DR SUBHASH CHANDER JOSHI Vs. BALWANT SINGH AHLUWALIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DR . Subash Chander Joshi of Railway Road, Hoshiarpur has moved this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure praying that a complaint instituted against him by Bhagwant Singh for an offence under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code and the summoning order passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hoshiarpur on 8.6.1991, be quashed.

(2.) BRIEFLY , the facts as alleged are that Dr. Subhash Chander Joshi made a complaint in writing to the Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur, which is Annexure P -1 and its relevant para Nos. 2 and 3 are reproduced as under : - "That it was on 8th September, 1990 in the evening. I was going to my kothi under construction on the Mall Road, near LIC Office and I found Shri Bhagwant Singh, son of Shri Harbans Singh, resident of Ram Colony Camp, Hoshiarpur, coming from Shimla Pahari side in his car and was driving it rashly and at a very high speed and coming on the road side. It was just a matter of luck and I was saved as I extremely turned my scooter towards footpath otherwise he would have hit me like anything. He was very much drunkard. The people gathered at the spot and Shri Bhagwant Singh had to stop his car. I asked him to drive properly but he in place of apologizing started calling by bad names to me and even threatened me that he has links with the high officials and can do anything he likes. I just asked him to accompany me to the police station as I wanted to medically examine him about the fact that he was deadly drunkard at that time. However, he refused to accompany me and threatened me with dire consequences. I being a peaceful citizen forgot about the incident and did not inform the police at that time. However, it is surprising that he has threatened me to eliminate on phone twice and he has shown his resentment as to why he was stopped on the 8th evening on the Mall road and he has felt insulted amongst the people. That I apprehended danger to my life as Shri Bhagwant Singh has threatened me to kill twice on phone. So, there is no other via media except to seek the assistance of the local police and immediate action against Shri Bhagwant Singh." It appears that after the receipt of this complaint, it was entrusted to Inspector, CIA, Hoshiarpur and on 21.9.1990 when Bhagwant Singh was present in his house along with his friends and several other respectables a constable came there and conveyed a message that the complainant should attend the office of the Inspector, CIA, Hoshiarpur on 22.9.1990. In accordance with the aforesaid word, the complainant reported to the CIA, Inspector, on 22.9.1990 along with his friends and the complaint made by Dr. Subhash Chander Joshi (Annexure P -1) the relevant paras of which have been reproduced above, was read over to him. So, the complainant felt that it was insulting that the accused has transmitted the alleged occurrence to the police authorities and that the occurrence as alleged was untrue and that it was only to harm the reputation of the complainant. The learned Magistrate, recorded the statement of the complainant and also examined Shri Joginder Singh Inspector of CIA, who had reached a conclusion that the complaint made by Dr. Subhash Chander Joshi was unture and thereafter, passed the summoning order for an offence under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code on 8.6.1991.

(3.) ON behalf of the present petitioner, it has been argued that there was no reason for a practising Medical Practitioner of the town to send the report (Annexure P -1) to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur, unless Shri Harbans Singh had not actually tried to chase the scooter on which the petitioner was going towards his own house which was under construction and that the respondent was in a drunken condition on the evening in question. It has been stressed that there is no bar in reporting the matter to the police where a resident of the town or say a citizen is harassed on the road by another person as described in Annexure P -1. The petitioner has also alleged that on telephone as well Bhagwant Singh has threatened him with dire consequence twice.