Soni Satti
Purushottam Beriwala, the owner of Shyam Steel Industries, and four others, including his daughter and wife, have filed a petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court to seek quashing of an FIR filed against them for theft at a Panchkula house.
The petitioner contended that Purushottam Beriwala donated Rs 1 crore to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund and it is, therefore, absurd to believe that an individual who has donated to the government would commit a crime like a house theft.
Purushottam Beriwala, 60, Bina Beriwala (wife), 59, their 36-year-old daughter, Ashok Gupta (relative), 61, both of Kolkata, and Ajay Kumar Gupta (relative), 62, of New Delhi, have filed the quashing petition.
The five are accused of rioting, causing voluntary harm, burglary, and trespassing in a case filed by Amit Goel, Purushottam Beriwala’s son-in-law.
Goel has stated that the five allegedly unlawfully stormed Goel’s home and stole cash and jewellery.
The council for petitioner Advocate Abhinay Goel argued before the High court that the marriage between the plaintiff partner, Amit Goel, and wife (daughter of Purushottam Beriwala) was solemnised on December 12, 2014, in Kolkata.
After that, Beriwala’s daughter moved from her parental home in Kolkata to her matrimonial home in Panchkula and began living with the complainant as husband and wife.
Beriwala’s daughter returned to her parental home in Kolkata from Panchkula and filed a harassment complaint with Kolkata Police against her husband, Amit Goel, and her in-laws.
Advocate Goel contended that Amit Goel filed a counterblast report with the police in Panchkula to put pressure on his wife and her relatives to remove all of their charges to save himself and his family from the case in Kolkata.
He further stated that the charges levelled against the petitioners in the FIR leave no doubt that a fabricated complaint was brought out against the petitioners due to strained relations between the sides.
The FIR in question was filed solely to pressure the petitioners to withdraw the FIR filed against Amit Goel.
Advocate Goel lastly contended that Purushottam Beriwala is a director of Shyam Steel Industries, a well-known Indian firm who has donated huge funds to the West Bengal emergency State Relief Fund and the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund during the Covid-19 emergency.
He stated,“It is extremely unlikely to assume that a person who has given the government a donation of Rs 1,25,0000 will commit an offence of house theft as claimed by the petitioner in the current FIR.’’