JAGDISH NAUTIYA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition has been filed by the petitioner under Section 397 read with Section 401 Cr.PC praying inter alia for setting aside the order on charge dated 02.07.2013 passed by the learned ASJ in respect of case FIR No.67/2011, lodged under Sections 376/420 IPC.

(2.) Before dealing with the submissions of the counsel for the petitioner, a brief reference to the relevant facts of the case leading to the registering of the FIR is considered necessary.

(3.) In a nutshell, the facts of the case are that the complainant/ prosecutrix had alleged commission of offences of cheating, rape and bigamy against the petitioner. She had stated that in the year 1994, she was married to one Shri Sushil Kumar and from out of the said wedlock, she had a daughter. However, Shri Sushil Kumar had expired in the year 2010. Soon thereafter, the accused, who had a friendly relationship with the deceased husband of the prosecutrix, had approached her and proposed to marry her on the representation that he was unmarried. The prosecutrix claimed that relying on the statement made by the petitioner/accused, she had accepted the proposal and both the parties had got married on 11.05.2010 in a Buddhist Temple situated on Mandir Marg, Near Birla Mandir at New Delhi as per Hindu customs. The prosecutrix has stated that the petitioner/accused had also filled up the marriage form in his own handwriting and the said marriage had been registered on 17.05.2010 in the office of the Registrar of Marriages, Dehradun, Uttrakhand. Thereafter, both the parties had cohabited as husband and wife. However, on 04.06.2010, the complainant came to know that the accused was already married to one Smt. Sunita and when she had confronted him with the said marriage, he had maintained that he was not married to the said lady. It is stated in the complaint that the petitioner had concealed the factum of his previous marriage and later on, he had threatened her, thus compelling her to file the complaint.