Court No. - 37
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 3836 of 2021 Petitioner :- Pravesh Kumar @ Balla And Anr.
Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Ors.
Counsel for Petitioner :- Tejasvi Misra,Shesh Mani Misra Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Manoj Kumar Gupta,J. Hon'ble Gautam Chowdhary,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.
The instant petition has been filed challenging the first information report dated 9.3.2021 registered as Case Crime No. 0099 of 2021, under Sections 147, 148, 149, 354(ka), 354(kha), 307, 302, 452, 323, 504, 506 I.P.C., Section- 3(2)(va) SC/ST Act and Sections 7/8 POCSO Act, P.S.- Mauaima, District- Prayagraj, with further prayer to stay arrest of the petitioners during the course of investigation.
The allegation in the impugned F.I.R. is that Arti aged 16 years, younger sister of the first informant was criminally assaulted and sexually harassed by Talib, one of the named accused. The further allegation is that when protest was raised in this regard, Talib along with his family members and 5-6 other persons barged into the house of the first informant and attacked Guddi Devi, mother of the first informant and his brother-in-law Deepak Kumar with iron rods and hurled caste related abuses. The mother of the first informant sustained grievous injuries. She was taken to the hospital. The C.D. Entry dated 12.3.2021 reveals that on 11.3.2021, Guddi Devi succumbed to the injuries. Consequently, offences u/s 148 and 302 I.P.C. were added. The Police during investigation identified the petitioners as amongst unknown accused who were instrumental in commission of the above offences.
The submission of the learned counsel for the petitioners is that petitioner No.1 is minor and that the petitioners are not named in the F.I.R. Even in the Parcha dated 12.3.2021 wherein statement of the victim is recorded, there is nothing to indicate that the petitioners were involved in the crime.
However, we find no force in the said submission as the F.I.R. clearly mentions that there were 5-6 unknown persons who were instrumental in committing the crime. The statement of the victim endorses the version of the F.I.R. During the course of investigation, the Police had succeeded in identifying the unknown accused persons, two amongst them being the petitioners herein. We thus find no force in the submission of learned counsel for the petitioners. As regards submission that petitioner No.1 is minor, needless to say that if that is so, there are ample safeguards provided under law in respect of a minor and we have no doubt that the procedure prescribed under law, in respect of a minor, shall be followed by the police authorities while investigating the case.
Subject to above, the petition stands dismissed with liberty reserved in favour of the petitioners to apply for bail, if so advised, in which event the same shall be considered and decided expeditiously.
(Gautam Chowdhary,J.) (Manoj Kumar Gupta,J.) Order Date :- 27.5.2021 Vandana Digitally signed by Manoj Kumar Gupta Date: 2021.05.28 14:57:15 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad Digitally signed by Justice Gautam Chowdhary Date: 2021.05.28 14:59:14 IST Reason: Document Owner Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad