NEW DELHI: Acquitting a man implicated in a rape case where the FIR was registered on a court order, a local court has held it to be a "glaring example" of misuse of magistrate's power to order a probe into a cognisable offence.
"This case is a glaring example of the misuse of the provision under Section 156(3) of CrPC (power of a magistrate to order police investigation in any cognisable case) whereby this case was got registered under the judicial orders," Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Tiwari said.
The court made the remark while acquitting west Delhi resident Dinesh Kumar, who was accused of raping a girl.
The girl also said the police had initially not registered her complaint as she was a major and an FIR was lodged only on the basis of a magisterial court's order.
The alleged victim had told a court that in 2002, Kumar took her to his house where he raped her and threatened her that if she leaves the place, he would kidnap her minor brother. She said he later took her to a district court and married her forcibly. After a few days she escaped and reunited with her parents only to know that Kumar already kidnapped her brother.
The court, however, found several loopholes in her description of the incident and various versions put forth by her. It also said that various versions which have come on record about the alleged rape, kidnapping of her brother just when she escaped and Kumar's motive cannot be reconciled with each other.
The judge also found that she was of major age on the day of incident and whatever was done with her, was with her exclusive consent and she married the accused of her own will.