ARCHNA DALMIA Vs. NCT OF DELHI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In a criminal complaint under Sections 406/420 IPC, petitioner has been summoned as an accused by trial court vide order of 21st July, 2010. Quashing of aforesaid criminal complaint (Annexure- P 2) and impugned summoning order is sought in this petition by posing the following question:-

(2.) The factual background as emerges from the impugned order is that respondent-complainant is a social activist belonging to a reputed family of Bihar and has lot of ancestral property and ornaments. According to respondent-complainant, petitioner had developed good relations with her and had become family friend of respondent-complainant for last few years and on 24th March, 2007 petitioner requested respondentcomplainant that petitioner had to attend a high profile party and wanted to wear fancy and special clothes and ornaments and had requested respondent-complainant to give it to her and had also assured return of the fancy clothes and ornaments within few days. Respondentcomplainant asserts that in good faith she had handed over her own ornaments and had arranged some more ornaments from family jeweller at her own credit and had handed over them to petitioner-accused on 26th March, 2007 in presence of Smt. Snehi Prabha. The details of the ornaments given to petitioner by respondent-complainant find mention in paragraph No.4 of the impugned order. As per respondent-complainant the ornaments given to petitioner were worth Rs. 88,50,000/-.

(3.) It is the case of respondent-complainant that when she had asked for return of the ornaments which were given to petitioner-accused she did not return it on one pretext or another and a complaint was made to local police station on 28 th July, 2007 but no action was taken thereon and hence criminal complaint in question was filed against petitioner-accused.