RAJARAM VENKATESH Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners herein are respectively accused 1 to 5 in C.C. No. 120 of 1991 on the file of the learned IInd Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kakinada and they pray of the quashing of the said proceedings on the ground that the cognizance of the offence itself was barred by time and that the learned Magistrate at Kakinada had no territorial jurisdiction and that the initiation of the Criminal prosecution against the petitioners amounted to abuse of the process of the Court.

(2.) The 2nd petitioner is the father and petitioners 3 to 5 are the sisters, of the 1st petitioner. The 2nd respondent married the 1st petitioner. It is not in dispute that the 1st petitioner and the 2nd respondent were married at Hyderabad on 10-5-1987 and that after the marriage they resided at Hyderabad for a couple of weeks and that about the end of May, 1987 they went to Bombay and resided at plot No. B-17 in Chembur in the house of the 2nd petitioner.

(3.) It is the case of the 2nd respondent that at the time of her marriage, her mother gave Rs. 25,000.00 cash and also gold ornaments and other silver and house-hold articles worth about Rs. 1,00,000.00 to the 1st petitioner and that the petitioner were not satisfied with the money and articles given at the time of the marriage and wanted more cash and articles like colour T.V., V.C.R. and Refrigerator to be brought by the 2nd respondent. The 2nd respondent's father died long back and her mother is aged about 70 years. As the parental family of the 2nd respondent was not in a position to give more money and articles demanded by the petitioners, the petitioners harassed and illtreated the 2nd respondent and beat her and abused her. She even tried to commit suicide. According to her, finally on 16-5-1988 the 1st petitioner with the active co-operation of petitioners 2 to 5, pushed her away from their house demanding further dowry amount of Rs. 30,000.00 and since then she had been living in her mother's house at Kakinada. The money and the gold, silver and other article given to the 1st petitioner at the time of the marriage were retained by him and he had not been paying any maintenance to her and hand not taken her back for marital life and continued to demand money even when she was living with her mother at Kakinada. Alleging all these facts, she filed a criminal complaint dated 8-4-1991 before the IInd Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate at Kakinada through her advocate Sir T. V. Ramana and the said complaint was numbered as C.C. (Sr. No. 2290) of 1991. On 12-4-1991 the counsel for the 2nd respondent i.e., Sri T. V. Ramana endorsed on the said complaint petition" and the complaint was "dismissed since not pressed" by the learned Magistrate. Thereafter the 2nd respondent through the same advocate Sr. T. V. Ramana filed on 19-4-1991 a second complaint dated 18-4-1991 before the IInd Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, kakinada more or less alleging the same facts as in the first complaint dated 8-4-1991 and in addition stated that in January, 1991 the 1st and 2nd petitioners came to the house of the 2nd respondent and threatened her and her mother to face consequences like divorce and second marriage by the 1st petitioner if they did not pay the amount demanded by them, and that thereupon the 2nd respondent and her mother gave a Police report on 4-2-1991 to the Station House Officer of the II town Police Station, Kakinada, and that the police did not take any action. No mention was made therein of the 1st complaint dated 8-4-1991.