Back
2023 Supreme(Raj) 1703
IN THE HIGH COURT OF RAJASTHAN
Manoj Kumar Garg, J.
Mardan Ali Khan – Petitioner
Versus
State of Rajasthan and Others – Respondents
S.B. Criminal Misc. Petition No. 4610 of 2022
Decided On : 25-04-2023
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioner: Vikram Choudhary
For the Respondent: Vikram Sharma, P.P. and Vishal Sharma
Headnote:(A) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - Section 156(3) - Dismissal of revision petition - The complainant alleged conspiracy and forgery, leading to FIR No. 78/2017 - Police investigation resulted in a Final Report stating no case against accused - Trial court accepted this report, subsequently affirmed by the Additional Sessions Judge - No prima facie case was established against respondents. (Paras 1, 4, 5, 7)
(B) Judicial Review - Courts are to respect findings of lower courts when no legal or factual errors are present - A negative final report should not be disregarded without compelling reason. (Paras 5, 7)
Facts of the case:
The complainant alleged that the respondents forged documents using stamps with the same serial number, discovered through obtained certified copies. Investigation by police concluded no evidence against the accused, supporting both lower court orders.
Findings of Court:
The investigation by police was thorough and the final report justified, leading to the rejection of the protest petition.
Issues: The main issues were whether a prima facie case existed against the respondents and the appropriateness of the police's final report.
Ratio Decidendi: The court upheld that no errors were found in the previous orders and confirmed the legitimacy of the negative final report, emphasizing that both lower courts effectively addressed the presented material.
Result: Miscellaneous petition dismissed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. factual basis for the complaint and ensuing legal process. (Para 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. arguments regarding the rejection of the protest petition. (Para 4 , 5) |
| 3. court's analysis on the validity of police report. (Para 6 , 7) |
JUDGMENT :
MANOJ KUMAR GARG, J.
Instant misc. petition has been filed against the order dated 14.06.2022 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Merta whereby the learned Judge dismissed the revision petition and affirmed the order dated 19.01.2019 passed by learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Merta accepting the FR filed by the police in FIR No. 78/2017.
2. Brief facts of the case are that the complainant filed a complaint before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Merta to the effect that the accused after entering into a conspiracy proceeded to fabricate the documents and got stamp of same serial number which were used for forging documents. The complainant came to now about the same when he obtained certified copies of the stamps and tallying with the stamp vendor.
3. The complaint was sent to the police station under Section 156(3) Cr. P.C. The police registered the case being FIR No. 78/2017 and after investigation, submitted FR that no case is made out against the accused respondents. After considering the evidence collected during investigation and recording statement of witnesses under Section 200 & 202 Cr. P.C., the trial court accepted the Final Report and rejected the protest petition vide order dated 19.01.2019. The petitioner filed a revision petition against the said order before the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Merta which too was dismissed vide order dated 14.06.2022.
4. Counsel for the petitioner submits that without considering the material aspect of the matter, the trial court mechanically rejected the protest petition filed by the petitioner. It is argued that on the basis of statement of the complainant, a prima facie case is clearly made out against the accused respondent. It is argued that the petitioner has clearly stated that there cannot be two stamps of same serial number and therefore, the accused respondents had committed the offence. It is argued that the investigating officer has not investigated the matter in correct perspective and therefore, it is prayed that the matter may be remanded back to the trial court for passing a fresh order in accordance with law.
5. Learned Public Prosecutor and counsel for the respondents supported the impugned orders and submitted that both the courts below have discussed each and every aspect of the matter and have rightly rejected the protest petition and revision petition respectively, which does not called for any interference.
6. Heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the orders impugned so also the record.
7. It is not disputed that after thorough investigation, the police submitted a final report to the effect that no case is made out against the respondents as the petitioner failed to make out a prima facie case against the respondents. Learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Merta after considering the Final report submitted by the police, rejected the protest petition on the said ground. The revision petition filed by the petitioner also came to be dismissed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Merta by way of a detailed order. In the opinion of this Court, no plausible ground exists for disbelieving the negative Final report filed by the police after thorough investigation. Learned court below after considering the entire material on record, has accepted the Final report filed by the police. There is no illegality or perversity in the impugned orders dated 19.01.2019 & 14.06,2022. Hence, this misc. petition is hereby dismissed.
