The Single Judge dismissed the appeal seeking quashing of criminal proceedings for intimidation and caste-related assault, holding prima facie offence disclosed. Bail to be considered if surrendered.
Prayer for quashing of charge-sheet and cognizance order refused; hearing for bail directed upon surrender.
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Court No. - 71
Case :- CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 6049 of 2019
Appellant :- Ram Charan Chauhan And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And Another Counsel for Appellant :- Puneet Kumar Verma Counsel for Respondent :- G.A.
Hon'ble Rajiv Gupta,J.
Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned AGA for the State and perused the record.
This criminal appeal has been filed by the appellants with the prayer to quash the Charge-Sheet dated 21.05.2019 and cognizance order dated 17.07.2019 as well as entire proceedings of S.S.T. No.168 of 2019 (State Vs. Ram Charan Chauhan and others), arising out of Case Crime No.71 of 2019, under Sections 147, 323, 504, 506 IPC and Section 3(2)(5) of SC/ST Act, Police Station Nandganj, District Ghazipur.
As per the allegations made in the FIR, it is alleged that on 15.09.2018 at about 7:00 PM, the appellants armed with lathi danda reached at the door of the accused and abused her with the name of her caste with an intention to humiliate and intimidate her and also assaulted her by kicks and fists and when the witnesses reached there to rescue her, the appellants left the place of the incident threatening her of life.
Learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that from the perusal of the allegations made in the FIR and the material collected during the course of investigation, no offence is disclosed against the appellants and the present prosecution has been instituted with a malafide intention for the purposes of harassment. He has pointed out certain documents and statements in support of his contention.
Per contra, learned AGA has submitted that from the perusal of the allegations made in the FIR and the material collected during the course of investigation, prima facie offence is clearly made out against the appellants and as such, impugned charge-sheet cannot be quashed.
Moreover, at this stage, only prima facie case is to be seen in the light of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the cases of R.P. Kapur Vs. State of Punjab, AIR 1960 SC 866, State of Haryana Vs. Bhajan Lal,
1992 SCC (Cri.) 426, State of Bihar Vs. P.P. Sharma, 1992 SCC (Cri.) 192 and lastly Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. Vs. Mohd. Saraful Haq and another, (Para10) 2005 SCC (Cri.) 283. The disputed defence of the accused cannot be considered at this stage.
The prayer for quashing the entire criminal proceedings is therefore refused.
However, it is directed that if the appellants appear/surrender before the court below and apply for bail, their prayer for bail shall be considered and decided as expeditiously as possible after giving opportunity of hearing to both the parties.
With the aforesaid observations, this criminal appeal is finally disposed of.
Order Date :- 27.9.2019 Nadim
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the charge-sheet and cognizance order should be quashed as no offence is disclosed.
Whether prima facie case for proceeding exists under relevant IPC and SC/ST Act sections.
Ram Charan Chauhan And 6 Others
State Of U.P.
Rajiv Gupta
As recorded by the court registry
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