1 2025:CGHC:12537-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRMP No. 648 of 2025 1 - Devendra Kumar Rathore S/o Ramsharan Rathore, Aged About 32 Years R/o Village Sarkho, Tahsil Janjgir, District Janjgir- Champa (C.G.). 2 - Ramsharan Rathore S/o Ramlal Rathore, Aged About 58 Years 3 - Khilendra Rathore S/o Ramsharan Rathore Aged About 35 Years 4 - Komleshwari Rathore W/o Khilendra Rathore, Aged About 33 Years Petitioner No. 2 to 4 are R/o M.Q. 1376, Pragati Nagar, Police Station Deepaka, District Korba (C.G.). ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station House OfÏcer, Police Station - Navagarh, District - Janjgir- Champa (C.G.). 2 - Deepmala Rathore W/o Devendra Kumar Rathore, Aged About 26 Years R/o Village Siuad, Police Station - Navagarh, District - Janjgir - Champa (C.G.). ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Sourabh Sahu, Advocate. For Respondent No. 1/ State : Mr. Sakib Ahmed, Panel Lawyer For Respondent No. 2 : Mr. Hemant Kumar Sahu, Advocate. Hon’ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon’ble Mr. Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 17/03/2025 1. Heard Mr. Sourabh Sahu, learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr. Sakib Ahmed, learned Panel Lawyer for the State/respondent No. 1 as well as Mr. Hemant Kumar Sahu, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2. 2 2. By this petition under Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the petitioner(s) seek quashing of the FIR bearing Crime No. 368/2024, dated 24.09.2024, charge sheet bearing No. 323/2024, dated 03.10.2024, filed against the petitioners by the police of Police Station, Navagarh, District Janjgir-Champa for the offences punishable under Sections 498A and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, the IPC) and the order dated 07.10.2024 passed in Criminal Case No. 582/2024 by the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Navagarh, District Janjgir-Champa whereby the learned Magistrate has taken cognizance of the charge sheet and also seek quashing of the entire consequential criminal proceedings. 3. The facts, in brief, as projected by the petitioners are that the marriage between the petitioner No. 1 and the respondent No. 2 took place on 25.01.2023. Petitioner No. 2 is the father of petitioner No. 1 and petitioner No. 3 is the brother of petitioner No. 1 and petitioner No. 4 is the sister-in- law (Bhabhi) of petitioner No. 1. Soon after the marriage, the petitioner No.1 started living with his wife i.e. respondent No.2 at village Sarkho as he was working in a private Company as Computer Operator at Champa and the petitioner No. 2 to 4 were residing at Dipka, District Korba. According to the petitioners, there were disputes between the husband and the wife and the respondent No. 2 threatened the petitioner No. 1 that she would implicate him and his entire family in a false case and being scared, the petitioner No. 1 made a complaint at Police Station, Naila with regard to the threats being given by the respondent No. 2. In the meantime, the respondent No. 2 became pregnant and went to her parental house and under the influence of her family members, lodged an FIR against the petitioner and his family members at Police Station, Navagarh, District Janjgir-Champa alleging that the petitioners have mentally and physically harassed her and demanded dowry. As such, the 3 FIR was registered against the petitioners and after investigation, charge sheet has also been filed. 4. It has been argued by learned counsel for the petitioners that the the dispute between the petitioner No. 1 and the respondent No. 2 was petty in nature but due to the influence of his in-laws, the respondent No. 2 has lodged a false FIR against the petitioners. No offence, whatsoever is made out against the petitioners and the police has also filed the charge sheet in a haste without looking into all the aspects of the matter. Further, the learned trial Judge has taken cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the police and registered Criminal Case No. 582/2024 for the offences punishable under Sections498A and 34 of the IPC. Fact of the matter is that the petitioner and his relatives are being harassed by the respondent No. 2 and because of illegal acts of the respondent No. 2 and her relatives, the petitioner No. 1 has been terminated from his job regarding which the petitioner No. 1 has also made a complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Janjgir but no action has been taken on the same. Even the learned trial Court has failed to consider that the petitioner No. 2 to 4 had never resided with the petitioner No. 1 or the respondent No. 2 and as such, there was no occasion for them to harass the respondent No. 2. The entire story has been concocted just to harass them and the only motive of the respondent No. 2 is to extort money from the petitioners. 5. On the other hand, Mr. Sakib Ahmed, learned counsel for the State/respondent No. 1 submits that the police has investigated the matter and after prima facie finding offence being made out against the petitioners, charge sheet has been filed and now it is for the learned trial Court concerned to proceed with the matter. 6. Mr. Hemant Kumar Sahu, learned counsel for the respondent No. 2/wife submits that the learned trial Court has not committed any error by taking 4 cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the police and as such, this petition deserves to be dismissed. 7. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the documents appended with petition. 8. This Court, vide order dated 20.02.2025, had directed the petitioner No. 1 to deposit a sum of Rs. 1 Lac before the Mediation Centre of this Court within a period of two weeks which was further directed to be paid to the respondent No. 2 and the Mediation Centre was also directed to conclude the mediation and conciliation proceedings expeditiously. The matter was further directed to be listed today alongwith the report of the Mediator. 9. The ofÏce note dated 10.03.2025 states that the as per the report of the Mediator dated 07.03.2025, the petitioner No. 1 and the respondent No. 2 had appeared for the mediation proceedings, however, the same has failed. 10. In the matter of Geeta Mehrotra and another v. State of Uttar Pradesh and another1, the Supreme Court has held that casual reference to the family member of the husband in FIR as co-accused particularly when there is no specific allegation and complaint did not disclose their active involvement. It was held that cognizance of matter against them for offence under Sections 498-A, 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC would not be justified as cognizance would result in abuse of judicial process. 11. In the matter of K. Subba Rao and others v. State of Telangana represented by its Secretary, Department of Home and others2 the Supreme Court delineated the duty of the criminal Courts while proceeding against relatives of victim's husband and held that the Court 1 (2012) 10 SCC 741 2 (2018) 14 SCC 452 5 should be careful in proceeding against distant relatives in crime pertaining to matrimonial disputes and dowry deaths and further held that relatives of husband should not be roped in on the basis of omnibus allegations, unless specific instances of their involvement in offences are made out. 12. In the matter of Rashmi Chopra v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another3, it has been held by the Supreme Court relying upon the principle of law laid down in State of Haryana and others v. Bhajan Lal and others4 that criminal proceedings can be allowed to proceed only when a prima facie offence is disclosed and further held that judicial process is a solemn proceeding which cannot be allowed to be converted into an instrument of oppression or harassment and the High Court should not hesitate in exercising the jurisdiction to quash the proceedings if the proceedings deserve to be quashed in line of parameters laid down by the Supreme Court in Bhajan Lal (supra) and further held that in absence of specific allegation regarding anyone of the accused except common and general allegations against everyone, no offence under Section 498A IPC is made out and quashed the charges for offence under Section 498A of the IPC being covered by category seven as enumerated in Bhajan Lal (supra) by holding as under:- “24. Coming back to the allegations in the complaint pertaining to Section 498A and Section 3/4 of D.P. Act. A perusal of the complaint indicates that the allegations against the appellants for offence under Section 498A and Section 3/4 of D.P. Act are general and sweeping. No specific incident dates or details of any incident has been mentioned in the complaint. The complaint having been filed after proceeding for divorce was initiated by Nayan Chopra in State of Michigan, where Vanshika participated and divorce was ultimately granted. A few months after filing of the divorce petition, the complaint has been filed in the Court of C.J.M., Gautam Budh Nagar with the allegations as noticed above. The sequence of the events and facts and circumstances of the case leads us to conclude that 3 2019 SCC OnLine SC 620 4 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335 6 the complaint under Section 498A and Section 3/4 of D.P. Act have been filed as counter blast to divorce petition proceeding in State of Michigan by Nayan Chopra. 25. There being no specific allegation regarding any one of the applicants except common general allegation against everyone i.e. “they started harassing the daughter of the applicant demanding additional dowry of one crore” and the fact that all relatives of the husband, namely, father, mother, brother, mother’s sister and husband of mother’s sister have been roped in clearly indicate that application under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. was filed with a view to harass the applicants.....” 13. The Apex Court, in Payal Sharma v. State of Punjab & Another {Cr.A. No. 4773/2024, decided on 26.11.2024} had, relying on the decision in Geeta Mehrotra (supra), Kahkashan Kausar @ Sonam & Others v. State of Bihar & Others {(2022) 6 SCC 599}, Bhajan Lal (supra), and Umesh Kumar v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Another {(2013) 10 SCC 591}, had quashed the FIR and the consequential proceedings emanating therefrom. 14. Very recently, the Apex Court, in Dara Lakshmi Narayan & Others v. State of Telangana & Another {Cr.A. No. 5199 of 2024, decided on 10.12.2024}, has observed as under: “25. A mere reference to the names of family members in a criminal case arising out of a matrimonial dispute, without specific allegations indicating their active involvement should be nipped in the bud. It is a well-recognised fact, borne out of judicial experience, that there is often a tendency to implicate all the members of the husband’s family when domestic disputes arise out of a matrimonial discord. Such generalised and sweeping accusations unsupported by concrete evidence or particularised allegations cannot form the basis for criminal prosecution. Courts must exercise caution in such cases to prevent misuse of legal provisions and the legal process and avoid unnecessary harassment of innocent family members. In the present case, appellant Nos.2 to 6, who are the members of the family of appellant No.1 have been living in different cities and have not resided in the matrimonial house of appellant No.1 and respondent No.2 herein. Hence, they cannot be dragged into criminal prosecution and the same would be an abuse of the process of the law in the absence of specific allegations made against each of them. 26. In fact, in the instant case, the first appellant and his wife 7 i.e. the second respondent herein resided at Jollarpeta, Tamil Nadu where he was working in Southern Railways. They were married in the year 2015 and soon thereafter in the years 2016 and 2017, the second respondent gave birth to two children. Therefore, it cannot be believed that there was any harassment for dowry during the said period or that there was any matrimonial discord. Further, the second respondent in response to the missing complaint filed by the first appellant herein on 05.10.2021 addressed a letter dated 11.11.2021 to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Thirupathur Sub Division requesting for closure of the said complaint as she had stated that she had left the matrimonial home on her own accord owing to a quarrel with the appellant No.1 because of one Govindan with whom the second respondent was in contact over telephone for a period of ten days. She had also admitted that she would not repeat such acts in future. In the above conspectus of facts, we find that the allegations of the second respondent against the appellants herein are too far-fetched and are not believable. 27. xxx xxx xxx 28. The inclusion of Section 498A of the IPC by way of an amendment was intended to curb cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband and his family, ensuring swift intervention by the State. However, in recent years, as there have been a notable rise in matrimonial disputes across the country, accompanied by growing discord and tension within the institution of marriage, consequently, there has been a growing tendency to misuse provisions like Section 498A of the IPC as a tool for unleashing personal vendetta against the husband and his family by a wife. Making vague and generalised allegations during matrimonial conflicts, if not scrutinized, will lead to the misuse of legal processes and an encouragement for use of arm twisting tactics by a wife and/or her family. Sometimes, recourse is taken to invoke Section 498A of the IPC against the husband and his family in order to seek compliance with the unreasonable demands of a wife. Consequently, this Court has, time and again, cautioned against prosecuting the husband and his family in the absence of a clear prima facie case against them. 29. We are not, for a moment, stating that any woman who has suffered cruelty in terms of what has been contemplated under Section 498A of the IPC should remain silent and forbear herself from making a complaint or initiating any criminal proceeding. That is not the intention of our aforesaid observations but we should not encourage a case like as in the present one, where as a counterblast to the petition for dissolution of marriage sought by the first appellant-husband of the second respondent herein, a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC is lodged by the latter. In fact, the insertion of the said provision is meant mainly for the protection of a 8 woman who is subjected to cruelty in the matrimonial home primarily due to an unlawful demand for any property or valuable security in the form of dowry. However, sometimes it is misused as in the present case. 30. In the above context, this Court in G.V. Rao vs. L.H.V. Prasad, (2000) 3 SCC 693 observed as follows: “12. There has been an outburst of matrimonial disputes in recent times. Marriage is a sacred ceremony, the main purpose of which is to enable the young couple to settle down in life and live peacefully. But little matrimonial skirmishes suddenly erupt which often assume serious proportions resulting in commission of heinous crimes in which elders of the family are also involved with the result that those who could have counselled and brought about rapprochement are rendered helpless on their being arrayed as accused in the criminal case. There are many other reasons which need not be mentioned here for not encouraging matrimonial litigation so that the parties may ponder over their defaults and terminate their disputes amicably by mutual agreement instead of fighting it out in a court of law where it takes years and years to conclude and in that process the parties lose their “young” days in chasing their “cases” in different courts.” 31. Further, this Court in Preeti Gupta vs. State of Jharkhand (2010) 7 SCC 667 held that the courts have to be extremely careful and cautious in dealing with these complaints and must take pragmatic realities into consideration while dealing with matrimonial cases. The allegations of harassment by the husband’s close relatives who had been living in different cities and never visited or rarely visited the place where the complainant resided would have an entirely different complexion. The allegations of the complainant are required to be scrutinized with great care and circumspection. 32. We, therefore, are of the opinion that the impugned FIR No.82 of 2022 filed by respondent No.2 was initiated with ulterior motives to settle personal scores and grudges against appellant No.1 and his family members i.e., appellant Nos.2 to 6 herein. Hence, the present case at hand falls within category (7) of illustrative parameters highlighted in Bhajan Lal. Therefore, the High Court, in the present case, erred in not exercising the powers available to it under Section 482 CrPC and thereby failed to prevent abuse of the Court’s process by continuing the criminal prosecution against the appellants.” Observing the aforesaid, the Apex Court quashed the FIR, the charge sheet and the consequential criminal proceedings pending before the learned trial Court. 9 15. In the complaint so made, the complainant/respondent No. 2 has only made omnibus and general allegations against the petitioners without there being full particulars about date and place that all the petitioners including the petitioner No. 1-husband treated her with cruelty for not giving sufÏcient dowry. There is no specific allegation regarding anyone of the petitioners except common and general allegations that they demanded dowry. Further, the allegations levelled against the petitioners No. 2 to 4 appear to be exaggerated as they were residing separately at Dipka, District Korba, whereas the petitioner No. 1 and the respondent No. 2 were residing at Sarkho, District Janjgir-Champa. The attempt of the respondent No. 2 appears to be nothing but to anyhow implicate all the family members of the petitioners. 16. Considering the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, material available on record, perusing the FIR in which no specific allegations have been made and only bald and omnibus allegations have been made against the petitioners, we are of the considered opinion that prima-facie no offence under Section 498A/34 of the IPC is made out for prosecuting petitioner No.2 to 4, namely Ramsharan Rathore, Khilendra Rathore and Komleshwari Rathore, respectively, for the above-stated offences. 17. As a fallout and consequence of the above-stated legal analysis, Criminal Case No. 582/2024, pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Navagarh, District Janjgir-Champa, arising out of the FIR bearing Crime No. 368/2024, dated 24.09.2024 registered at Police Station Navagarh, District Janjgir Champa and the charge sheet bearing No. 323/2024, dated 03.10.2024, for the offence under Sections 498A and 34 of the IPC is hereby quashed so far it relates to petitioner No. 2 to 4, namely Ramsharan Rathore, Khilendra Rathore and Komleshwari Rathore, respectively. However, the prosecution against her husband 10 petitioner No.1-Devendra Kumar Rathore shall continue. The trial Court concerned will decide the criminal case pending against petitioner No.1-Devendra Kumar Rathore, strictly in accordance with law without being influenced by any of the observations made herein above. 18. As a result, this petition stands partly allowed. Sd/- Sd/- (Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) (Ramesh Sinha) JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Amit AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Digitally signed by AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Date: 2025.03.18 19:06:57 +0530