Putti Lal Vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2020) — LawSathi Research

Putti Lal Vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2020) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Application disposed of with directions: applicant to move an application under the relevant provisions of the Electricity Act before the concerned authority within one month; such application, if moved with a certified copy of the order, to be considered and decided expeditiously, preferably within two months, after hearing the parties; interim protection that no coercive action be taken against the applicant for three months or till disposal of the said application, whichever is earlier, subject to automatic lapse on default.

Issue for consideration

Whether the charge sheet dated 27.02.20219 in S.S.T. No. 877 of 2018 (State Vs. Putti Lal), arising out of case crime no. 010 of 2019 under Section 138(1)(B) Electricity Act, and the proceedings pending before the Special Judge (EC Act), Kanpur Nagar, ought to be quashed.

Court's answer

No useful purpose would be served by keeping the application pending; the court proceeded to dispose of it on the basis of the applicant's expressed willingness to settle the compoundable offence.

Ratio / Principle

The applicant is directed to move an application under the relevant provisions of the Electricity Act (for compounding/settlement) before the concerned authority within one month from the date of the order.

Key takeaways

If such application is moved along with a certified copy of the order, the concerned authority shall consider and decide it expeditiously, preferably within two months from the date of its production, in accordance with law after hearing the parties concerned.ratio¶8
As interim protection, for a period of three months or till the disposal of the said application, whichever is earlier, no coercive action shall be taken against the applicant in the aforesaid case.ratio¶9

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Section 482 Cr.P.C. application to quash charge sheet dated 27.02.20219 in S.S.T. No. 877 of 2018 (State Vs. Putti Lal), arising out of case crime no. 010 of 2019 under Section 138(1)(B) Electricity Act, P.S. Bithur, District Kanpur Nagar, pending before Special Judge (EC Act), Kanpur Nagar. On the submission that the offence is compoundable and the applicant is ready to settle, the court held that no useful purpose would be served by keeping the application pending and disposed of it, directing the applicant to move an application under the relevant provisions of the Electricity Act before the concerned authority within one month; such application, if moved with a certified copy of the order, is to be considered and decided expeditiously, preferably within two months, in accordance with law after hearing the parties. As interim protection, no coercive action is to be taken against the applicant for three months or till disposal of the said application, whichever is earlier; the protection ends automatically on the applicant's default.

Court No. - 78

Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 7261 of 2020

Applicant :- Putti Lal Opposite Party :- State of U.P. and Another Counsel for Applicant :- Satish Chandra Singh,Sharad Chandra Singh Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.,Baleshwar Chaturvedi

Hon'ble Om Prakash-VII,J.

Heard learned counsel for the applicant, Sri Baleshwar Chaturvedi, learned counsel for opposite party No.2, learned AGA for the State and perused the record.

This application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed with a prayer to quash the charge sheet dated 27.02.20219, S.S.T. No. 877 of 2018 (State Vs. Putti Lal) arising out of case crime no. 010 of 2019, under Section 138 (1) (B) Electricity Act, Police StationBithur, District- Kanpur Nagar pending before Special Judge (EC Act), Kanpur Nagar and further to stay the proceedings of the aforesaid case.

It is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that since offence in question is compoundable and the applicant is ready to settle the matter, some time may be granted to him for the said purpose.

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and having considered the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and keeping in view the willingness shown by learned counsel for the applicant, in my view, no useful purpose would be served by keeping this application pending. Hence, applicant is directed to move an application under the relevant provisions of Electricity Act before the concerned authority within a period of one month from today. If such application along with certified copy of this order is moved by the applicant, the same shall be considered and decided expeditiously, preferably within a period of two months from the date of production of same in accordance with law after hearing the parties concerned.

For a period of three months or till the disposal of the said application, whichever is earlier, no coercive action shall be taken against the applicant in the aforesaid case.

If case of default on the part of applicant, the interim protection granted to the applicant shall automatically come to an end.

With the aforesaid observations, this application stands disposed of.

Order Date :- 24.2.2020

Sachdeva