HC quashes 7 year-old rape case against DJB engineers

The Delhi High Court today quashed an FIR and subsequent criminal proceedings against three Delhi Jal Board (DJB) employees for allegedly raping an executive working in a private company in 2006.
Allowing the plea of DJB engineers Sharat Chandra, Praveen Bhargav and Ramesh Thakur, Justice Suresh Kait quashed the order of trial court which had summoned the officials to stand trial in the case despite a closure report filed by police which stated that they were falsely implicated.
"This court is not expected to throw out a case on technicalities but is expected to interfere wherever there has been failure of justice or misuse of judicial mechanism or procedure.

"This court is not expected to be a mere silent spectator, when it is made out that the criminal prosecution is abuse of process of court. Accordingly, the FIR and all proceedings emanated thereof are quashed," the court said.
The Delhi High Court also allowed the revision petition filed by the state against the trial court order in the case.
The court accepted the arguments placed by counsel for accused --Manoj Taneja and Sanjiv Kumar Dubey -- that the trial court had ignored the several months' delay in lodging the complaint and also the closure report filed by the police in the case.

The counsel said the victim claimed that the incident had happened at her house in October 2006 and the case was registered at Malviya Nagar Police Station in June 2007.
The officials had moved the high court against a lower court order that summoned them to stand trial in the case. The lower court had rejected a police report to close the case against them and issued summons.