Disposed

Afak Ahmad v. State of U.P. and Another

Allahabad HC8 Dec 2020A482/16211/2020

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

In an application under Section 482 CrPC, the High Court disposed of the petition without quashing the charge sheet after the applicant withdrew on merits. The Court directed lower courts to decide bail applications within seven days, issued a temporary stay for 45 days, and set timelines for trial disposal based on Supreme Court guidelines to ensure speedy justice.

What did the court decide?

Interim bail granted upon surrender within 45 days; below courts directed to decide bail within 7 days; no coercive action for 45 days.

Afak Ahmad Vs State of U.P. and Another — Criminal Trial and Appeal | Allahabad HC (2020)

¶1

Court No. - 67

¶2

Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 16211 of 2020

¶3

Applicant :- Afak Ahmad Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Dileep Singh Yadav Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Dr. C.P. Upadhyay,Raju Singh

¶4

Hon'ble Rahul Chaturvedi,J.

¶5

Heard learned counsel for the applicant as well as learned A.G.A. and perused the record.

¶6

This application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. has been preferred seeking the quashing of impugned Charge Sheet No. A-32/2020 dated 03.03.2020 and its cognizance order dated 16.06.2020 as well as entire proceedings of Case No. 112 of 2020 (State Vs. Afak Ahmad and others) arising out of Case Crime No. 306 of 2017, under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 I.P.C., Police Station-Mau, District-Chitrakoot pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate, Mau, Chitrakoot.

¶7

After arguing the case for quite some time at length and pitted against certain observations made by the Court, learned counsel for the applicant himself has given up to address the Court on merits of the case and prayed, that the purpose of his clients would suffice, if a direction may be given to the courts below to decide his bail application within specific time frame.

¶8

Considering the entire facts and circumstances of the case and the arguments advanced, this Court is of the opinion that in the fitness of circumstances, this application stands disposed of with the direction that the court below would extend the benefit of interim bail (if the court concerned deems it fit according to the merit of each case) as contemplated in the law laid down by this Court in the case of Amrawati and another Vs. State of U.P. reported in 2004 (57) ALR 290 as well as judgement passed by Hon'ble Apex Court reported in 2009 (3) ADJ 322 (SC) Lal Kamlendra Pratap Singh Vs. State of U.P. after the applicant surrenders within 45 days before the court and if his bail application is filed, the same shall be adjudicated and decided by the courts below with speaking and reasoned order, strictly in accordance with law, in the light of the judgment given by Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Hussain and another Vs. Union of India reported in (2017) 5 SCC Page702, relevant extract of which reads as under :-

¶9

"….......Judicial service as well as legal service are not like any other services. They are missions for serving the society. The mission is not achieved if the litigant who is waiting in the queue does not get his turn for a long time"....... "Decision of cases of under-trials in custody is one of the priority areas. There are obstructions at every level in enforcement of right of speedy trial; vested interests or unscrupulous elements try to delay the proceedings"....... "In spite of all odds, determined efforts are required at every level for success of the mission"..... "The Presiding Officer of a court cannot rest in a state of helplessness. This is the constitutional responsibility of the State to provide necessary infrastructure and of the High Courts to monitor the functioning of subordinate courts to ensure timely disposal of cases."

¶10

To satiate speedy disposal of the cases, the courts below are issued following directions in accordance with the observations made in the case of Hussain and another (Supra) :

¶11

(i)Bail applications be disposed of normally within one week : (ii) Magisterial trials, where accused are in custody, be normally concluded within six months and sessions trials where accused are in custody be normally concluded within two years. (iii)................................................................................................ .......; (iv)................................................................................................. ......"

¶12

The above timelines may be the touchstone for assessment of judicial performance in annual confidential reports.

¶13

For the period of 45 days from today, no coercive action shall be taken against the applicant in the aforementioned case.

¶14

It is made clear that no time extension application would be entertained for extending the period of 45 days.

¶15

The ratio mentioned above is the last word for every judicial officers for abiding with the directions of the Hon'ble Apex Court. In the aforesaid scenario, it would be pertinent to refer the case of Brahm Singh and others Vs. State of U.P. and others decided on 08.07.2016 in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No.15609 of 2016 whereby co-ordinate Bench of this Court, while taking into account the concerns of most of the counsels with regard to the long pending bail applications at lower courts' stage has expressed their anguish and concern.

¶16

In the aforesaid backdrop, learned Sessions Judge/the

¶17

concerned Trial Judge is directed to ensure that the guidelines given in the case of Hussain and another (supra) as well as in Brahm Singh and others (Supra) has to be carried out in its letter and spirit, failing which an adverse inference would be drawn against the erring officers and this Court would be compelled to take appropriate action against them, if found that there is laxity in adhering the above directions.

¶18

In the event, the bail application is not decided within seven days as contemplated above, the learned Judge will have to spell out the justifiable reasons and record the same on the order sheet of such cases.

¶19

With the aforesaid observations, the present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. stands disposed of.

¶20

Order Date :- 8.12.2020 Sunil Kr. Gupta

Afak Ahmad v. State of U.P. and Another

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Afak Ahmad v. State of U.P. and Another

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

What the court decided

A compact analysis

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

Statutes considered

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Chhaya Yadav and Another Vs State of U.P. and 7 Others

Smt. Pooja Chaudhary and Another Vs State of U.P. and 5 Others

Smt Durgawati Mishra Vs State of U.P.

Vidhyaram Vs State of U.P. and Another

Rizwan Warsi and Another Vs State of U.P. and Another

Rana Pratap Singh Vs State of U.P. and Another