BAIJNATH PANDEY Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Transfer Petition (Criminal) has been preferred under Sec. 407 of the CrPC for transferring the Criminal Case No. 4595/2018 (State of Chhattisgarh Vs. Dr. Suresh Pandey and Others) which is pending before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Durg to the District and Sessions Court, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur.

(2.) Brief facts of the case are that the petitioners are father, mother and sons residing jointly at Bhagwatgarh, District Sultanpur (UP). Respondent No.2 is the complainant and is a Lawyer by profession and respondent No.3 is the daughter of respondent No.2. Through matrimonial website both the families agreed for the marriage of petitioner No.4 with respondent No.3. The petitioners' family unequivocally stated that they do not want any dowry and the ring ceremony (Bariksha) is scheduled on 10/7/2016. Before the marriage, it was revealed that the respondent No.2 intentionally concealed his identity as a Lawyer and projected himself as businessman in the matrimonial website and other so many facts were deliberately concealed. The petitioners started enquiring about the said facts, on which the respondent No.2 started threatening the petitioners' family to implicate them in a false dowry case. Therefore, they mutually cancelled the marriage negotiations, but thereafter the respondent No.2 filed a false complaint against the petitioners under Sec. 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act and the Police without preliminary enquiry registered the FIR. Now, the respondent No.3 is already married to some other boy and is living in Nasik with her husband.

(3.) The petitioners challenged the FIR relating to Crime No. 608/2016 by way of filing CRMP No. 1211/2018 which is still pending and another FIR was lodged by the respondent No.2 against the petitioner No.3 for offence under Sec. 509-B of the IPC. The said FIR was also challenged by way of filing CRMP No.2585/2018. In both the CRMPs, an interim relief has been granted that no coercive steps shall be taken against the accused/applicants. On 14/5/2019, when the petitioner No.3 had gone to Durg for recording statement in the Police Station Mohan Nagar, Durg in respect to the complaint case, the respondent No.2 along with two others threatened him to kill at the gate of the Court and abused. Therefore, the petitioner No.3 moved a complaint before the Superintendent of Police, Durg.