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2026:HHC:16769

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA Cr. MMO No. 234 of 2026 Reserved on: 30.03.2026 Date of Decision: 14.05.2026

Ashok Kumar & Ors ...Petitioner Versus

State of H.P. t ...Respondent _____________________________________

Coram Hon’ble Mr Justice Rakesh Kainthla, Judge.

Whether approved for reporting?¹ Yes

For the Petitioner : Mr Gurinder Singh Parmar, Advocate

For the respondent/ : Mr Ajit Sharma, learned Deputy gState Advocate General.

Rakesh Kainthla, Judge

The present petition has been filed against the order

dated 27.01.2022 passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Amb, District Una, H.P. (learned Trial Court) vide which the closure report submitted by the police was accepted. (The parties shall hereinafter be referred to in the same manner as they

were arrayed before the learned Trial Court for convenience).

1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes.

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2. Briefly stated, the facts giving rise to the present petition are that the informant, Sangeeta Devi, reached the main road near Ambedkar Bhawan and found a truck bearing registration No. HP-19C-8398 parked on the road 07.01.2019. A Scooty bearing registration No. HP-19A-0150 came at a high speed and hit the rear side of the Truck at about 6:15 PM. The occupants of the Scooty fell. They were taken to the hospital, and an intimation wuas given to the Police. The name of the Scooty driver waos found to be Jaswinder Singh, and the name of the pillionC rider was found to be Asha Kumari. The accident had occurred due to the high speed of the Scooty and the negligence of Jaswinder Singh. The police registered the FIR and investigated the matter. The police found that the truck was

Hparked towards the left side of the road on the unmettalled portion. Its parking light was also switched on. The informant’s statement was recorded to this effect. Jaswinder Singh succumbed to his injuries; hence, the closure report was

prepared and submitted to the Court.

3. Learned Trial Court issued the notice to the informant. The informant did not appear despite service, and

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the learned Trial Court accepted the closure report after going

through the record.

4. Being aggrieved by the order pasHsed by the learned Trial Court, the petitioners (relatives of Jaswinder Singh and Asha Kumari) have filed the present petition, asserting that no intimation was given to them before accepting the closure report. The truck was parked on the road without any parking lights. The incident occurred on 07.01.2019 at about 6:15 PM. There was no visibility at that time, and it was difÏcult to see the parked truck in the absence of the parking light. The informant was a st ranger and had no personal relation with the deceased. The learned Trial Court summoned the informant. The informant chose not to appear before the Court. The petitioners were adversely affected by the acceptance of the closure report but they were not heard. Hence, it was prayed that the present petition be allowed and the order passed by the learned Trial

Court be set aside.

5. I have heard Mr Gurinder Singh Parmar, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr Ajit Sharma, learned Deputy

Advocate General for the respondent/State.

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6. Mr Gurinder Singh Parmar, learned counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the learned Trial Court had issued the notice to the informant, who was a stranger to the present case. The petitioners, being the relatives of the deceased, were entitled to a notice and the acceptance of the closure report without hearing them is violative of a principle of natural justice. He relied upon the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Jagjeet Singh and others versus Ashish Mishra @ Monu and

another (2022) 9 SCC 321 in support of his submissions.

7. Mr Ajit Sharma,

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