(1.) By this writ application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner-original accused has prayed for the following reliefs:
(2.) The facts giving rise to this petition may be summarized as under:
(3.) The petitioner is the husband of the original accused No. 3, viz., Ganga @ Dharmishtha. The marriage of the petitioner with Ganga was solemnized on 20th January 2006. The case of the prosecution against Ganga is that she has committed an offence noted above and facilitated the principal offender in commission of the offence of rape. So far as the petitioner is concerned, the only allegation made against him is that of having committed the offence of harbouring an offender, punishable under Section 212 of the Indian Penal Code. The petitioner was arrested on 9th November 2013 and was remanded to the police custody upto 13th November 2013. He was ordered to be released on bail vide order dated 15th November 2013 by the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Surat. It is his case that he is absolutely innocent and is in no way concerned with the offence as alleged by the prosecution. In such circumstances, the petitioner prays that the charge-sheet filed against him of the offence punishable under Section 212 of the Indian Penal Code deserves to be quashed and he should be discharged from the prosecution.