THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT Dated : 10/02/2026 CORAM THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE L. VICTORIA GOWRI Kumar @ Torik Kumar ... Petitioner / Accused No.3 Vs The Inspector of Police, Vallam Police Station, Thanjavur District.

(Crime No.305 of 2019) ... Respondent / Complainant PRAYER :-

To direct the Principal District and Sessions Court, Thanjavur to consider the warrant recall petition filed by the petitioner for recall the non- bailable warrant issued on 04.09.2025 against the petitioner in connection with a case in C.A.No.80/2025 which preferred against the conviction and sentence imposed by the Judicial Magistrate Warrant No.

3, Thanjavur in C.C.No.76 of 2024, on the very same day.

For Petitioner : Mr.T.Indrachithu For Respondent : Mr.M.Sakthi Kumar Government Advocate (Crl Side)

ORDER

This Criminal Original Petition has been filed to direct the Principal District and Sessions Court, Thanjavur to consider the warrant recall petition filed by the petitioner for recall the non- bailable warrant issued on 04.09.2025 against the petitioner in connection with a case in C.A.No.80/2025 which preferred against the conviction and sentence imposed by the Judicial Magistrate Warrant No.3, Thanjavur in C.C.No.

76 of 2024, on the very same day.

PROLOGUE The criminal process is not merely a mechanism for securing convictions, but a constitutional instrument for balancing the competing imperatives of societal order, victim justice, and individual liberty. While the presence of an accused before the trial Court is indispensable for the orderly progress of criminal proceedings, coercive processes such as Non-Bailable Warrants are not intended to operate as punitive tools, divorced from the realities of human conduct and procedural contingencies.

2. Equally, the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section

528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (corresponding to Section 482 CrPC) is extraordinary in nature and cannot be permitted to supplant or short-circuit the statutory remedies expressly provided before the trial Courts. An overzealous invocation of such jurisdiction in matters relating to recall of warrants would not only erode the authority of trial Courts but would also impede the expeditious disposal of criminal cases, thereby frustrating the mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

3. It is in the above constitutional and statutory backdrop that the present Criminal Original Petition, seeking a direction relating to recall of a Non-Bailable Warrant, falls for consideration.

GIST OF THE CASES & RELIEF SOUGHT

4. Gist of the Case:

A case in Crime No.305 of 2019 has been registered against the petitioner for the offences under Sections 457(1), 380(1) of IPC, which culminated in charge sheet in CC No.76 of 2024 before the learned Judicial Magistrate No.III, Thanjavur.

5. Relief Sought:

To recall the warrant issued against the petitioner by setting aside warrant dated 04.09.2025, issued by the learned Principal District and Sessions Judge, Thanjavur in C.C.No.76 of 2024.

6. Grounds urged by the petitioner:

Since the petitioner is got embroiled in his marriage process, he was not aware of the hearing dates in the aforesaid case. Only later, the petitioner came to know about the warrant issued against him.

Submissions:

7. The learned counsels for the petitioner relying upon the judgment of this Court in Crl.O.P.No.6472 of 2025 dated 07.03.2025, Crl.O.P.No.4514 of 2016 dated 02.03.2016 and similar orders, submitted that, this Court has appreciated similar cases and had allowed the same by directing the petitioner to appear before the learned trial Court and file a petition under section 70(2) of Cr.P.C,1973/ 72(2) of BNSS,2023, to recall NBW already issued against him and on filing the same the trial court has further been directed to consider the same on its own merits in accordance with law on the same day, making it clear that the disposal of the case in that manner by this Court do not amount to consider the recall petit