IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Cr.Misc. No.43644 of 2007 1. VIKRAM KUMAR SAHNI @ VIKRAM SAHNI 2. Dilip Sahni 3. Arun Sahni all sons of late Suraj Sahni 4. Babita Devi wife of Dilip Sahni 5. Nirmala Devi, wife of Arun Sahni 6. Mosmt. Gulabiya Devi wife of late Suraj Sahni, All are Resident of village Diyanatpur, P.S. Bibhutipur, District Samastipur Versus 1. STATE OF BIHAR 2. Kalpana Devi, Daughter of Shri Hriday Narayan Mandal, Resident of village Bari Maira, P.S. Gogri, District Khagaria. ----------- 3 06/01/2009 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and the State. No one appears on behalf of opposite party no. 2 despite having entered appearance. The petitioners question the proceedings in Complaint Case No. 98 of 2006 including the order of cognizance and issuance of summons dated 19/5/2006 under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and section ¾ of the Dowry Prohibition Act. It is submitted that the victim in her statement on solemn affirmation stated that the marriage was solemnized at Munger. The matrimonial home of the complainant is at Samastipur where she resided with her husband petitioner no. 1 and his other family members. The complaint in its entire body cleverly conceals not only the place of the marriage but the place of matrimonial home also. The complainant has then chosen to institute the complaint case at Khagaria where she was resided with her parents. The submission, therefore, is that from the - 2 - pleadings made in the complaint itself, no cause of action arose at Khagaria and, therefore, the Court there shall have no jurisdiction to deal with the matter. It is next submitted that the earlier view that the offence under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code was a continuing offence and shall be maintainable at the place where the wife had subsequently to reside for the reasons of the alleged harassment, has not found favour by the Supreme Court in the case of Y. Abraham Ajit and others Vs. Inspector of Police, Chennai and another, AIR 2004, S.C., 4286 where this objection was subsequently negatived. This has been followed in Bhura Ram & Others Vs. State of Rajasthan and others, 2008 AIR SCW, 4449 holding that the Court within whose jurisdiction no part of the cause of action has accrued shall not have any jurisdiction to deal with the complaint. This Court on reading of the allegations in the complaint and the statement of the complainant on solemn affirmation finds that the marriage was solemnized at Munger. The complainant apart from giving the addresses of the petitioners at Samastipur describes herself as a resident of Samastipur but provides the current address as that at Khagaria. The body of the complaint is completely wanting any allegations of a cause of action at Khagaria. Presumably, for reasons of this difficulty, the complainant chose to keep the allegations with regard to the place of cause of action vague. Opposite Party No. 2 having chosen not to enter appearance to oppose the allegation, this Court on the basis of the submissions made and the materials placed on record from the - 3 - proceedings of the court below finds it difficult to reject the argument that on the face of the allegations no cause of action or even a part thereof has accrued at Khagaria to maintain the complaint case there on the mere ground that she resided with her family members there. The proceedings in complaint case no. 98 of 2006 pending before the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate, Khagaria are, therefore, held to be not maintainable for lack of jurisdiction. However, before parting with this order, this Court considers it appropriate to observe, in the light of the observations of the Supreme Court in Y. Abraham Ajit (Supra), that the complaint shall be returned to the complainant by the court of the Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate, Khagaria to enable her to institute the same before an appropriate court if she so desires. This application is allowed to the extent indicated above and the impugned order dated 19.5.2006 is hereby quashed with the observations made above. (Navin Sinha, J.) AMIN