Smt. Pritha Bhattacharya (Mukherjee) v. State Of West Bengal And Others

Sanjib Banerjee, J.:— The petitioner complains of the failure by the investigating officer attending to a complaint of torture and demand for dowry to pay heed to the petitioner's request for the contents of the bank locker to be intventorised prior to the key pertaining thereto being returned by the petitioner to the in-laws in terms of the order passed by the criminal Court.

According to the petitioner, her stridhan articles remain in the bank locker. The bank locker is in the name of the father-in-law and mother-in-law of the petitioner and can be operated by such persons jointly or severally. A chargesheet has been filed following the complaint of torture and demand of dowry by the petitioner.

In addition, the petitioner has filed a suit against the husband demanding return of her stridhan articles. The petitioner says that an interlocutory order has been passed in such suit restraining the husband from dealing with or disposing of the petitioner's stridhan articles.

In course of the criminal proceedings, two sets of applications were filed: one by the petitioner for a direction that the petitioner's stridhan articles in the bank locker be returned to the petitioner; and, the other by the accused husband that the key to the bank locker be returned to the husband. The petitioner's application has been disallowed by the criminal Court and the husband's application has been allowed.

The petitioner says that if the key is returned to the husband or the in-laws without the contents of the bank locker being examined, the husband and the in-laws would be free to remove the petitioner's stridhan articles and deal with the same notwithstanding the subsistence of the order passed in the civil suit instituted by the petitioner.

W.P 36198 (W) of 2013 is disposed of by directing the investigating officer to accompany the petitioner and the husband to the relevant bank for the purpose of an inventory of the contents of the relevant bank locker to be made.

The husband's father and mother may only be present to authorise the opening of the bank locker, but neither will be physically present at the time that the contents of the bank locker are intventorised. The inventory will be conducted in the presence of the petitioner, the husband, the investigating officer and an official to be deputed by the manager of the relevant branch of the bank. All four persons will sign the inventory list and it will be open to the petitioner to identify her stridhan articles, if any, among the contents of the bank locker. The bank locker will thereafter be closed without either the petitioner or the husband being entitled to remove any article therefrom.

The investigating officer will take steps in accordance with law upon the petitioner identifying her stridhan articles in the contents of the bank locker.

After the exercise of inventory is completed, the petitioner will hand over the key to the bank locker to the investigating officer and the investigating officer will make over the same to the husband by obtaining due receipt therefor and making over a copy of such receipt to the petitioner.

Since it is submitted on behalf of the husband that the husband is employed in Bangalore and is not immediately available in town, the husband should make it convenient to visit Calcutta within the next three weeks to complete such exercise.

There will be no order as to costs.

Certified website copies of this order, if applied for, be urgently made available to the parties, subject to compliance with all requisite formalities.