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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Anu Malhotra, J.
Ankur Mutreja - Appellant
Versus
State of Delhi - Respondent
Crl.M.C. 4111 of 2016
Decided On : 26-07-2021
The court ruled that a magistrate cannot issue interim directions under Section 190 of the CrPC, as the petitioner has adequate alternative remedies and prior similar claims had been dismissed.
Headnote:(A) Constitution of India - Article 227 - Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Section 482 - Public nuisance - Petition challenging dismissal of application seeking direction to restrain halwais/private caterers near community hall - Court emphasizes that powers for interim relief under Section 190 cannot be exercised; prior petitions had similar claims which were denied - Clear need for compliance with existing regulations to mitigate public nuisance was outlined, and the petitioner had options for remedies. (Paras 1, 12, 17, 28)
(B) Judicial review under Art. 227 of the Constitution should not be invoked if adequate remedies exist under the Criminal Procedure Code - The grounds for dismissing earlier petitions were valid due to alternative remedies available to the petitioner. (Paras 5, 21)
Facts of the case:
The petitioner, a resident adjacent to Gagan Vihar Community Hall, argued that caterers create public nuisance by cooking in open areas, leading to noise and environmental hazards. He filed numerous complaints with authorities, but asserted no action was taken.
Findings of Court:
The court noted the absence of jurisdiction for the magistrate to issue directions under Section 190. Multiple petitions with the same subject matter resulted in a dismissal and could not be re-agitated.
Issues: The issues involved whether the magistrate could issue interim directions to the police, and the validity of prior dismissals under the same claims.
Ratio Decidendi: The court concluded that the existing procedural framework did not grant the lower court power to issue such interim directions; the rejection of prior applications remains binding, confirming the principle that courts should not interfere when remedies exist.
Result: Petition dismissed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. petitioner's complaint about public nuisance. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. petitioner's arguments on nuisance activities. (Para 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 3. trial court record and complaint status. (Para 6 , 7 , 8) |
| 4. court’s observations on the trial process. (Para 10 , 11 , 12) |
| 5. dismissal of complaints for lack of cognizable offence. (Para 13 , 14 , 15) |
| 6. revisiting of orders in light of previous petitions. (Para 16 , 25) |
| 7. final order on maintaining jurisdiction and previous claims. (Para 27 , 28) |
| 8. dismissal of the petition. (Para 29) |
JUDGMENT
Anu Malhotra, J. The petitioner vide the present petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India read with Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure assails the impugned order dated 1.9.2016 of the learned ASJ-04 Shahdara in C.R. No. 15/2016 as well as order dated 2.2.2016 of the learned Metropolitan Magistrate-01, Shahdara, Delhi in CC No.90/2013 and simultaneously seeks the direction to the State of Delhi, represented by the Delhi Police, to immediately restrain the location of halwais/private caterers in any open area in and around the Gagan Vihar Community Hall, whether within or outside the premises of the Gagan Vihar Community Hall or from creating any other public nuisance in whatever manner as well as quashing the impugned orders as specified hereinabove.
2. Oral and written submissions have been made on behalf of either side. The petitioner, in the instant case, is a resident of Unit 1, Ground floor, 156, Gagan Vihar Extension, Delhi-110051, which is located next to the Master Plan Road over Disused Canal. The petitioner submits that there is a community hall commonly known as Gagan Vihar Community Hall, located near his property and also next to the Master Plan Road over disused canal which community hall is managed by the Aviation Employees Co-operative House Building Society (hereinafter referred to as AECHBS). The petitioner submits that there is an open area on the rear side forming part of the community hall and on the western side is an internal road of Gagan Vihar Extension Colony, which is under dispute in the Court of ADM(E) Delhi in a complaint filed by the petitioner himself under Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The petitioner submits that the open areas are often used by the various people who organize functions in the community hall and the open areas are used for locating halwais/private caterers either by AECHBS or the organizers themselves with the support and encouragement of AECHBS and that the halwais/private caterers are almost always more than 10 in number and carry out various cooking and ancillary activities including washing of utensils in the open areas and such user increases manifold during the marriage season and occurs almost on daily basis.
3. The petitioner further submits that the location of halwais/private caterers in the open area is a public nuisance and cognizable offence under various sections of Chapter 14 of the INDIAN PENAL CODE and submits to the effect:
"a. That the halwais private caterers locate themselves in the most haphazard manner, which per se is a public nuisance as being an eye sore directly visible from the Master Plan Road. The location of halwais/private caterers in the western open area, whenever it happens, is also an obstruction to the right of way access through internal road of Gagan Vihar Extension colony.
b.That the halwais/private caterers also wash utensils in the open areas, which create loud noise including at odd hours of night and wee hours of morning, and even otherwise the activities of the halwais/private caterers create loud noise.
c. That the washing of utensils is accompanied by creation of dirty water and garbage, which is drained and collected into the adjacent footpath, and is also left unattended in the said open areas for long periods. The other activities also create lots of garbage, which is also left unattended in the said open areas for long periods. The above creates lo
