MOHAMMED SHAMEER ALI Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has been arrayed as the sole accused in the instant Crime No. 1104/2018 of Paravoor Police Station, which has been registered for offences punishable under Sec. 354 and 354A of the I.P.C. The letter said to have been sent by the lady defacto complainant in this case addressed to the Director General of Police, on 26.11.2018 has been treated as the FI (First Information) statement for registering the above crime. The lady defacto complainant in this case, X, is a dental surgeon, who is permanently residing in the State of Chhattisgarh.

(2.) The gist of the allegations raised in the above crime is that with the intention of subjecting the lady defacto complainant to sexual assault, the petitioner accused aged 23 years, had made friendship with her through Facebook using a false name and invited her to Dubai and consequent to this, she had gone Dubai on 17.5.2018 alone and made her to stay in a Beach Cluster in Dubai till 29th May, 2018 and that she was practically confined there without even taking her outside except on an occasion, and that he had changed her Facebook profile and that he had assaulted her sexually and humiliated and manhandled her by slapping on her face. Further he has created a false Facebook id in her name and that he had exchanged her phone with him and collected all her personal details and troubling her again and again and that he started contacted her friends to disturb her and that he started blackmailing her for ransom through phone messages and he used to send various messages to her in different numbers and that he started uploading her intimate pictures with him in her Instagram ID, which all her friends could see and her friends have contacted her regarding that and that because of the said acts of the accused, she thought of even committing suicide, but that her uncle, who is in Dubai, and some of her family members had given her support and that he is continuously troubling her by sending messages to many of her friends and sharing her pictures misusing social networking and cell phones and that he is threatening her with dire consequences and that he is spreading false scandals against her without any rhyme or reason and continuously disturbing her life and her profession and that from the abovesaid subsequent conduct of the accused, it is clear that he had deceitful intention from the very beginning of his relationship with her, etc.

(3.) Sri M. Rajesh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would point out that the abovesaid allegations raised by the lady defacto complainant against the petitioner are false and baseless and that the petitioner accused happened to be her friend through social media and that in March 2017, it was she who informed the petitioner that she will be arriving in Dubai to meet her uncle, who is there and sought his assistance in finding suitable placement in Dubai and that she came to Dubai in May, 2018 and started residing with her uncle. That after some days, she informed the petitioner that it is not safe for her to reside with her uncle as he made some derogatory remarks and had made sexual advances towards her frequently and she wanted the help of the petitioner for suitable accommodation and that he had arranged accommodation for her with certain women nurses in Dubai, who hail from Kerala. Thereafter, the defacto complainant wanted his further help to find out a suitable placement for her as a Dental Surgeon and despite his search, she could not find any suitable placement for her and then she said that she wants to return back to India and she is not having any money and had borrowed Rs. 1.5 lakh from him for her air ticket and other expenses, with the assurance that the said amount would be returned to him immediately after her arrival in India. That with great difficulty, the petitioner managed to raise money by borrowing from his roommates and friends and gave her the money and later, after she reached back India, there was no sign of returning back of the money and the petitioner was constrained to make frequent telephone calls to her to return back the money, which enraged her and it is only to get over her financial liability that she is making the instant allegations to implicate the petitioner in a false case and scare him away. The victim, who is based in Chhattisgarh State, has given the so-called complaint to the Director General Police, in Chhattisgarh State, which was forwarded to the State Police Chief, Kerala and her letter was treated as FIS in the instant case and that on enquiry, the petitioner could find out that despite frequent notices and summons issued by the investigating officer and other Police authorities, she has not even cared to report before the investigating officer for recording her statement and further that the entire crime has been registered on the basis of a letter said to have been sent by her from Chhattisgarh addressed to the Director General of Police, Kerala. That in such case, even the very registration of a crime is improper, inasmuch as it could happen in many cases that anyone can represent as if he is a third person and can send a letter by post to the Police authorities making allegations of commission of offence by some others and in such a case, the so-called actual complainant may not be in any manner interested in the complaint and if such letters are treated as the basis for registering FIR and crime, it would lead to mischievous consequence and that in such cases, it is the bounden duty of the Police, after getting such a letter to make an entry in that regard in the general diary (GD) and then conduct some inquiry and the Police could take Sec. 161 statement from the person, who claims to be the sender of the letter, and if the said person confirms that it was he/she, who had sent the letter and also confirms the allegations therein, then crime could be registered, as otherwise registering of crimes for sexual offences mainly on the basis of a letter sent by post, will have its own mischievous consequences. That in the instant case, it is learnt that the lady defacto complainant has not even bothered to various notices and summons issued by the Police and she has not even bothered to give Sec. 161 Cr.P.C. statement confirming the allegations in the abovesaid letter and that therefore the very registration of the crime or at least the further action taken thereon appears to be illegal and improper. That at any rate, even if the abovesaid allegations are assumed to be correct, it does not disclose any serious non-bailable offences and that at any rate, custodial interrogation of the petitioner accused is not necessary for the smooth and effective conduct of the investigation in respect of the allegations in the instant crime.