Allahabad High Court
Ashok Kumar And 5 Others vs State Of U.P. And Another on 9 April, 2025
Author: Deepak Verma
Bench: Deepak Verma
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Neutral Citation No. - 2025:AHC:52196
Court No. - 84
Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 44911 of 2024
Applicant :- Ashok Kumar And 5 Others
Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another
Counsel for Applicant :- Madhvesh Kumar Tiwari,Neeraj Singh,Varun Shukla
Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Deepak Verma,J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the applicants; learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record.
2. The present 482 Cr.P.C. application has been filed to quash the charge sheet dated 30.12.2203; cognizance order dated 25.10.2024 as well as entire proceedings of Case No.21725 of 2024 arising out of Case Crime No. 517 of 2023 (State Vs. Ashok Kumar), under Sections 147, 323, 504, 506 and 325 I.P.C., P.S. Rasra, District Ballia.
3. Counsel for the applicant submits that no offence against the applicants has been disclosed and the present prosecution has been instituted with a malafide intention for the purposes of harassment. It is further submitted that Investigating Officer has not specified the role of each accused persons, therefore, charge-sheet is illegal and thereafter trial court has summoned the accused persons without application of mind. Learned counsel for the applicants has placed reliance upon a judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court passed on 01.05.2024 in the case of Sharif Ahmed and another vs. State of U.P. and another, reported in 2024 INSC 363.
4. Learned A.G.A. vehemently opposed the prayer for quashing the proceedings of the aforesaid case and submitted that submission of the applicant is based on factual dispute. Chagesheet has been submitted in proper way. The role attributed to the accused persons in the crime causing injuries shall be examined by the trial court after recording statement during trial. Prima facie offence is made out against the applicants. The allegations in the F.I.R. are supported by injury report. It is further submitted that both parties lodged the F.I.Rs. against each other. The trial court has to examine factual dispute. This Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has no power to examine the factual dispute of the matter.
5. The Apex Court in the case of Mohd. Allauddin Khan Vs. State of Bihar and others reported in (2019) 6 SCC 107 has held in para No.14 as follows:-
"14. In our view, the High Court had no jurisdiction to appreciate the evidence of the proceedings under Section 482 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short "Cr.P.C.") because whether there are contradictions or/and inconsistencies in the statements of the witnesses is essentially an issue relating to appreciation of evidence and the same can be gone into by the Judicial Magistrate during trial when the entire evidence is adduced by the parties. That stage is yet to come in this case."
6. The Apex Court in Priti Saraf and another Vs. State of NCT of Delhi and Another reported in AIR 2021 SC 1531 has held that:
"To exercise powers under Section 482, complaint in its entirety have to be examined on basis of allegation made in complaint/FIR/Charge sheet. High Court at that stage not under an obligation to go into matter or examine its correctness. Whatever appears on face of complaint/FIR/charge sheet to be taken into consideration without any critical examination of same. Offence ought to appear ex facie on complaint/FIR/charge sheet and other documentary evidence, on record. It is thus settled that exercise of inherent power of High Court is an extraordinary power which has to be exercised with great care and circumspection before embarking to scrutinize complaint/FIR/charge sheet in deciding whether case is rarest of rare case, to scuttle prosecution at its inception. Whether the allegations in the complaint are otherwise correct or not, has to be decided on the basis of the evidence to be led during the course of trial. Simply because there is a remedy provided for breach of contract or arbitral proceedings initiated at the instance of the appellant, that does not by itself clothe the court to come to a conclusion that civil remedy is the only remedy, and the initiation of criminal proceedings, in any manner, will be an abuse of the process of the court for exercising inherent powers of the High Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. for quashing such proceedings."
7. From the perusal of the material on record and looking into the facts of the case at this stage it cannot be said that no offence is made out against the applicants. All the submissions made at the bar relate to the disputed questions of fact, which cannot be adjudicated upon by this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. and reliance placed over Apex Court judgment is not applicable in the present case.
8. In view of the above, in the light of judgment of the Apex Court in the matters of R.P. Kapur Vs. State of Punjab, A.I.R. 1960 S.C. 866, Manik B. Vs. Kadapala Sreyes Reddy & Anr. 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 642, State of Haryana Vs. Bhajan Lal, 1992 SCC (Cr.) 426, State of Bihar Vs. P.P.Sharma, 1992 SCC (Cr.) 192 and lastly Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. Vs. Mohd. Saraful Haq and another (Para-10) 2005 SCC (Cr.) 283, no ground for quashing the proceedings of the aforesaid case, is made out which may call for any interference by this Court in exercise of its inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
9. The present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. lacks merit and is, accordingly, dismissed.
10. However, if the applicants surrender before the concerned Court below within two weeks from today and applies for bail, the bail application shall be decided expeditiously by the courts below in accordance with law laid.
11. For the period of two weeks from today or till the time of surrender of the applicants before the Court below, whichever is earlier, no coercive action shall be taken against them.
Order Date :- 9.4.2025
Asha
