ASHOK PUNA PATIL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present application is filed under Sec. 482 of Cr.P.C.by the applicant Narottam Purushottam Patil @ Subhash Purushottam Patil (applicant No.3) in the present application, seeking quashing of the first information report dtd. 8/4/2023 bearing C.R. No. 166 of 2023 registered with Shahada Police Station, District Nandurbar and the consequential charge-sheet dtd. 26/7/2023 in RCC No. 74 of 2023 for offences punishable under Sec. 498A, 323, 504, 506 read with Sec. 34 of IPC.

(2.) This Court by order dtd. 3/4/2025 has already rejected the application in respect of applicants No. 1 and 2, namely Ashok Puna Patil and Lalita Ashok Patil on the basis of specific allegations made against them in the FIR. Hence, the present application survives and proceeds only with respect to applicant No. 3, who is a distant relative of the other accused persons.

(3.) The prosecution story in brief originates from the complaint lodged by Madhuri Vishal Patil, wife of Vishal Patil, who is accused No. 1, alleging cruelty and harassment at the hands of her husband and his relatives. The FIR states that her marriage was solemnized on 29 th January, 2009 and after marriage she began residing with her husband Vishal at Kahatul, Taluka Shahada, District Nandurbar. It is further alleged that her husband Vishal and in-laws, applicants No. 1 and 2 in the present application started subjecting her to mental and physical harassment for non-fulfilling of dowry demands. They allegedly forced her to sell her plot at Maheshwar on the pretext of purchasing another property in Shahada and misappropriated the sale proceeds. The informant further stated that applicant No. 3, Narottam Purushottam Patil, who is the maternal uncle of her husband and runs an educational institution, had terminated her services as a teacher without notice and that he along with the other co-accused persons caused her mental and physical harassment while on duty. The FIR further alleges that on 15 th January, 2023, the accused persons visited the informant's parental home and abused her, threatening her with dire consequences. Based on these allegations, the Shahada Police registered the present FIR and filed a charge-sheet against all four accused persons.