The Delhi High Court quashed an FIR registered in 2008 for offences under Sections 307, 323, 506, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, observing that it was a “maliciously motivated counterblast” to an earlier FIR lodged by the petitioner.
Justice Amit Mahajan noted that the FIR was filed following an altercation on December 31, 2007, which had already led to FIR No. 666/2007 registered on Prof. Kishwar’s complaint. In the latter case, the complainant and her associates were convicted by a trial court in 2019 for forming an unlawful assembly and assaulting Prof. Kishwar and her driver while preventing her from photographing illegal encroachments in the Seqa Nagar Market area.
The Court relied on the principles laid down in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal (1992 Supp (1) SCC 335) and Mahmood Ali v. State of U.P. (2023 SCC OnLine SC 950), reiterating that criminal proceedings instituted out of personal grudge or vengeance amount to abuse of process.
Given that the complainant’s conviction had attained finality, the Court held that allowing the 2008 FIR to proceed would be unjustified. It concluded that the FIR was intended to harass the petitioner and thus quashed FIR and all consequential proceedings.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Ravi Sharma, Mr. Shivam Mishra and Ms. Madhulika Rai Sharma, Advocates.
Respondent: Ms. Priyanka Dalal, APP for the State with Insp. Chandra Prakash, PS DIU/South Distt.
