12 November,2020 01:00 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Bombay High Court
Declining to quash an FIR against a man from Pune despite the families having "settled" the issue, the Bombay High Court observed that offences of rape are against society, especially when committed against a woman from another caste.
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According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, a division bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik cited two Supreme Court judgments and said that offences of rape are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society.
The man was accused of rape, criminal intimidation and several other provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
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"In our opinion, there is no doubt that the ingredients of the alleged offences are disclosed," the bench observed. Based on the FIR, the bench further said there also seemed to be a prima facie attempt on part of the man to blackmail the victim. The two judges bench stated that the accused had not only abused the victim physically but mentally as well as she belonged to the Scheduled Caste.
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"If the allegations in the FIR are read in its entirety, we are unable to accede to the prayer of the applicant and Respondent No.2 to quash the FIR on the basis of the alleged settlement," the bench said. The division bench cited the SC case of State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Laxmi Narayan.
In the said case, the apex court held that the power of the High Court under the Code of Criminal Procedure is not to be exercised in those cases which involved heinous and serious offences of mental depravity or offences like murder, rape and dacoity, as these are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society.
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"Apart from the observations made hereinabove, the alleged offence is heinous in nature and in view of the exposition of the law laid down by the Supreme Court, it is not desirable to quash the FIR," the court said as it refrained from making further observations stating that the investigation is still in progress.
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