Vijaya Laxmi @ Bijay Laxmi, wife of Late Pankaj Kumar v. State of Jharkhand
2023-09-14
ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY
body2023
DigiLaw.ai
JUDGMENT : Heard the parties. 2. This Criminal Miscellaneous Petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure with a prayer to quash the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 registered for the offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro. Prayer has been in this Criminal Miscellaneous Petition, also for quashing the order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro wherein the learned Magistrate differing with the Final Report submitted by the police; wherein the police did not send up the petitioner for trial, as the facts were not proved for taking cognizance against the petitioner for the offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code; on the basis of paragraphs-2, 3, 4, 39, 52, 53 and 55 of the case-diary, found prima facie case against the petitioner for having abetted the commission of suicide of her deceased husband- Pankaj Kumar. 3. The brief fact of the case is that the husband of the petitioner was posted as Executive Engineer in Jharkhand Bijali Vitran Nigam Limited and on the date of occurrence, he was posted at Dhanbad. His father died in an accident in the year 2011. On the date of occurrence of death of the deceased, the deceased wanted to go alone from his house at Ranchi to his place of posting in Dhanbad but the petitioner insisted to accompany him. On the way the deceased stopped the car over a bridge on a river and told the petitioner to pour water on the radiator as the same has become hot and while the petitioner was pouring water on the radiator, the deceased jumped into the river from the bridge resulting in his death; by way of suicide. Unnatural Death case being Chas (M) P.S. U.D. Case No.04 of 2020 was registered on 17.06.2020. As no foul play was detected; the said U.D. Case was closed.
Unnatural Death case being Chas (M) P.S. U.D. Case No.04 of 2020 was registered on 17.06.2020. As no foul play was detected; the said U.D. Case was closed. Then the paternal uncle of the deceased- Pankaj Kumar filed Complaint Case No.717 of 2020 in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro; which was referred to police under Section 156 (3) of Cr.P.C. The said complaint was accompanied by the letter written by the mother of the deceased to the Superintendent of Police, Bokaro alleging therein that the petitioner used to indulge in keeping herself busy with different social media by her mobile phone till late night and when her husband used to protest the same, she was becoming ready to assault him and family members of the petitioner were supporting her in this matter and the petitioner was threatening to send the deceased to jail by lodging false dowry case and she was threatening to take help of one of her relatives who is a judge and she was spending time by using two of mobile SIMs and also with other numbers and when her mother-in-law was trying to make her understand, the petitioner used to quarrel with her and used to threaten her and because of these reasons; the husband of the petitioner used to be in continuous tension. During four years of marriage, the involvement of the parents of the petitioner in the matrimonial life of the petitioner and her husband went up and on the date of occurrence the deceased wanted to go to his duty place at Dhanbad either alone or with any of his friends but the petitioner insisted to accompany him. The petitioner and her husband left their house at 11:00-11:30 pm but took unusually long time to reach Bokaro and the mother of the deceased raised doubt that the reason for such delay was that the petitioner might have mentally tortured her husband on the way; which forced the deceased to commit suicide; because the deceased was alright when he left his house at Ranchi. It is further alleged that as after the death of her husband, the parents of the petitioner came and stayed in the house of the mother-in-law of the petitioner, hence, the mother-in-law of the petitioner became afraid of being killed by the petitioner and others and went away from her house to stay with her daughter at Kolkata.
It is further alleged that as after the death of her husband, the parents of the petitioner came and stayed in the house of the mother-in-law of the petitioner, hence, the mother-in-law of the petitioner became afraid of being killed by the petitioner and others and went away from her house to stay with her daughter at Kolkata. Police after due investigation of the case found that the deceased- Pankaj Kumar took 400 days’ leave between 2012-2017 which was availed for treatment of his mental condition and admittedly Pankaj Kumar was married with the petitioner only in the year 2016. During the investigation, police examined Dr. Arvind Kumar, Psychiatry Officer, Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke Ranchi who informed the police that the deceased- Pankaj Kumar was under the treatment at Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke Ranchi and the deceased was suffering from Bipolar Effective Disorder and that Bipolar Effective Disorder is a mental disease in which; a person suffering from it because of headache and irritation can do anything. The deceased- Pankaj Kumar before his death was admitted 3-4 times in serious condition and was under treatment in hospital for long time as indoor patient. 4. Out of the paragraphs referred to by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate by which she has differed with the Final Report submitted by the police, learned Magistrate has inter alia referred to paragraph-2 which is the restatement of complainant who has no personal knowledge about the matter rather he has mentioned whatever he heard the facts of the case narrated in the FIR from the mother of the deceased- Pankaj Kumar. 5. Paragraph-3 is the statement under Section 161 of the Cr.P.C. of the mother of the deceased- Pankaj Kumar wherein she has not stated about the petitioner spending time in social media by her mobile phone and threatening the deceased to lodge any false case. 6. So far as paragraph-4 of the case-diary is concerned, the same is the statement of the friend of the deceased- Pankaj Kumar who has inter alia stated that as per his information, the relationship between Pankaj Kumar and the petitioner was alright and Pankaj never complained about the petitioner to him. 7. Paragraph-39 next referred to by the learned Magistrate is one line paragraph in which the Investigating Officer has just mentioned that he closed the diary for the day and investigation is continued. 8.
7. Paragraph-39 next referred to by the learned Magistrate is one line paragraph in which the Investigating Officer has just mentioned that he closed the diary for the day and investigation is continued. 8. Paragraphs-52 and 53, then relied upon by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate are the statements of the father and mother respectively of the petitioner namely Sri Navin Srivastav and Smt. Sakshi Sadhna Sinha; wherein they have categorically stated that the deceased used to be under depression and he was under treatment at Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke Ranchi. 9. In paragraph-55 the statement of Bhupendra Sharma has been mentioned wherein he has inter alia categorically stated that after the death of father of Pankaj Kumar, the said Pankaj Kumar became a changed person. 10. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate failed to consider the aspect of the depression; the deceased- Pankaj Kumar was going on and his long history of being treated in Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi and even the mother-in-law of the petitioner also gradually went into the mental depression and after the marriage with the petitioner also both used to continuously visit Neuro Psychiatrist at Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi. The petitioner with all dedication remained on the side of her alleged husband though her marriage with Pankaj Kumar was solemnized by suppressing the fact that her husband has neurological problems. 11. Learned counsel for the petitioner relies upon the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Nupur Talwar vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Another reported in (2012) 11 SCC 465 and submits that when the magistrate was differing from the Final Report submitted by the police, she ought to have assigned cogent reasons for such differing but the learned Magistrate has casually mentioned some paragraphs without going into it the contents of those and in a mechanical manner having differed with the Final Report submitted by the police; passed a cryptic order dated 13.02.2023 and the same is not in accordance with law. Hence, it is submitted that the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro and also the order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro, be quashed and set aside. 12.
Hence, it is submitted that the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro and also the order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro, be quashed and set aside. 12. Learned Addl.P.P. appearing for the State on the other hand vehemently opposes the prayer for quashing the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro and also the order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro and submits that there is specific allegation against the petitioner of having abetted the commission of suicide by Pankaj Kumar. Hence, no illegality has been committed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro in differing with the Final Report submitted by the police and taking cognizance. Hence, it is submitted that this Cr.M.P., being without any merit, be dismissed. 13. Having heard the rival submissions made at the Bar and after carefully going through the materials available in the record, it is pertinent to mention here that when a court differs with the Final Report submitted by the police certainly the police has the right to know the reason for such difference. What is expected from a Magistrate in such a case is to take into consideration as to what are the materials which are available in the record; which establish the ingredients of the offence in respect of which cognizance is taken by the court. 14. Now, coming to the facts of the case the learned Magistrate has mentioned seven different paragraphs out of which paragraph-39 as already indicated is irrelevant and it is incongruous what made the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate to come to a conclusion that the paragraph-52 and 53 or for that matter paragraphs-4, 52, 53 and 55 which are the statements of the witnesses wherein they have not stated anything incriminating against the petitioner; are the paragraphs which inter alia led the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro to conclude that there is prima facie material sufficient to take the cognizance for the offence punishable under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code.
As already indicated above, para-2 of the case diary is the restatement of the complaint/informant who has no personal knowledge but he has attributed his knowledge to that of the mother of Pankaj Kumar who is the mother-in-law of the petitioner and paragraph-3 is the statement of the mother-in-law of the petitioner who is the mother of the deceased- Pankaj Kumar but she has left out many imputations against the petitioner in her statement under Section 161 of Cr.P.C; which was made in her letter to the Superintendent of Police, Bokaro; the copy of which has been annexed with the complaint. The learned Magistrate has also not considered para-58 of the case-diary which shows that the deceased was having Bipolar Effective Disorder and he was under treatment at Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi much before his marriage with the petitioner. 15. Under such circumstances, this Court has no hesitation in holding that the order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro being a cryptic one having been passed in a mechanical manner without complying the due process of law and without considering the relevant materials in the record, is not sustainable in law. 16. Accordingly, the order dated 13.02.2023 passed by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro is quashed and set aside. Learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro is directed to pass a fresh order in accordance with law. 17. So far as the prayer for quashing the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro is concerned, as already indicated above there is averments in the complaint and the copy of the letter of the mother of Pankaj Kumar addressed to the Superintendent of Police, Bokaro which was annexed with the complaint which implicates the petitioner of having abetted the commission of suicide and the same is sufficient for a legitimate prosecution. Hence, in the considered opinion of this Court, the prayer to quash the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro is not sustainable in law. 18.
Hence, in the considered opinion of this Court, the prayer to quash the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro is not sustainable in law. 18. Accordingly, the prayer to quash the First Information Report in connection with Chas Muffasil P.S. Case No.109 of 2021 corresponding to G.R. No.229 of 2023 pending in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bokaro is rejected. 19. This Cr.M.P. stands disposed of accordingly.