IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH

AT GWALIOR

BEFORE

HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE MILIND RAMESH PHADKE

ON THE 8^th OF JANUARY, 2026

MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 59787 of 2025

VEERU SHARMA AND OTHERS

Versus

MANISH SHARMA AND OTHERS

Appearance:

Shri Prakhar Dhengula - Advocate alongwith Shri Purushottam

Rai - Advocate for the petitioner.

Ms. Anjali Gyanani - Public Prosecutor for the State.

ORDER Magistrate First Class, Gwalior, initially took cognizance against the petitioners vide order dated 07.05.2016. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioners approached this Court by filing MCRC No. 9043/2016, which was allowed vide order dated 09.01.2025, and the matter was remanded to the learned JMFC, Gwalior, for fresh consideration.

The present petition, under Section 582 of the Bharatiya Nagarik

Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, has been filed by the petitioners seeking transfer of Criminal Revision No. 75/2025, presently pending before the Court of the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Gwalior, to Dabra or any other District Court outside Gwalior, in order to secure a free, fair, and

impartial adjudication in the interest of justice.

Learned counsel for the petitioners had submitted that the

petitioners were arrayed as accused in a private complaint lodged by the respondent/complainant alleging that the petitioners had fired gunshots at the place of the complainant and it is undisputed that no injury was caused to any person in the alleged incident. The learned Judicial

It is further submitted that after remand, when the matter was again taken up by the learned JMFC, Gwalior, the respondent/complainant who is a practicing Advocate at Gwalior and was holding an elected position in the Bar Association, Gwalior, namely, Master of Library misused his dominant position in the Bar Association and, mobilized the members of the Bar and other Advocates, who were neither party to the case nor counsel therein and deliberately created an atmosphere of pressure and intimidation inside the courtroom and is continuing the same till date. On several dates of hearing, whenever the petitioners or their counsel attempted to advance submissions before the learned Trial Court, the respondent/complainant, along with a number of Bar members, crowded the courtroom, remained conspicuously present, and thereby generated a hostile and surcharged environment, which had the effect of interfering with the free and fair conduct of judicial proceedings.

It is further submitted that the power filed on behalf of the respondent/complainant by multiple advocates and Bar members itself demonstrates a collective show of strength, sufficient to intimidate the petitioners and to undermine the independence of the judicial process. Owing to such pressurized circumstances, the respondent/complainant succeeded in obtaining an order dated 06.02.2025 from the learned JMFC, Gwalior, which, according to the petitioners, was passed in a courtroom environment vitiated by indirect pressure and intimidation. Feeling aggrieved by the order dated 06.02.2025, the petitioners preferred Criminal Revision No. 75/2025 before the Court of the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Gwalior. However, even before the Revisional Court, the respondent/complainant continued the same conduct of exerting influence and pressure by ensuring the presence of Bar members who were neither parties nor counsel in the matter. Apprehending that a fair and impartial hearing was not possible at Gwalior, the petitioners were constrained to file Transfer Application No. MJCR-4242/2025 before the learned Sessions Judge, Gwalior, seeking transfer of the criminal revision to Dabra or any other District.

It is further submitted that the learned Sessions Judge, however, vide order dated 11.12.2025, dismissed the transfer application without properly appreciating the gravity of the allegations, the admitted and consistent presence of Bar members during court proceedings, and the genuine apprehension expressed by the petitioners. The learned Sessions Judge failed to appre