MS. JYOTI SINGH Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two petitions have been filed invoking the inherent powers of this Court under section 482 CrPC, 1973. In both the criminal miscellaneous applications, the applicants have challenged the framing of charges against them pertaining to offences under Sections 504, 506, 420 and 389 Penal Code in Criminal Case No. 2607 of 2014, State Vs. Jyoti SinghAnother.

(2.) The facts of the case must be narrated first. Ms. Jyoti Singh, the accused/applicant in Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 160 of 2018 above, had initially lodged an FIR herself against one Mr. Vivek Swarup (complainant in the present case) on 101.2014, at Police Station Haldwani, District Nainital, alleging offences under Sections 376, 328 and 354-D IPC. Her case was that Vivek Swarup S/o Jagdish Narayan Srivastava, who at the relevant time was working as the Finance Officer in Mandi Samiti, Udham Singh Nagar, where the complainant (Ms. Jyoti Singh) was also employed, used to summon her frequently in his chamber. Being her superior, his orders were being obeyed. One day he took her to his house and offered her a cup of coffee which was 'spiked', and as a result she lost her consciousness, and was then raped by Mr. Vivek Swarup, who also thereafter took obscene photographs of her from his mobile camera. She then states in her FIR that though she immediately wanted to report the matter to the police authorities, but could not do so as she was threatened by Mr. Vivek Swarup that if she does so, her photographs will be circulated and she would be defamed. Taking this threat seriously and fearing the consequences, she held back. She further states in her FIR, that when she reported this matter to her husband Mr. Pankaj Agarwal (who is the also an applicant before this Court in criminal miscellaneous application no.498 of 2018), it resulted in her divorce on 01.02013, and she was thrown out from her matrimonial house. As a result of the rape committed by Mr. Vivek Swarup, she conceived and gave birth to a child later. The applicant further says that due to these acts on the part of Mr. Vivek Swarup, her life has been ruined, as the applicant has not only raped her but he is also continuously blackmailing her.

(3.) Consequent to the aforesaid first information report lodged by Ms. Jyoti Singh (one of the applicants before this Court in Criminal Miscellaneous No. 160/2018) the accused Vivek Swarup was arrested. While the accused Vivek Swarup was in jail, he too lodged an FIR against Ms. Jyoti Singh and Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, who are the applicants here in the two connected Criminal Miscellaneous Applications. The FIR was registered at Police Station Haldwani, District Nainital on 14.06.2014 under Sections 420, 504 and 506 of IPC. The allegations made by the complainant Mr. Vivek Swarup are that since July 2011, he was working in the Directorate, Training and Employment Exchange, Haldwani on the post of Finance Officer. The applicant Ms. Jyoti Singh was also working in that office as a Junior Assistant. The complainant (Vivek Swarup) by this time had already taken divorce from his wife, which was decreed by Family Court, Allahabad on 12010 and against the decree an appeal was pending before the High Court of judicature at Allahabad. From Aug. 2012 onwards, Ms. Jyoti Singh presented herself as a victim of circumstances and domestic violence, who was being constantly ill treated by her husband, Sri Pankaj Agarwal. She complained that she was very upset and unhappy with her husband (her husband at that time is present applicant Sri Pankaj Agarwal, in Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 498/2018), whom she alleged to be a characterless person, etc. In Nov. 2012, Ms. Jyoti Singh finally proposed marriage to which he replied that his divorce is in a final stage and as soon as the divorce is finalized, he would marry her. On this arrangement, the sisters of Jyoti Singh were also in agreement. In Dec. 2012, Ms. Jyoti Singh and her husband Pankaj Agarwal filed a joint suit for divorce on the basis of mutual consent which was decreed in Feb. 201 Though Mr. Vivek Swarup in the FIR states that in fact the divorce was a sham as even after the divorce they continued to live together as husband and wife, as their real purpose was something else. Meanwhile, Ms. Jyoti Singh came very close to the complainant and his family members. The two (Ms. Jyoti Singh and Mr. Vivek Swarup), visited various places together, such as Ajmer Khwaja Sarif Dargah, Sirdi Mandir and Haridwar and many temples and performed pooja in the temples. The complainant had all intentions to marry Ms. Jyoti Singh. Meanwhile, Ms. Jyoti Singh kept on demanding money from him on one pretext or the other, and he continued to give her the money as he was sure that immediately after his divorce, he would be marrying Ms. Jyoti Singh. It was his sincerity and bona fide intentions which lead him to introduce her to his family members, relatives and close friends. Her entry in his house was also very frequent. The complainant then states that both Ms. Jyoti Singh and Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, at that point started extorting money from him and as a matter of a well planned move started picking fights with him. They later threatened him that they would implicate him in false cases if he does not yield to their demands. Such threats were also given to the father of the complainant Mr. Jagdish Narayan Srivastava on his mobile number. The two were demanding rupees twenty five lakhs from the father of the complainant. The complainant further states that there are various SMS messages in his mobile which he can produce to prove that she was continuously demanding money from him and this demand was accompanied with threat and coercion. Even after lodging of the false FIR by Ms. Jyoti Singh against him, she continued to remain in contact with him as her real intentions were to extort as much money from the complainant as she possibly could. Ms. Jyoti Singh also offered that she would change her statement if she is given the money.