2025 dated 29.03.2025, charge-sheet bearing No. 111 of 2025 dated 26.05.2025 filed by the Police Station Khairagarh, District Rajnandgaon (C.G.) (now District Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan- Gandai (C.G.)) and the order taking cognizance dated 27.05.2025 against the petitioner and the consequential criminal proceedings bearing in Special Case No. 08 of 2025 pending before the learned trial Court, as such, this petition is dismissed. Sd/- Sd/- (Bibhu Datta Guru) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice Brijmohan