M.Shanmugasundaram vs The Inspector Of Police
2022 Latest Caselaw 14330 Mad

Citation : 2022 Latest Caselaw 14330 Mad
Judgement Date : 11 August, 2022

Madras High Court

M.Shanmugasundaram vs The Inspector Of Police on 11 August, 2022

                                                                                Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021


                                   IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

                                                   DATED 11.08.2022

                                                            CORAM

                                  THE HONOURABLE Mr.JUSTICE G.K.ILANTHIRAIYAN

                                             Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021 and
                                            Crl.MP.Nos.6338 & 6339 of 2021

                     1.M.Shanmugasundaram
                     2.Karthikeyan                                              ... Petitioners

                                                              Vs

                     1. The Inspector of Police,
                        Dharmapuri Police Station,
                        Dharmapuri
                        crime No.1704 of 2020
                     2.M.Sankar                                                 ... Respondents



                     PRAYER: Criminal Original Petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C,
                     praying to call for the records pertaining to the charge sheet in STC.No.196
                     of 2021 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court No.I, Dharmapuri and to
                     quash the same insofar as the petitioners are concerned by allowing this
                     criminal original petition.

                                          For Petitioners     : Mr.R.Prabakar




                     Page 1 of 10


https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
                                                                                     Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021


                                              For Respondents
                                                    For R1       : Mr.A.Gopinath,
                                                                   Government Advocate(crl.side)

                                                     For R2      : No appearance

                                                               ORDER

This petition has been filed to quash the proceedings in STC.No.196 of

2021 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court No.I, Dharmapuri, thereby

taken cognizance for the offences under Sections 143 and 353 of IPC and

51(b) of The Disaster Management Act, 2005, in Crime No.1704 of 2020, as

against this petitioners.

2. The case of the prosecution is that as per the order of the

Tahsildar, Dharmapuri, the second respondent visited the alleged occurrence

place for conducting enquiry, in order to ascertain the present position of the

house site patta issued to the beneficiaries of the Adi Dravidar Welfare

Department in Ambedkar Colony within the A.Reddihalli Village in

SF.Nos.441/1A2, 441/1B and 444/4B. While so, the petitioners along with 20

women and 10 men thronged the second respondent, prevented him from

proceedings and asked him to go out of the place.

3. The learned Counsel appearing for the petitioners would submit

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021

that the petitioners are innocent and they have not committed any offence as

alleged by the prosecution. Without any base, the first respondent police

registered a case for the offences under Sections 143 and 353 of IPC and

51(b) of The Disaster Management Act, 2005, in Crime No.1704 of 2020, as

against the petitioners and the same has been taken cognizance in

STC.No.196 of 2021 on the file of the Judicial Magistrate Court No.I,

Dharmapuri. Hence he prayed to quash the same.

4. The learned Government Advocate(crl.side) would submit that

the trial has already been commenced and seven prosecution witnesses have

been examined in this case and now the case is posted on 13.09.2022.

5. Heard Mr.R.Prabakar, the learned counsel appearing for the

petitioners, Mr.A.Gopinath, learned Government Advocate(crl.side)

appearing for the first respondent/ police.

6. It is relevant to rely upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme

Court of India passed in Crl.A.No.579 of 2019 dated 02.04.2019 in the case

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021

of Devendra Prasad Singh Vs. State of Bihar & Anr., as follows:-

" 12.So far as the second ground is concerned, we are of the view that the High Court while hearing the application under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. had no jurisdiction to appreciate the statement of the witnesses and record a finding that there were inconsistencies in their statements and, therefore, there was no prima facie case made out against respondent No.2. In our view, this could be done only in the trial while deciding the issues on the merits or/and by the Appellate Court while deciding the appeal arising out of the final order passed by the Trial Court but not in Section 482 Cr.P.C. proceedings.

13.In view of the foregoing discussion, we allow the appeal, set aside the impugned order and restore the aforementioned complaint case to its original file for being proceeded with on merits in accordance with law.

7. Recently, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India dealing in respect

of the very same issue in Crl.A.No.1572 of 2019 dated 17.10.2019 in the

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case of Central Bureau of Invstigation Vs. Arvind Khanna, wherein, it has

been held as follows:

“19. After perusing the impugned order and on hearing the submissions made by the learned senior counsels on both sides, we are of the view that the impugned order passed by the High Court is not sustainable. In a petition filed under Section 482 of Cr.P.C., the High Court has recorded findings on several disputed facts and allowed the petition. Defence of the accused is to be tested after appreciating the evidence during trial. The very fact that the High Court, in this case, went into the most minute details, on the allegations made by the appellant-C.B.I., and the defence put- forth by the respondent, led us to a conclusion that the High Court has exceeded its power, while exercising its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C.

20.In our view, the assessment made by the High Court at this stage, when the matter has been taken cognizance by the Competent Court, is completely incorrect and uncalled for.”

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021

8. Further the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India also held in the

order dated 02.12.2019 in Crl.A.No.1817 of 2019 in the case of M.Jayanthi

Vs. K.R.Meenakshi & anr, as follows:

"9. It is too late in the day to seek reference to any authority for the proposition that while invoking the power under Section 482 Cr.P.C for quashing a complaint or a charge, the Court should not embark upon an enquiry into the validity of the evidence available. All that the Court should see is as to whether there are allegations in the complaint which form the basis for the ingredients that constitute certain offences complained of. The Court may also be entitled to see (i) whether the preconditions requisite for taking cognizance have been complied with or not; and (ii) whether the allegations contained in the complaint, even if accepted in entirety, would not constitute the offence alleged.

..............

13. A look at the complaint filed by the appellant would show that the appellant had incorporated the ingredients necessary for prosecuting the respondents for the offences

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis Crl.O.P.No.10565 of 2021

alleged. The question whether the appellant will be able to prove the allegations in a manner known to law would arise only at a later stage...................." The above judgments are squarely applicable to this case and as such, the

points raised by the petitioners cannot be considered by this Court under

Section 482 Cr.P.C.

9. In view of the above discussion, this Court is not inclined to

quash the proceedings in STC.No.196 of 2021 on the file of the Judicial

Magistrate Court No.I, Dharmapuri in Crime No. 1704 of 2020. The

petitioners are at liberty to raise all the grounds before the trial Court. Further,

the personal appearance of the petitioners is dispensed with and they shall be

represented by a counsel after filing appropriate application. However, the

petitioners shall be present before the Court at the time of furnishing of

copies, framing charges, questioning under Section 313 Cr.P.C. and at the

time of passing judgment. The trial Court is directed to complete the trial

within a period of .two months from the date of receipt of copy of this Order.