PRAKASH PAL Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition, under Section 482 Code of Criminal Procedure, Petitioners have prayed for quashing of criminal proceedings in Criminal Case No. 169/09 pending before Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Raipur.

(2.) Case of the Petitioners is that Respondent No. 2 Smt. Hemlata Pal alleged that she was subjected to cruelty in connection with demand of dowry and on a report being lodged at Mahila Police Thana, Raipur, offence was registered and charge-sheet was filed in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Raipur.

(3.) On the other hand, learned State counsel as well as counsel for Respondent No. 2 argued that there is no illegality in the investigation conducted by Mahila Police Thana, Raipur. It is further argued that as part of offence was committed at Raipur also, the concerned Magistrate does have the territorial jurisdiction to take cognizance upon filing of charge-sheet before it by Mahila Police Thana, Raipur alleging commission of offence under Section 498A, 34 IPC. Learned Counsel for Respondents further argued that in any case, it is a case of continuing offence inasmuch as due to cruelty committed by the Petitioners, Respondent No. 2 was brought back to Raipur by her father where she is compelled to live and suffer agony. Learned Counsel for Respondents further argued that the police of Mahila Thana, Raipur was obliged under the law, which it did so, by registering a crime and make investigation and then filing charge-sheet before the concerned jurisdictional Magistrate. Learned Counsel for Respondent No. 2 relied upon the decisions in the matter of Satvinder Kaur v. State Govt. of N.C.T. of Delhi and Anr., 1999 8 SCC 728 Smt. Suman Upadhyay and Ors. v. State of U.P. and Ors., 1999 CrLJ 4657 and Jagdish and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan and Anr, 1998 CrLJ 554 and Issa Venkateswarlu v. State of A.P., 2008 CrLJ 4092