Alka Verma-
Published On: November 18, 2021 at 14:45 IST
Recently, the Punjab & Haryana High Court asked the Punjab Police to not register Criminal cases in a mechanical manner.
The Court also showed its concern about the number of registered FIRs by Punjab Police, especially cases related to harassment for Dowry involving NRIs, without even carrying out any preliminary Inquiry into the registered case.
Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul made these remarks while dealing with a case related to an FIR filed by a woman at NRI Police Station, Police Commissionerate Ludhiana.
In the filed FIR, the woman, Harpreet Kaur Accused her ex-husband of Torturing and Harassing her. In the said case, Harpreet got Married to Varinder Singh in 2013 and they both started living in Canada.
However, their Marriage ended in a Divorce in 2018, and subsequently the terms of settlement was recorded in a Canadian Court.
Later, on 19 June, 2019, Harpreet Kaur registered a case against her ex-husband as well as his parents under Section 498-A of IPC and Accused them of Dowry Harassment.
In her FIR, she mentioned that she suffered from mental and physical Torture for not providing Dowry. However, Varinder and his family filed a Petition, claiming that their Marriage was already dissolved.
Adding to this, the Petitioner also contended that the Marriage was ended by mutually agreeing on terms and conditions and at that time they both complied with orders of the Superior Court of Justice, Ontario, Canada.
Adding to this, the Petitioner also stated that their Marriage ended mutually and now this case by his wife is nothing more but just a try to Harass and Humiliate his family.
The Petitioner also mentioned that after the Divorce, his wife never visited India and all her statements were recorded telephonically.
The Court after hearing this, observed, “Assuming that the factum of Divorce was concealed by the woman Complainant from the investigating agency, it then lends credence to the submissions made by Petitioner that she was indeed indulging in a proxy litigation through her special power of Attorney with an oblique motive to wreak vengeance on her former husband and his family…”
Accordingly, the Court quashed the FIR against Varinder and his family.
Also Read: Critical Study of 498A IPC
False Allegations Fatal to the Life of Accused: Kerala High Court