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2023 Supreme(All) 2912

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
RAM MANOHAR NARAYAN MISHRA, J.
Guddi and Others – Appellants
Versus
State of U.P. and Another – Respondents
Criminal Revision No. 3222 of 2013
Decided On : 08-11-2023

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellants : Kamini Pandey, Ajay Dubey, Ram Jatan Yadav
For the Respondent: Sushil Singh

The court emphasized that the issuance of process against accused must be based on a proper assessment of evidence, ensuring that legal proceedings are not misused by summoning accused individuals without sufficient grounds.

Headnote:(A) Indian Penal Code - Sections 395 and 397 - Criminal Procedure Code - Sections 200, 202, 203, and 204 - Summoning of accused for dacoity and robbery - Impugned order declared unsustainable for being cursory and mechanical - The court below summoning all accused without proper scrutiny of testimonies for prima facie case was erroneous, resulting in abuse of process and legal error. (Paras 3, 16)

(B) Criminal Jurisprudence - Standard for issuing process - The court must establish whether sufficient ground for proceeding against accused exists; scrutiny should not be meticulous, but the reasoning behind issuing process needs to be reflected. (Paras 6, 15)

Facts of the case:
Complainant reports an incident involving theft and assaults by identified accused persons while disputing land ownership. It was claimed that valuables were taken during the incident, but evidence raised doubts regarding the seriousness of the offense. (Paras 2, 3)

Findings of Court:
The court found the earlier order to issue process against the accused unjustifiable due to failure to properly assess the evidence of witnesses; remanded for fresh hearing on whether charges should stand. (Paras 16, 17)

Issues: The issues addressed concerned whether sufficient evidence existed to justify summons for serious charges following the statements and allegations made by the complainant.

Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of substantiating charges clearly and ensuring the issuance of process is not mechanical but based on proper assessment of evidence—court's role is to prevent misuse of legal proceedings. (Paras 15, 16)

Result: Revision allowed, impugned order set aside.

Table of Content
1. court's preliminary considerations in the case. (Para 1 , 2)
2. overview of the incident and factual background. (Para 3)
3. arguments against the validity of the complainant's case. (Para 4)
4. arguments defending the original court's ruling. (Para 5)
5. explanation of relevant legal provisions. (Para 6 , 7 , 8)
6. judiciary's interpretation of legal standards in criminal proceedings. (Para 9 , 10 , 11)
7. critique of the lower court's procedural adherence. (Para 12 , 13 , 15 , 16)
8. final verdict and directions for retrial. (Para 17 , 18)

JUDGMENT :

RAM MANOHAR NARAYAN MISHRA, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the revisionists, learned counsel for the opposite party No. 2, learned AGA for the State and perused the material placed on record.

2. Instant criminal revision has been preferred against the impugned order dated 10.9.2013, passed by Special Judge (D.A.A.) Agra, in Complaint Case No. 109 of 2013, Layak Singh Varma vs. Smt. Guddi and Others , under Sections 395 , 397 IPC, Police Station Etmadpur, District Agra, whereby the accused revisionists have been summoned to face trial for charges mentioned as above.

3. The factual matrix of the case in brief are that the complainant filed an application under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. before Special Judge (D.A.A.) Agra with averment that on 28.9.2013 at around 10:00 AM, he visited his agricultural field alongwith Narendra Kumar and Kaushlendra. He found that accused persons namely, Smt. Guddi and others were engaged in constructing a wall in his field in illegal manner with a view to grab his field. When he objected to this, accused Ram Prakash pointed butt of a spade and Kishan Singh pointed out his countrymade pistol on temple of the applicant. The accused persons engaged in maar-peet and abused him. The accused persons snatched a gold chain, two mobile phones, one gold ring and Rs.12,000/-, kept in the pocket from the informant. Learned court below treated the application under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. as complaint case. The statement of the complainant was recorded before Special Court under Section 200 Cr.P.C. and that of witnesses Narendra Kumar, Rajkumar and Kaushlendra as PW-1, PW-2 and PW-3 in enquiry under Section 202 Cr.P.C. In injury report of injured Narendra Kumar, nephew of the complainant, 7 injuries were found on his person, which included contusion and abrasion. In the opinion of Doctor, injuries found have been caused by hard and blunt objection and their duration was two days old. The medico legal examination of injured Narendra Kumar was conducted on 2.2.2013 whereas incident occurred on 28.2.2013. Learned court below summoned the accused persons with finding of prima facie case being made out against accused persons named in complaint to put them on trial. The accused persons were summoned by impugned order dated 10.9.2013, which is subject matter of challenge before this Court by way of present criminal revision.

4. Learned counsel for the revisionists submitted that there are lot of contradictions in the statement of complainant and his witnesses recorded under Sections 200 and 202 Cr.P.C. before the court below. The complaint has been filed with false and concocted facts in malicious manner. The complainant has not examined all his witnesses in enquiry under Section 202 Cr.P.C. and thus the court below has summoned the accused revisionists in violation of provisions of Section 202 (2) proviso of Cr.P.C. which provides that “if it appears to the Magistrate that the offence complained of is triable exclusively by the Court of Session, he shall call upon the complainant to produce all his witnesses and examine them on oath.” The injuries of witnesses Narendra Kumar are found to be simple by the Doctor. His medico legal examination is conducted on 3rd day of the incident, which creates doubt regarding authenticity of the injuries mentioned therein. Moreover, injuries were found of simple nature in the opinion of the Doctor. The complainant has manipulated

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