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2025 Supreme(Online)(MP) 993
HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
SHRI JUSTICE SANJEEV S. KALGAONKAR, J
Satish Maratha – Appellant
Versus
The State Of Madhya Pradesh – Respondent
MCRC 30038/2019
Deepak Kumar Rawal,Advocate General
The court held that inherent powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. should not be exercised to quash charges where substantive evidence exists against the accused.
Headnote:(A) Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Section 482 - Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Sections 307, 34, 109, 212, 120-B, 467, 468 - Arms Act, 1959 - Sections 25, 27 - Petition for quashment of chargesheet relating to attempted murder and conspiracy - The petitioner was implicated based on co-accused statements and allegations of conspiracy to kill - The court found that the allegations were not absurd or baseless and that the prosecution was substantive. (Paras 1, 10, 11)
(B) Quashment of Proceedings - The court emphasized that the inherent power under Section 482 should only be exercised to prevent abuse of process or secure the ends of justice, and not merely because the petitioner was not named in the FIR. (Paras 8, 10)
Facts of the case:
The petitioner was accused of directing a conspiracy to kill Anchal Awasthi, following an incident where Awasthi was shot. The FIR was registered based on Awasthi's statement and subsequent investigation revealed the petitioner’s involvement. (Paras 2, 4)
Findings of Court:
The court concluded that the prosecution against the petitioner was not an abuse of process and that the evidence presented was sufficient to proceed with the case. (Paras 10, 11)
Issues: The main issues were whether the petitioner could be quashed from the charges based on lack of direct evidence and the validity of the conspiracy allegations. (Paras 4, 10)
Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that the allegations against the petitioner were substantive and not merely based on co-accused statements, thus quashment was not warranted. (Paras 10, 11)
Result: Petition dismissed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. petitioner's claims of innocence (Para 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 2. state's opposition to quashment (Para 6 , 8 , 9 , 10) |
| 3. court's review of evidence (Para 7) |
| 4. outcome of the petition (Para 11 , 12) |
ORDER
This petition having been heard and reserved for orders, coming on for pronouncement this day, Justice Sanjeev S. Kalgaonkar pronounced the following:
This petition u/S 482 of the Cr.P.C is filed for quashment of chargsheet relating to Crime No. 39/2017 registered at P.S. Lasudia Distt. Indore for offence punishable u/S 307 , 34 , 109 , 212 , 120-B , 467 and 468 of IPC and Section 25/27 of Arms Act and consequential proceedings in S.T. No. 337/2017 pending before the learned XXVII Additional Sessions Judge, Indore.
2. The exposition of facts giving rise to the present petition are as under:
Anchal Awasthi admitted at ICU Ward of Bombay Hospital, Indore reported to S.I. Ramesh Chouhan of P.S. Lasudia on 17.01.2017 that on the same day, he alongwith Lakhan Chauhan and Rakesh Namdeo were returning from Dewas after meeting his brother – Jitendra Awasthi. As their car reached near Dewas Naka around 1:00 in the night, Umesh and Nilesh alias Goldy riding on a motorcycle intercepted their car. Nilesh alias Goldy pulled out a pistol and fired on him with intention to kill him. The bullet hit him near his ear. He fell down. Rakesh and Lakhan brought him to Bombay Hospital. On such allegations, P.S. Lasudia registered FIR at Crime No. 39/2017 for offence punishable u/S 307 r/W Section 34 of IPC against Umesh and Nilesh alias Goldy. Relevant seizures were made. Nilesh alias Goldy was arrested. Based on information, Anuj Sen, Mahesh alias Kantilal, Hemant, Pawan, Kallu alias Suresh, Rajesh, Rahul, Sagar, Dinesh, Satyanarayan and Shankar were also found involved in the alleged offence. Umesh, Rajesh, Mahesh, Anuj, Pawan, Hemant, Kallu were arrested. It was revealed in investigation that over previous enmity, Satish Bhau alias Satish Maratha(petitioner) had directed Satyanarayan Lunia to kill Anchal Awasthi. Accordingly, a conspiracy was hatched between all the accused. In furtherance of that conspiracy, Nilesh alias Goldy fired gunshot at Anchal Awasthi. The petitioner was arrested. On completion of investigation, final report was submitted pending investigation against absconding accused.
3. The FIR and consequential criminal proceedings are assailed in the present petition on the following grounds:
(i) The petitioner is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case.
(ii) The petitioner was not named in the FIR as well as the statement of injured recorded u/S 161 Cr.P.C.
(iii) The petitioner has been falsely implicated on the basis of statement of co-accused recorded u/S 27 of the Evidence Act. No evidence is available except the statement of co-accused in police custody.
(iv) The allegation against the present petitioner is identical with that of co-accused Hemant and Pawan Agrawal. The prosecution against Hemant and Pawan Agrawal has been quashed by Hon’ble High Court.
4. On these grounds, it is requested that the FIR at Crime No. 39/2017 registered at P.S. Lasudia, Distt. Indore and consequential proceedings for offence punishable u/S 307 , 34 , 109 , 212 , 120-B , 467 and 468 of IPC and Section 25/27 of Arms Act be quashed with reference to the petitioner.
5. Learned counsel for the petitioner referring to the order dated 09.04.2019 passed in M.Cr.C. No. 7823/2017 and the order dated 17.06.2019 passed in M.Cr.C. No. 21455/2019 contended that Hemant and Pawan Agrawal have been extended the benefit of quashment of criminal proceedings against them in similar circumstances. No evidence is available against the petitioner showing his involvement in the conspiracy. Therefore, the prosecution against the petitioner would be an abuse of process of Court.
6. Per contra, learned counsel for the State opposed the petitioner and submitted that besides the statement of co-accused recorded u/S 27 of the Evidence Act, witness Manish Yadav in his
