Court No. - 40
Case :- CRIMINAL MISC. WRIT PETITION No. - 2048 of 2021 Petitioner :- Smt. Vandana And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Shachi Srivastava,Chetan Prakash 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, 2 and 3; and perused the record.
The instant petition seeks quashing of the First Information Report dated 11.02.2021 registered as Case Crime No.0026 of 2021 under Section 366 I.P.C., P.S. Jarcha, District Gautam Budh Nagar.
The allegation in the First Information Report, which has been lodged by the father of the victim Vandana (the petitioner no.1) is to the effect that his daughter, who is aged about 20 years, has been enticed away by the accused Ankush Ravat.
The petitioners have prayed for quashing of the First Information Report by claiming that the victim Vandana is adult and that she has voluntarily married Ankush Ravat (petitioner no.2). Reliance has been placed on the High School Certificate of the victim which discloses her date of birth as 13.08.2001.
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 (Vandana) before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar by or before 30th April, 2021. Upon her production, the Chief Judicial Magistrate/concerned Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar shall proceed to record the statement of Vandana 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 concerned. 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 Kushal