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The powers of Revision Court are limited to the appreciation of the judgment or order of the court below: High Court of Delhi

Summoning of an accused is a serious matter and while issuing summons the Magistrate has to carefully scrutinize the evidence brought on record and find out the truthfulness of the allegations to determine whether the alleged offence is prima facie committed by the accused. The powers of Revisional Court are limited to the appreciation of the judgment/ order of the court below to the question whether there is any gross illegality, error apparent on record or error of law and the same was upheld by High Court of Delhi through the learned bench led by JUSTICE CHANDRA DHARI SINGH in the case of ANJANI GUPTA vs. THE STATE (NCT OF DELHI) & ANR [CRL.M.C. 2120/2018] on 08.03.2022.

The facts of the case are that the marriage between the Petitioner and the son of the Respondent was solemnized according to Hindu rites and rituals. The relationship between the Petitioner and her in-laws was cordial in the beginning, however, it started to deteriorate with time. It was alleged by the Petitioner that her husband used to continuously torture, harass and humiliate her for dowry and other issues since the very beginning of marriage and was maltreated by him and his family members. Eventually, as the relationship between the Petitioner and her in-laws strained, both the parties filed cases against each other.

In the instant Petition, the Petitioner has impugned the Order by way of which the learned Sessions Judge observed that a prima facie ground had been made out to allege that the Petitioner committed theft of the letters in possession of the Respondent as well as the Order wherein summons were issued to the Petitioner under Section 380 of the IPC.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the Respondent is in a habit of filing false and frivolous complaints and cases against the Petitioner with the intention to torment and harass her. It was further contended that allegations made by the Respondent of theft under Section 380 of the IPC have no ground and are false as taking of certain letters belonging to the Respondent from her own matrimonial home cannot amount to theft.

The Court held that prima facie an offence of theft was not made out against the Petitioner as the very ingredients of the offence under Section 380 of the IPC were not met. The Court observed that, “the summoning of an accused is a serious matter and the while issuing summons the Magistrate has to carefully scrutinize the evidence brought on record and find out the truthfulness of the allegations to determine whether the alleged offence is prima facie committed by the accused. The powers of Revisional Court are limited to the appreciation of the judgment/ order of the court below to the question whether there is any gross illegality, error apparent on record or error of law.”

Click here to read the Judgment

Judgment reviewed by – Shristi Suman

 

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