Court No. - 40
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 2709 of 2021 Petitioner :- Preeti Kumari And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Dileep Kumar Shukla,Mohit Singh,Rajan Maurya Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J.
Hon'ble Rohit Ranjan Agarwal,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners; learned A.G.A. for the respondents 1 and 2; and perused the record.
The instant petition seeks quashing of the First Information Report dated 02.03.2021 registered as Case Crime No.36 of 2021, under Section 366 I.P.C., P.S. Saifai, District Etawah.
The allegation in the First Information Report, which has been lodged by the father of the victim Preeti (the petitioner no.1) is to the effect that his daughter, who is aged about 25 years, has been enticed away by the accused Manoj @ Raman Kumar.
The petitioners have prayed for quashing of the First Information Report by claiming that the victim Preeti Kumari is adult and that she has voluntarily married Raman Kumar (petitioner no.2).
The learned A.G.A. has submitted that it would be appropriate that this petition be disposed off by requiring the investigating agency to record the statement of the victim and, thereafter, take appropriate action as per law.
Having perused the record, we deem it appropriate to dispose off this petition by providing as follows:-
The petitioner no.2 shall produce the petitioner no.1 (Preeti Kumari) before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate, Etawah by or before 30th April, 2021. Upon her production, the Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate, Etawah shall proceed to record the statement of Preeti Kumari to ascertain whether any force has been used on her or she has been voluntarily in the company of the petitioner no.2. In case the victim deposes before the Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate that force has been used on her, the Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate shall proceed to pass appropriate orders immediately in respect of the custody/protection of the victim. However, in case the victim deposes that she has been voluntarily in the company of the petitioner no.2 or any other person and that no force has been used on her, learned Magistrate shall call upon the Investigating Officer of the case and fix a date for appearance of the informant or the parents or natural guardian of the victim for the purpose of recording statement of the victim under Section 164 Cr.P.C.
On the basis of the statement of the victim, the police shall submit report under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C.
The aforesaid exercise shall be completed preferably within a period of three weeks from the date of production of the victim before the Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate. Till 30th April, 2021, or the date on which the victim is produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate, whichever is earlier, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners in the above case. Thereafter, if the victim is produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, as directed above, the accused shall be dealt with as per the statement of the victim.
It is further clarified that if the victim is not produced by the date fixed as above, there shall be no protection and the investigating agency shall be free to take all steps that may be necessary to bring the investigation to its logical conclusion.
With the aforesaid observations/directions, the petition is disposed off.
Order Date :- 7.4.2021 AKShukla/-