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2025 DIGILAW 1795 (JHR)

Rajib Kumar Biswas v. The State of Jharkhand

2025-09-01

ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY

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JUDGMENT : ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY, J. 1. Heard the parties. 2. This Criminal Miscellaneous Petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita , 2023 with a prayer to quash the entire criminal proceedings including the order taking cognizance dated 04.04.2018 passed by the learned Railway Judicial Magistrate, Dhanbad in Gomoh G.R.P.S. Case No.49 of 2017 corresponding to G.R. Case No.300 of 2017 whereby and where under cognizance has been taken by the learned Railway Judicial Magistrate, Dhanbad for the offences punishable under Sections 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code and to quash the order dated 07.08.2019 by which bailable warrant of arrest has been ordered to be issued against the petitioner. 3. The brief fact of the case is that the petitioner is the informant of Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.49 of 2017 which is, in fact, a counter-case to Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.48 of 2017. A conjoint reading of both the cases i.e. Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.48 of 2017 as well as Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.49 of 2017, the photocopy of the certified copy of which has been filed as Annexure-4 of this case, reveals that the undisputed fact remains that the accused persons of Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.49 of 2017, though did not have the confirm ticket for Sleeper Class; still they entered inside the S-5 coach of Kalka Mail and sat inside the compartment. One of the accused persons, alighted from the train in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (Gomoh) Railway Station and while one of the accused persons was trying to give tea to the other accused person from the window, the said hot tea fell down upon the wife of the informant. This fact is the admitted case of the parties. From here, the case of the petitioner is that the accused persons of the case physically assaulted his wife; whereas the case of the accused persons of this case, one of whom is namely Shekh Mohammad Aadil Salam being the informant of Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.48 of 2017, is that at that stage, this petitioner assaulted the accused persons of this case and attempted to throw them out from the compartment. The Investigating Officer of the case, after investigation of the case, submitted Final Report and therein he found that while the accused persons of Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.49 of 2017 were bringing tea, hot tea fell on the hand of the wife of the informant at which the wife of the informant shouted, upon which the petitioner assaulted the accused persons of the case. One of the accused persons namely Shekh Mohammad Aadil Salam has got instituted a case at Gomoh Railway Police Station against the petitioner and other accused persons and in their defence, the petitioner has lodged this F.I.R. alleging outraging of the modesty of his wife by the accused persons. The Investigating Officer also observed that the case of the informant is a false and manufactured case. Hence, the Investigating Officer submitted Final Report stating that the allegations are not true and submitted an application for institution of a case against the informant for instituting a false case and thereby having committed the offence punishable under Section 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Railway Judicial Magistrate on the basis of the prayer made by the Investigating Officer of the case, took cognizance of the offence punishable under Section 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that both the Investigating Officer of the case as well as the learned Railway Judicial Magistrate failed to take note of the admitted case of the accused persons of the case that they were the intruders to the S-5 Compartment, as they were not having any valid railway journey ticket to travel in a reserved compartment. It is next submitted that since the Investigating Officer of the case has also found that the petitioner caused hurt to the wife of the informant by throwing hot tea upon her hand so, the Investigating Officer could have found a case punishable under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code against the accused persons but instead in a shoddy manner, has submitted an application for proceeding against the petitioner for having committed the offence punishable under Section 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code, though neither of the offences is made out against the petitioner even if the entire allegations made against the petitioner are considered to be true in their entirety. Hence, it is submitted that the prayer, as prayed for in the instant Cr.M.P., be allowed. 5. Learned Addl. P.P. appearing for the State on the other hand vehemently opposes the prayer of the petitioner made in the instant Cr.M.P. and submits that the materials in the record are sufficient to constitute both the offences punishable under Sections 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code. Hence, it is submitted that this Cr.M.P., being without any merit, be dismissed. 6. 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 the essential ingredients to constitute the offence punishable under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code are as follows:- (i) The accused gave some information to a public servant. (ii) Such information was false. (iii) The accused knew or had reason to believe that such information was false. (iv) He did so intentionally to cause the public servant to act upon such information which the public servant would not have acted upon to the injury or annoyance of any person. 7. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Subhash Chandra vs. State of U.P. & Others, (2000) 9 SCC 356 has held that unless all the ingredients of Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code are established, the offence cannot be treated to have been committed. 8. So far as the offence punishable under Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code is concerned, the essential ingredients of the offence are:- (i) The accused instituted a criminal proceeding; (ii) There was no just or lawful ground for such proceeding or the charge was false; (iii) The accused knew at the time of making the charge that there was no lawful ground; (iv) He made the charge intending to cause injury to the person against whom the charge was made. 9. Now, coming to the facts of the case, as already indicated above; in the Final Report itself submitted in Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.49 of 2017, the Investigating Officer, has in no uncertain manner found that the accused persons of the case made hot tea fall on the hand of the wife of the informant thus, causing hurt to her. So, when the Investigating Officer of the case found this allegation to be true certainly the same is sufficient to constitute at least the offence punishable under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code against the accused persons of the case but instead of submitting charge-sheet against the accused person for at least having committed the offence punishable under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code, the Investigating Officer of the case has certainly committed a grave illegality by instead submitting an application for proceeding against the petitioner; who is the informant of the case for having committed the offences punishable under Section 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code. 10. It is needless to mention that the learned Railway Judicial Magistrate also acted as a Post Office instead of applying his judicial mind in a proceeding against the petitioner for having committed the offence punishable under Section 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code; because there is allegation that the informant and his wife complained of the accused persons of the case throwing hot tea and acid upon the hand of the wife of the informant. It is common knowledge that in several part of this country persons, who are not entitled to travel in a reserved compartment enter into and occupy the berth of the passengers having railway journey tickets for such reserved class of apartments by forcing them to share the berths with such intruders. But the Investigating Officer of the case instead of taking strict action against such intruders, who the accused persons of the case are admittedly, as is evident from the F.I.R. of Rail Dhanbad (Gomoh) P.S. Case No.49 of 2017, has acted in hand in gloves with them by protecting them by filing charge-sheet in that case against the petitioner, while recommending proceeding against the petitioner for having committed the offence punishable under Section 182/211 of the Indian Penal Code. 11. 11. In view of the discussions made above, it cannot be said that the information, what was given by the petitioner/informant of the case was a false one because the Investigating Officer also found that the accused persons of the case threw hot tea on the hand of the wife of the informant and it can very well be said that this is not the case, where the petitioner had known or had reason to believe that the information that is being given to police, is false. Hence, in the absence of such essential ingredients of the offence punishable under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code, this Court has no hesitation in holding that even if the entire allegations made against the petitioner are considered to be true in their entirety, still the offence punishable under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code is not made out against the petitioner. 12. So far as the offence punishable under Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code is concerned, keeping in view the finding of the Investigating Officer of the case himself in the Final Report that the accused persons of the case who intruded into the reserved compartment though they were not entitled to travel in that compartment, caused hurt to the wife of the informant by throwing hot tea on her hand, so when this much of the case of the informant was found to be true; so it cannot be said that there was no just or lawful grounds for such a proceeding initiated by the petitioner or that the charge was entirely false nor can it be said that the accused knew at the time of making the charge that there was no lawful ground. 13. Under such circumstances, this Court has no hesitation in holding that even if the entire allegations made against the petitioner are considered to be true in their entirety still the offence punishable under Sections 211 of the Indian Penal Code is not made out. 14. 13. Under such circumstances, this Court has no hesitation in holding that even if the entire allegations made against the petitioner are considered to be true in their entirety still the offence punishable under Sections 211 of the Indian Penal Code is not made out. 14. In view of the discussions made above since neither the offence punishable under Section 182 nor the offence punishable under Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code is made out against the petitioner even if the entire allegations made against the petitioner are considered to be true in their entirety, hence, this Court is of the considered view that the continuation of this criminal proceeding against the petitioner, will amount to abuse of process of law and this is a fit case where the entire criminal proceedings including the order taking cognizance dated 04.04.2018 and the order dated 07.08.2019 passed by the learned Railway Judicial Magistrate, Dhanbad in Gomoh G.R.P.S. Case No.49 of 2017 corresponding to G.R. Case No.300 of 2017, be quashed and set aside. 15. Accordingly, the entire criminal proceedings including the order taking cognizance dated 04.04.2018 and the order dated 07.08.2019 passed by the learned Railway Judicial Magistrate, Dhanbad in Gomoh G.R.P.S. Case No.49 of 2017 corresponding to G.R. Case No.300 of 2017, is quashed and set aside against the petitioner. 16. In the result, this Cr.M.P. stands allowed.