General & Omnibus Allegations Do Not Warrant Prosecution U/S 498A IPC: Telangana High Court
The Telangana High Court reiterated that general and omnibus allegations do not warrant prosecution under Section 498-A of IPC.
The bench of Justice E.V. Venugopal observed, “there is no new evidence found to substantiate the conclusions drawn by the investigating officer in the supplementary charge sheet to take cognizance as contemplated under Section 173 (8) Cr.P.C. The allegations levelled against the petitioners in both the writ petitions, in my considered view, are omnibus.”
Brief Facts-
The respondent filed a complaint against her husband and also the petitioners in both the writ petitions for the offences punishable under Section 498-A of IPC and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. A Case was registered, and after investigation, the police filed a charge sheet, which took cognizance of the offences only against the husband. The final report filed by the police disclosed that there was no prima facie case against the other accused. Later, the police filed an additional charge sheet arraying the petitioners/accused. Hence, Writ Petitions were filed seeking quashing of the proceedings.
The Court relied on the decision of the Supreme Court in Mariam Fasihuddin vs. State (Criminal Appeal No. 335/ 2024 arising out of SLP (Crl.) No.2877/2021) and quoted, “In the absence of any new evidence found to substantiate the conclusions drawn by the investigating officer in the supplementary report, a Judicial Magistrate is not compelled to take cognizance, as such a report lacks investigative rigour and fails to satisfy the requisites of Section 173(8) CrPC.”
The Court noted that the witnesses examined by the investigating agency are none other than the parents of the respondent. The Court stated that it is not known why the investigating officer filed the initial charge sheet without examining the parents of the respondent though they were available. The Court further noted that the first charge sheet stated that there was no prima facie case against the petitioners in these two writ petitions.
Accordingly, the Court allowed both the Writ Petitions.
Cause Title: X v. State of Telangana
Appearance:
Appellant: Senior Adv. Muddu Vijay
Respondent: Adv. Ch. Samson Babu, APP Vizarath Ali