Dr Archana v. State of West Bengal
In the High Court of Calcutta
CRR 1232/2019
Before Justice Shivakant Prasad
Decided on March 18, 2021

Relevancy of the Case: Quashing of FIR under Section 482 for abusing the process of law

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 43, 66, 66B, 66E, 67, 67A, 72)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 120B, 167, 182, 173, 193, 465, 466, 468, 471, 501, 509)
• The Telegraphs Act, 1885 (Section 21, 26)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The husband, in this case, filed an FIR. He accused the petitioner of forging and cheating evidence. The petitioner had presented this evidence against him in a previous case between the paties.
• The petitioner has approached the court to quash this FIR as it has delayed the trial in two other cases against the husband. The husband is accused of having a bigamous relationship and torturing the petitioner.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel relied on the case of Maksud Saiyed v State of Gujarat & Ors. (2008(5) SCC 668) to argue that a Magistrate has to apply his mind and proper reasoning while deciding under Section 156(3).
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the court can quash an FIR under Section 482 but with a note of caution and only in the rarest of the rare cases.

Opinion of the Bench

• The bench took notes from the case of Dinesh Dutt Joshi v State of Rajasthan (2001) 8 SCC 570.

Final Decision

• The court quashed the FIR.
• Moreover, the court issued directions for the police to enter every FIR of cognizable nature in the General Diary Book without any delay.

T S VS Nivedita, a postgraduate student at O.P. Jindal University, prepared this case summary during her association with The Cyber Blog India in January 2022.