Section 482 CrPC - 'There Has To Be Some Factual Supporting Material For FIR Allegations': Supreme Court Quashes Criminal Proceedings

At least there has to be some factual supporting material for what has been alleged in the FIR, the Supreme Court observed while quashing criminal proceedings against a woman.

The case of the complainant as recording in the FIR was as follows: The accused entered into marriage with the complainant's brother  on 11th December, 2016, and thereafter she started to harass his late brother mentally and physically and that was the reason for which his brother suddenly died during his service on 8th December, 2017. Immediately after his death, there was a sudden change in her behaviour and she tried to oust him and other in-laws from the house. That, every day, she used to threaten and abuse the family members and by committing a forgery, she obtained the job on compassionate grounds and took all the terminal benefits and the genuine dependents of late Mohd. Shameem Khan (brother of the complainant) were deprived of his terminal benefits and this Nikah (marriage) was solemnized by her without any divorce from her previous husband. On the basis of this complaint,  the FIR was registered and charges were framed against her under Sections 494, 495, 416, 420, 504 & 506 of the Indian Penal Code. The accused filed a petition under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of FIR before the Allahabad High court which was dismissed.

Challenging this judgment, the accused approached the Apex Court contending that there is no iota of evidence to support what is alleged in the complaint on the basis of which FIR has been registered and even if what is being stated in the FIR is taken on its face value, prima facie, none of the offences which have been levelled against her in the charge­sheet are made out. The state and the complainant jointly submitted that after the FIR was registered, investigation was made and only thereafter the charge­sheet was filed and therefore it can at least be presumed that a prima facie case against her is made out.

The court noted that the judgment State of Haryana and Others v. Bhajan Lal and Others has given an exhaustive list of myriad kinds of cases wherein the power under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code/ Article 226 of the Constitution should be exercised.

"It is no doubt true that the power of quashing of criminal proceedings should be exercised very sparingly and with circumspection and that too in rarest of the rare cases and it was not justified for the Court in embarking upon an enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness or otherwise of the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint and that the inherent powers do not confer any arbitrary jurisdiction on the Court to act according to its whims and fancies.", the court noted.

The bench said that, in this case, if the criminal proceedings is allowed to continue, it will be nothing but a clear abuse of the process of law and will be a mental trauma to the accused. This aspect has been completely overlooked by the High Court while dismissing the petition filed at her instance under Section 482 Cr.PC, the court added. While allowing the appeal, the court said:

Although it is true that it was not open for the Court to embark upon any enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness of the allegations made in the FIR, but at least there has to be some factual supporting material for what has been alleged in the FIR which is completely missing in the present case and documentary evidence on record clearly supports that her Nikah Nama was duly registered and issued by competent authority and even the charge sheet filed against her does not prima facie discloses how the marriage certificate was forged.

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