The Allahabad High Court, while dismissing an application filed seeking quashing of proceedings under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 held that in cases where an appeal against an order would lie under Section 14A of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, the aggrieved person cannot invoke the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court under Section 482 CrPC to challenge the order.
Brief Facts:
The present application was filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C., challenging the validity of the charge-sheet dated 12.10.2023 and the entire proceedings of Sessions Case No.3088 of 2023, arising out of Case Crime No.385 of 2023, under Sections 147, 148, 302, 307 I.P.C. & Section 3 (2) 5 of Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Contentions of the Petitioner:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner placed reliance upon the Full Bench judgment in “In re Provision of Section 14A of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015”: 2018 SCC OnLine All 2087 and Union of India v. State of Maharashtra, (2020) 4 SCC 761, wherein it was held that while the constitutional and inherent powers of this Court are not “ousted” by Section 14A, they cannot be invoked in cases and situations where an appeal would lie under Section 14A.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent raised a preliminary objection that the applicant has not challenged the validity of the summoning order and without him having been summoned, the applicant would have no cause of action to challenge the proceedings. He has submitted that the applicant has the statutory remedy of filing an appeal under Section 14-A of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Observations of the court:
The court noted that a bare perusal of Section 14-A of the Act shows that it starts with the words “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)”. Further, the court referred to the decision of the court in the case of Re: Provision of Section 14 (a) of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, wherein it was held that while the constitutional and inherent powers of this Court are not “ousted” by Section 14A, they cannot be invoked in cases and situations where an appeal would lie under Section 14A.
The court further stated that although the question – as to whether an aggrieved person who has not availed of the remedy of an appeal under the provisions of Section 14 A of 1989 can be allowed to approach the HC by preferring an application under the provisions of S. 482 CrPC? – has been referred to a larger Bench of the HC in 2023, but the decision in Ghulam Rasool Khan (Supra) will hold good till a decision is taken by a larger Bench.
The court concluded that the inherent powers of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. cannot be invoked in cases and situations where an appeal would lie under Section 14A and an aggrieved person having remedy of appeal under Section 14A of the 1989 Act, cannot be allowed to invoke the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 Cr. P.C.
The decision of the Court:
The court held that as the applicant has the remedy of filing an appeal under Section 14-A available to him, he cannot invoke the inherent powers of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. and dismissed the petition.
Case Title: Shivam Kashyap vs. State of U.P.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal
Case No.: APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 12798 of 2023
Advocate for the Petitioner: Mr Trideep Narayan Pandey, Deepanker Kumar, Priya Singh
Advocate for the Respondent: G.A., G.K. Dikshit, Gopal Krishna Dixit
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