Smt. Munni Devi vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

Smt. Munni Devi vs State of U.P. and Another — Allahabad HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Withdrawal of the Section 528 BNSS application accepted; liberty granted to file a regular bail application before the court of competent jurisdiction, to be decided in the light of Satender Kumar Antil (2022) 10 SCC 51.

Issue for consideration

Whether the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 3389/IX of 2023 arising out of Case Crime No. 293 of 2022 (Sections 308, 323, 504, 506 I.P.C., Police Station Baberu, District Banda) and the cognizance/summoning order dated 26.11.2022 pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Banda should be quashed under Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. +1 more

Court's answer

The prayer to quash the proceedings of Criminal Case No. 3389/IX of 2023 and the cognizance/summoning order dated 26.11.2022 is refused.

Ratio / Principle

After arguments, the application stands disposed of with liberty granted to the applicant's learned counsel to file a regular bail application before the court of competent jurisdiction.

Key takeaways

If a bail application is filed, it shall be decided in the light of the observations made by the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Another, (2022) 10 SCC 51 (category A: bail applications of accused against whom charge-sheet has been submitted on appearance may be decided without physical custody or by granting interim bail, with better exercise of discretion in favour of the accused).obiter¶14

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

High Court of Judicature at Allahabad (Sanjay Kumar Pachori, J.) — October 29, 2025: In APPLICATION U/S 528 BNSS No. 41851 of 2025, applicant Smt. Munni Devi sought quashing of the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 3389/IX of 2023, arising out of Case Crime No. 293 of 2022 under Sections 308, 323, 504, 506 I.P.C., Police Station Baberu, District Banda, together with the cognizance/summoning order dated 26.11.2022, pending in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Banda. Counsel submitted that the applicant was never arrested during investigation, the charge-sheet had been submitted, and the offence was punishable up to 7 years imprisonment. Considering the facts and circumstances, the Court refused the prayer to quash. After some arguments, counsel withdrew the application with liberty to file a regular bail application before a court of competent jurisdiction, and the application stands disposed of with that liberty. The Court directed that any such bail application be decided in the light of the Supreme Court's observations in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Another, (2022) 10 SCC 51 — category A (charge-sheet submitted, accused appearing without arrest): bail may be decided without taking the accused into physical custody or by granting interim bail till decided, expecting a better exercise of discretion in favour of the accused.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

APPLICATION U/S 528 BNSS No. - 41851 of 2025

Smt. Munni Devi

.....Applicant(s)

Versus

State of U.P. and Another	.....Opposite Party(s)
Counsel for Applicant(s)	: Love Lesh Kumar Verma
Counsel for Opposite Party(s)	: G.A.

Court No. - 75

HON'BLE SANJAY KUMAR PACHORI, J.

Sri Jitendra Kumar Sharma, Advocate holding brief of Sri Lovelesh Kumar Verma, learned counsel for the applicant and Ms. Saumya Madhyan, brief holder for the State and perused the material on record.

The present application under Section 528 of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has been filed by the applicant to quash the entire proceedings of Criminal Case No. 3389/IX of 2023 arising out of Case Crime No. 293 of 2022, under Sections 308, 323, 504, 506 of I.P.C., Police Station- Baberu, District- Banda as well as cognizance/summoning order dated 26.11.2022, pending in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Banda.

Learned counsel for the applicant submits that applicant was not arrested during the course of investigation and the charge-sheet has been submitted against him. It is further submitted that the offence is punishable up to 7 years imprisonment.

Upon considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the prayer made by learned counsel for the applicant is, hereby, refused.

After some arguments, learned counsel for the applicant wants to withdraw the application with liberty to file a regular bail application before the court of competent jurisdiction.

In case bail application is filed by the learned counsel for the applicant, the same shall be decided in the light of the observations made in the judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central Bureau of Investigation & Another, (2022) 10 SCC 51, wherein the

NA528 No. 41851 of 2025

2

Supreme Court considering the category(A) as mentioned in the paragraph no. 2, bail applications of such accused against which charge-sheet has been submitted on appearance may be decided without the accused being taken in physical custody or by granting interim bail till the bail application is decided. It has been observed that at the cost of repetition, we wish to state that, in category A, one would expect a better exercise of discretion on the part of the court in favour of the accused.

The application stands disposed of with the aforesaid liberty.

October 29, 2025 Ishan

(Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.)

Digitally signed by :- ISHAN JAISWAL High Court of Judicature at Allahabad