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Judgment
Prafulla C. Pant, J.—Heard.
By means of this petition, moved u/s 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure,1973, the Petitioners have sought quashing of the proceedings of Criminal Complaint Case No. 672 of 2009 (new No. 4151 of 2010), Rajeev Kumar Chauhan v. Ashok Pundir and Ors., relating to offence punishable u/s 304B I.P.C.,Police Station Rajpur, District Dehradun, pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehradun.
Heard learned Counsel for the parties and perused the affidavits.
Brief facts of the case are that, Petitioner No. 1 Ashok Pundir got married to Sanju Pundir (deceased) on 23rd of February, 2005. After two and half year of her marriage on 01.10.2007, she died unnatural death. The post mortem examination discloses that cause of death could not be ascertained and viscera was preserved. There was no mark of the injury on the body of the deceased. It is pleaded on behalf of the Petitioners that deceased consumed poison and committed suicide. It is further pleaded that the father of the deceased Lakhan Singh Chauhan himself admitted said fact, and no action in the matter was taken. After one and half month an application u/s 156(3) of Code of Criminal Procedure, appears to have been moved by Respondent No. 2 Rajeev Kumar Chauhan (brother of the deceased) on the basis of which crime No. 6 of 2008 was registered at police station Rajpur, relating to offences punishable u/s 304B, 504 and 506 I.P.C., against the Petitioners and other family members. However, on investigation no offence is said to have been made out against any of the accused including the Petitioner and final report was submitted by the police. It appears that there after the Respondent No. 2 filed the protest petition which was accept as criminal complaint.
Learned Counsel for the Petitioners submitted that it is abuse of process of law on the part of the Respondent No. 2 to implicate the Petitioners in the criminal case. Attention of this Court is drawn to Annexure-3 to the petition, which is copy of the compromise between the Petitioner No. 1 Ashok Pundir and Lakhan Singh Chauhan (father of the deceased). Said facts shows that the deceased died after consuming poison. It further discloses that the father of the girl had no complaint towards the Petitioners. Para-2 of the compromise shows that the father of the deceased accepted FDR of ` 10 lakh in the name of Ms. Isha, daughter of Petitioner No. 1 and deceased Sanju Chauhan. It is pleaded that the father of the deceased took her daughter and the FDR with him.
The final report submitted by the police also shows that there was no evidence of dowry death in the matter against the accused including the Petitioners. Said document is Exhibit A-25 filed with the petition.
Perusal of the record further discloses that as many as 14 persons namely Yashwant Singh, Papendra Pundir, Surendra Singh, Govind Singh, Bijendra Singh, Vikas Singh, Mohd. Yasin, Rajendra Singh, Budh Singh, Sunit Sharma, Kamal Singh Panwar, Dinesh Kirsali and Yashpal Singh Chauhan of village Kulhan (village of the maternal house of the deceased) filed affidavits before the Investigating Officer that no demand of dowry was made. It is contended on behalf of the Petitioners that even then the trial court has summoned the accused on the criminal complaint which is nothing but abuse of process of law.
Having gone through the material on record, and the affidavits filed by the parties before this Court, in the above circumstances, this Court is of the view opinion that the impugned proceedings of criminal complaint case are nothing but abuse of process of law. Therefore, the petition u/s 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, is allowed. The proceedings of Criminal Complaint Case No. 672 of 2009 (new No. 4151 of 2010), Rajeev Kumar Chauhan v. Ashok Pundir and Ors., relating to offence punishable u/s 304B I.P.C.,Police Station Rajpur, District Dehradun, pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehradun, are hereby quashed.