Abhishek Alias Abhishek Gaund vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Abhishek Alias Abhishek Gaund vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Quashing of the charge sheet and cognizance/summoning order refused; direction issued that on appearance/surrender and application for bail before the court below, the bail prayer shall be considered and decided in accordance with law.

Issue for consideration

Whether the impugned charge sheet dated 04.10.2024 and the cognizance/summoning order dated 25.07.2025 in Session Case No. 1857 of 2025 (arising out of Case Crime No. 420 of 2024) should be set aside on the appellant's contention that no offence is disclosed against him and the prosecution was instituted mala fide for purposes of harassment.

Court's answer

On the material on record, at this stage it cannot be said that no offence is made out against the appellant; all submissions advanced at the bar relate to disputed questions of fact which cannot be adjudicated by this Court, and only the existence of a prima facie case falls for consideration.

Ratio / Principle

The disputed defence of the accused cannot be considered at this stage; the applicant retains the right of discharge before the court below and is free to raise all such submissions in a discharge application before the trial court.

Key takeaways

The prayer for quashing the proceedings of the case as well as the cognizance/summoning order is refused.ratio¶14
Protective direction: if the applicant appears and surrenders before the court below and applies for bail, his prayer for bail shall be considered and decided in accordance with law.ratio¶15

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Criminal appeal under Section 14-A(1) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by Abhishek alias Abhishek Gaund seeking quashing of the charge sheet dated 04.10.2024 and the cognizance/summoning order dated 25.07.2025 in Session Case No. 1857 of 2025, arising out of Case Crime No. 420 of 2024, Police Station Gola, District Gorakhpur, under Sections 61, 110, 115(2), 117(2), 351(3), 352 B.N.S. and 3(1)(dha), 3(1)(da), 3(2)5A S.C./S.T. Act. HELD: at the prima facie stage it cannot be said that no offence is made out; the appellant's submissions raise disputed questions of fact which the High Court cannot adjudicate, and only a prima facie view is permissible in the light of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in R.P. Kapur, Bhajan Lal, P.P. Sharma and Zandu Pharmaceutical. Quashing refused; the accused is free to raise all submissions in a discharge application before the trial court. Directed that on appearance/surrender and a bail application, bail be considered and decided in accordance with law. Appeal finally disposed of (Shekhar Kumar Yadav, J.; November 19, 2025).

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 10624 of 2025

Abhishek Alias Abhishek Gaund

.....Appellant(s)

	Versus
State of U.P. and Another			.....Respondent(s)
Counsel for Appellant(s)	: Manoj Chandra	Kumar Tripathi	Tripathi, Prakash
Counsel for Respondent(s)	: G.A.
Court No.- 86

HON'BLE SHEKHAR KUMAR YADAV, J.

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

The present criminal appeal under Section 14-A(1) Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been preferred to setaside the impugned charge sheet dated 04.10.2024 as well as cognizance/ summoning order dated 25.07.2025 in Session Case No. 1857 of 2025 (State Vs. Abhishek Gaund and others) arising out of Case Crime No.420 of 2024, under Sections 61, 110, 115(2), 117 (2), 351(3), 352 B.N.S. 3(1)(dha), 3(1)(da), 3(2)5A S.C./S.T. Act, Police Station- Gola, District- Gorakhpur, pending in the Court of Special Judge, S.C/S.T. Gorakhpur with a further prayer to stay further proceedings of the aforesaid case.

The contention of the learned counsel for the appellant is that no offence against the appellant is disclosed and the present prosecution has been instituted with malafide intentions for the purposes of harassment.

Per contra, the learned AGA opposed the appeal and submitted that at the stage of summoning the accused, the Magistrate/Court dealing with the matter is required to apply judicial mind only with a view to take cognizance of the offence to find-out as to whether prima-facie case has been made out to summon the accused or not. There is no infirmity or illegality in the impugned order warranting interference by this Court. Hence, the appeal having no force is liable to be dismissed.

CRLA No. 10624 of 2025

2

From the perusal of 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 appellant. All the submissions made at the bar relates to the disputed question of fact, which cannot be adjudicated upon by this Court. At this stage only prima facie case is to be seen in the light of the law laid down by Supreme Court in cases of R.P. Kapur Vs. State of Punjab, A.L.R. 1960 S.C. 866, 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 (Para10) 2005 SCC (Cr.) 283. The disputed defence of the accused cannot be considered at this stage. Moreover, the applicant has got a right of discharge as the case may be, before the court below and he is free to take all the submissions in the said discharge application before the trial court.

The prayer for quashing the proceedings of case as well as cognizance/summoning order is refused.

However, it is provided that if the applicant appears and surrenders before the court below and apply for bail, his prayer for bail shall be considered and decided in accordance with law.

With the aforesaid directions, this criminal appeal is finally disposed off.

(Shekhar Kumar Yadav,J.)

November 19, 2025 Krishna*

Digitally signed by :- KRISHNA KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad