AMANJOT SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These two petitions arise out of FIR No.203 dated 06.08.2005, registered under Sections 406, 498-A, 354, 509, 420, 120-B IPC at Police Station SAS Nagar (Mohali), filed by complainant Rupinder Kaur against her husband - Gurjot Singh, Dever - Amanjot and parents-in-law - Lakhbir Singh Randhawa and Sukhwant Kaur.

(2.) These petitions have been filed seeking quashing of FIR. They are on behalf of brother-in-law Amanjot and the parents-in-law. The basic facts which are not in dispute are as under:-

(3.) Rupinder Kaur in her complaint disclosed that she had done her M.Sc. Honours in Micro Biology and was doing her M.Sc. Her brother was a Canadian citizen. She had claimed that her case for immigration to Canada had been sponsored by her brother a year ago. She stated that Gurjot was a Canadian immigrant and was residing in Toronto and their alliance was fixed through a matrimonial advertisement and there was no demand of dowry at the time of settlement of marriage. The complainant had specifically mentioned that Gurjot and his parents wanted a simple marriage and they were only considering the girl. The complainant had mentioned that there was a promise that after the marriage she would be sponsored for immigration to Canada by Gurjot. The complainant had given the details of the articles which were given prior to the marriage, which she later on refers to as dowry items. It was claimed that her motherin- law had also given her a gold set and she had handed over the Shagun to the tune of Rs. 20,000/- to the mother-in-law with the understanding that it would be returned for her personal use after she reached the in-law's house. It was pleaded that the reception ceremony took place on 28.02005 and Shagun of Rs. 15,000/- was handed over to the father-in-law for safe custody. The complainant alleged that before the reception ceremony was over, her in-laws and the husband called her parents and told them that they had not given sufficient dowry or luxurious items or a car and it had lowered their prestige. It was claimed that her father-in-law took Rs. 5 lacs in lieu of the price of the car and were still not satisfied and her husband, the in-laws and Amanjot demanded Rs. 20 lacs before the registration of the marriage and before Gurjot left for Canada. It was pleaded that Gurjot postponed his departure from 19th April 2005 to 29th April 2005 in the hope that the parents would pay the amount. It was pleaded that the marriage was registered on 20.04.2005. The complainant alleged that she was maltreated, taunted and humiliated. The complainant admitted that her husband accompanied her medical examination for immigration purpose on 25.04.2005 and she was found fit for immigration and her name was shown as Rupinder Kaur Randhawa and that was on the insistence of her husband but she was insisting that her name should be written according to the passport on which Gurjot had said that the name in the passport would also have to be changed.