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2024 Supreme(Mad) 1960
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADRAS, (MADURAI BENCH)
D. BHARATHA CHAKRAVARTHY, J.
K. Murugavel and Ors. - Petitioners
Versus
State, Rep. by Inspector of Police, Jayamangalam Police Station and Anr. – Respondents
Crl.O.P. (MD) No.1866 of 2021 and C.M.P. (MD) Nos.936 & 937 of 2021
Decided On : 27-11-2024
For the Petitioners: Mr. R. Senthil Kumar
For the Respondents: Ms. M. Aasha, Govt. Adv. (Crl. Side)
The court ruled that a charge sheet with sufficient evidence justifies proceeding against accused, even if general allegations are made, emphasizing the need for specific overt acts for conviction.
Headnote:(A) Criminal Procedure Code - Section 482 - Quashing of proceedings - Petitioners sought to quash the charge sheet in P.R.C.No.9 of 2020, alleging wrongful identification and lack of specific overt acts attributed to each accused - The court found sufficient material and evidence to proceed against the accused, dismissing the quash petition. (Paras 17, 18)
(B) Criminal Law - Unlawful assembly - The court emphasized that mere general allegations are insufficient for conviction; specific overt acts must be established for each accused. (Paras 17, 18)
Facts of the case:
The petitioners, accused in a riot during a temple festival, challenged the charge sheet citing wrongful identification and lack of specific allegations against them. The police reported injuries to multiple officers during the incident. (Paras 2-5)
Findings of Court:
The court found that the charge sheet contained sufficient evidence, including eyewitness accounts and medical records, to proceed with the case against the petitioners. (Paras 17, 18)
Issues: The main issues included the validity of the charge sheet against deceased or non-existent persons and whether specific overt acts were attributed to each accused. (Paras 9, 17)
Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that the presence of sufficient material in the charge sheet justified proceeding with the case, and that the adequacy of evidence is a matter for trial, not for quashing at this stage. (Paras 17, 18)
Result: Criminal Original Petition dismissed.
ORDER :
(D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, J.)
(PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, to call for the records relating to the proceedings in P.R.C.No.9 of 2020 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, Periyakulam and quash the same.)
This Criminal Original Petition is filed to call for the records relating to the proceedings in P.R.C.No.9 of 2020 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, Periyakulam and quash the same.
2. The brief facts leading to the filing of the present Criminal Original Petition are that on 07.05.2019 when there was the ‘Ooru Kavalan Koil Festival' at Jayamangalam, all the accused persons who joined the procession in a riotous and unruly manner, started abusing the police personnel who are on bandobust duty with filthy language. They attacked the police with stones and also armed with wooden logs, iron rods etc., ransacked the entire area and also damaged the windshields and glass panes of the vehicles which were passing by. As a result, a case was registered in Crime No.82 of 2019 for the offences under Sections 147, 148, 294 (b), 324, 353, 506 (ii) and 307 of IPC read with 3 (1) of the Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act. The case was subsequently altered into one under Sections 147, 148, 294 (b), 324, 353, 506 (ii), 307 and 427 of IPC. Originally 54 persons were arrayed as accused in this case.
3. The case of the prosecution is that there were injuries to four police personnel, viz., Nathikumar suffered grievous head injuries on account of pelting of stones; Vinothkumar, Paulpandi and Murugesan and three other police personnel have also suffered injuries which were simple in nature. Nathikumar was admitted to the hospital and treated as an inpatient. Initially, 10 accused persons were arrested, and two accused persons were granted anticipatory bail. The rest of the 42 accused persons were absconding. After the investigation, a charge sheet was filed against 54 accused persons, and the same was taken on file in P.R.C.No.9 of 2020. Of the 54 accused persons, 43 persons have filed the present Criminal Original Petition to quash the proceedings in P.R.C.No.9 of 2020 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court, Periyakulam.
4. The case of the petitioners is that when the temple festival is celebrated by the Scheduled Caste community in a peaceful manner, normally only 10 or 15 policemen are deployed to escort the procession. The then Deputy Superintendent of Police - one Arumugam, wilfully deployed nearly 200 policemen having a communal interest in mind and they indulged in lathi charge unnecessarily against the youngsters and general public who gathered in the procession and when the festival committee members and the other persons confronted, the present case is registered.
5. The petitioners seek to quash the charge sheet on the ground that even after investigation, the police had cited one Karthikraja @ Karthik as accused No.48. The said person died on 17.01.2019 itself, yet for the occurrence on 07.05.2019, the FIR is also registered against him. Further, one Paramasamy, son of Murugan is cited as accused No.12, one Pasupathi son of Rajendran is cited as accused No.28, one Vijay son of Thangamani is cited as accused No.35 and one Ajith, son of Azhagar is cited as accused No.44 in the charge sheet. There are no such persons in the said names and it can be seen that in a rash manner, wilfully to frame all the villagers belonging to the SC community, the charge sheet is filed with no investigation. The entire charge sheet is filed without fixing any specific overt act for each and every accused and not even any specific overt act is alleged against any particular accused thus, the entire final report does not contain any proper material and is only an abuse of process of law and therefore, it is liable to be quashed.
6. This petition is resisted by the respondent – police on the ground that during the temple procession, all these accused w
