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The HC was hearing a petition filed by a man and his mother seeking quashing of a case registered by the Navghar police (Bhayandar) against them by the man’s wife for cruelty and alleged bigamy and concealment of a previous marriage.
In a case of allegations of bigamy, the Bombay High Court has rapped the police for filing a C-summary report and quashed it. A C-summary is filed by the police before a court concerned when a criminal case is registered due to a mistake of facts or the offence complained about is of a civil nature.
A division bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and PD Naik also rapped the investigating officer for recording of the second ‘main’ statement of the victim and said that it’s contrary to the basic provisions of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and criminal jurisprudence. As per the law, an investigating officer can record a supplementary statement in addition to the main statement, but there’s no provision of recording a second main statement of a victim.
The HC was hearing a petition filed by a man and his mother seeking quashing of a case registered by the Navghar police (Bhayandar) against them by the man’s wife for cruelty and alleged bigamy and concealment of a previous marriage.
The wife also initiated proceedings under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, before the magistrate at Bandra. However, the parties decided to amicably resolve the dispute and the wife withdrew the complaint.
They then filed a joint consent petition for divorce before the family court and signed consent terms, one of which states that she will give her consent for quashing the criminal case. The man then filed a plea in the HC seeking quashing of the case, in which the wife submitted an affidavit giving her consent.
Police had filed C-summary report in 2020
During the hearing, additional public prosecutor GP Mulekar informed the HC that the police had filed a C-summary report in the case on January 30, 2020.
They then filed a joint consent petition for divorce before the family court and signed consent terms, one of which states that she will give her consent for quashing the criminal case. The man then filed a plea in the HC seeking quashing of the case, in which the wife submitted an affidavit giving her consent.
The HC directed the officer, Bhagwan Patil, to file an affidavit and explain how he filed a C-summary in a matter wherein sections pertaining to cruelty and bigamy were involved. The officer defended the report stating that they had recorded a second “main” statement of the victim.
Quashing the report, the HC also “cautioned” the concerned police sub inspector “not to commit such a mistake” hereafter.
Considering the amicable settlement between the parties, the HC quashed the complaint against the man and his mother.