Resham Singh and Another vs Kartar Singh and Others

M.M. Punchhi, J.—Paragraph 5 of my judgment in Criminal Revision No. 934 of 1980 decided on May 3, 1983, reported in 1934 P.L.R. 78 which is to the following effect:

And lastly to crown it all the complaint at the instance of Kartar Singh was wholly incompetent in view of Section 198 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It was the first wife alone who was aggrieved against the said marriage. She alone was competent to institute the complaint and not her father. Thus the proceedings otherwise are wholly without jurisdiction.

has created some complications, as conveyed to me through a letter by an Hon''ble member of the Bar. Thereupon taking suo motu action to review my decision in relation to paragraph 5 afore-extracted, I issued notice to the Learned Counsel for the parties but only the Learned Counsel for the Respondent has put in appearance. He has no objection to the deletion of paragraph 5 from the judgment altogether. It does seem to me that the said paragraph could easily have been avoided and can even now be avoided without disturbing the decision. It is ordered accordingly.

What is the correct position of law with regard to the persons competet to make complaint u/s 198, Code of Criminal Procedure, will have to be determined in an appropriate case In the instant one, the matter at such never arose and the remarks made by me were on first impressions, unchecked by counsel, for it was then taken that Kartar Singh had not claimed to have filed the petition on behalf of his daughter, the aggrieved person. The remarks were made just en passant.