BADRU LAMANI Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In these petitions under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, the petitioners inter alia seeks quashment of the complaint in FIR No.0004/18 registered against the petitioners by Madikeri Rural Police Station, which is pending on the file of JMFC Court, Madikeri, Kodagu District.

(2.) Facts giving rise to filing of the petitions, briefly stated are that the petitioners joined the Coffee Board as Research Assistant in the year 1998 and presently posted as Physiologist since May 2016 under Coffee Research sub-Station, Kodagu. The respondent No.2 is employed as Junior Coffee Researcher in the same station. The respondent No.2 filed a complaint against the petitioners in which an allegation was made that the petitioners have been harassing respondent No.2 mentally and has insulted her by talking about her character in a low language. In pursuance of the complaint made by respondent No.2, a departmental enquiry was initiated against the petitioners in the aforesaid depNmental enquiry, the petitioners were exonerated of the charges leveled against him and the proceedings in the departmental enquiry was closed on 03.10.2017. Thereafter, respondent No.2 filed another complaint before Madikeri Rural Police Station, on the basis of which, First Information Report for the offences under Section 509 of Indian Penal Code read with Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(v-a) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was registered against the petitioners. In the aforesaid factual background, the petitioners have approached this Court.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the allegations leveled against the petitioners in the complaint are vague and even if the allegations are accepted at their face value prima facie no offence against the petitioners is made out. On the other hand, learned Additional State Public Prosecutor fairly submitted that the allegations made by respondent No.2 are vague.