Delhi High Court Quashes 17-Year-Old Attempt to Murder Case Against Madhu Kishwar
The Delhi High Court has quashed a 17-year-old criminal case against academic and activist Madhu Kishwar, which accused her of attempt to murder.
The case dated back to 2008, when an FIR was filed against Kishwar by members of the Basoya family while she was taking photographs in the Sewa Nagar Street Vendors’ Market for a project under her organisation, Manushi. Kishwar had alleged that the Basoya family was involved in running several illegal businesses in the area.
Justice Amit Mahajan, in an order passed on October 16, described the FIR as a “maliciously motivated counterblast” to an earlier complaint filed by Kishwar herself. In that earlier case, the same complainants were convicted for assaulting her when she was photographing the market.
The FIR against Kishwar had accused her of directing her driver to run over the complainants with a car and assaulting them during a dispute over shop allotments. The charges were filed under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, the Court noted that the complainants had already been convicted in the related case arising from the same incident. Considering this, Justice Mahajan held that even if the allegations against Kishwar were accepted at face value, they appeared to be part of self-defence during an altercation that began when the complainants formed an unlawful assembly and attacked her.
Allowing the petition, the Court stated,
“FIR No. 162/2008 and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom are quashed.”
Advocates Ravi Sharma, Shivam Mishra, and Madhulika Rai Sharma represented Madhu Kishwar, while APP Priyanka Dalal appeared for the State.
