Rekha Jain Vs State of Karnataka & Anr. (Supreme Court of India)
The Supreme Court considered the appeal filed by Rekha Jain against the judgment and order dated 15.09.2020 passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru in Criminal Petition No. 3442/2020. The High Court had dismissed the criminal petition and refused to quash the FIR/criminal proceedings against the petitioners.
At the outset, the Supreme Court noted that by order dated 08.01.2021, the appeal in respect of petitioner No. 1, Kamalesh Mulchand Jain, had been dismissed and notice had been issued in respect of appellant-petitioner No. 2, Rekha Jain. Accordingly, the appeal was considered only qua accused Rekha Jain.
The complaint was lodged by respondent No. 2 against Kamalesh Mulchand Jain, husband of Rekha Jain, alleging that by misrepresentation, inducement and with an intention to cheat him, Kamalesh Mulchand Jain had taken away 2 kg and 27 grams of gold jewellery. FIR/Crime Case No. 75/2020 dated 13.03.2020 was registered for the offence under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
During investigation, it was found that Rekha Jain was absconding and that the gold jewellery taken away from the complainant by her husband was with her. Investigation was consequently carried out against her as well. Rekha Jain approached the High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 seeking quashing of the FIR against her for the offence under Section 420 IPC. The High Court declined to quash the proceedings.
