Disposed¶26

Shivnath Gupta v. State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Lko. and Another

Allahabad HC18 Mar 2026CRLA/2181/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Allahabad High Court, Lucknow Bench; CRLA No. 2181 of 2025; Shivnath Gupta v. State of U.P.; criminal appeal under Section 14-A(1) SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act; quashing of Complaint Case No. 205 of 2023 (Sections 323, 504, 506, 3(1)(X) SC/ST Act); summoning order dated 19.05.2025 by Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Bahraich; sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C. for prosecution of police officer on official duty; U.P. Notification No. 1841 (3)/VI-538-71 dated 30.01.1975; Vishwanath Singh Rathore; Ramjeet Yadav; interim protection - no coercive process against appellant; next listing 11.05.2026.

What did the court decide?

Appeal admitted and listed on 11.05.2026; interim direction that till the next date of listing no coercive process shall be taken against the appellant by the court below ¶26

Shivnath Gupta vs State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Lko. and Another — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Appeal admitted and listed on 11.05.2026; interim direction that till the next date of listing no coercive process shall be taken against the appellant by the court below

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Issue for consideration

Whether the complaint and the summoning order dated 19.05.2025 against the appellant, a police officer alleged to have been discharging official duty, are liable to be quashed on the ground that no sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C. was obtained before filing of the complaint

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Court's answer

As an interim measure, till the next date of listing no coercive process shall be taken against the appellant by the court below

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Ratio / Principle

The court held that the matter requires consideration and admitted the criminal appeal, directing it to be listed on 11.05.2026

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Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Admission-stage order in a criminal appeal under Section 14-A(1) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Shivnath Gupta, stated to be the S.H.O. of the police station concerned, sought quashing of Complaint Case No. 205 of 2023 under Sections 323, 504, 506 and 3(1)(X) of the SC/ST Act pending before the Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Bahraich, and setting aside of the summoning order dated 19.05.2025. The prosecution version alleged that on 25/12/2022 the complainant was assaulted and abused with caste-indicative words by Pawan Kumar alias Lalla and others, and that the appellant abused him with caste-indicative words and threw away his written report, after which he was charged under Sections 107/116 and 151 CrPC. Counsel for the appellant contended that the appellant was discharging official duty and no sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C. was obtained before the complaint, relying on Vishwanath Singh Rathore (Application U/S 482 No. 24169 of 2023, decided 10/7/2023, referring to U.P. Notification No. 1841 (3)/VI-538-71 dated 30.01.1975 requiring sanction from the competent authority for prosecution of members of the U.P. Police Force) and Ramjeet Yadav (Case U/S 482, 378, 407 No. 587 of 2009, where Section 197 Cr.P.C. was held attracted to police officials acting in discharge of public duty). Holding the matter to require consideration, the court admitted the appeal, listed it for 11.05.2026, and directed that till the next date of listing no coercive process shall be taken against the appellant by the court below.

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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW

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CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 2181 of 2025

Shivnath Gupta

.....Appellant(s)

Versus

State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Home Lko. And Another

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.....Respondent(s)

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Counsel for Appellant(s)	: Shitla Prasad Tripathi, Shivani Soni
Counsel for Respondent(s)	: G.A., Arvind Kumar Singh

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Court No. - 27

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HON'BLE RAM MANOHAR NARAYAN MISHRA, J.

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By means of instant criminal appeal filed under Section 14-A (1) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the appellant has prayed for quashing of Complaint Case No. 205 of 2023 under Sections 323, 504, 506, and 3(1) (X) of the SC/ST Act pending in the court of the Special Judge, (SC/ST Act) , Bahraich as well as to set aside the summoning order dated 19.05.2025 passed by the learned trial court against the appellant.

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Notice was issued to respondent no. 2, which has been served on him as per the office report.

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

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According to the prosecution version, on 25/12/2022 at about 8:00 AM, the informant was going to the local market to buy medicine where the accused, Pawan Kumar alias Lalla and others, met him and they assaulted him by Lathi and danda and abused him with caste-indicative words, due to which he suffered injuries. Witnesses Pintu Singh and Ram Surat and other reached on his shouting and rescued him. The police were called by dialing 112, and the informant went to the police station and filed a written report of the incident, but the accused had already reached there. The appellant, who is S.H.O. of the police station concerned had abused the informant by caste-indicative words and threw the written report of

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CRLA No. 2181 of 2025

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the complainant away. He was forced to stay at the police station for three hours and was subsequently charged under Sections 107/116 and 151 CrPC.

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Learned counsel for the appellant submits that appellant has been falsely implicated in this case and he had no motive to protect the other accused persons in the case. He did not have any enmity with them, nor any ill will toward the complainant. He was discharging his official duty at the time of the incident, but no sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C. was taken before filing of the compliant against him . He was not present at the time of incident where the complainant was allegedly beaten by the accused persons. The complainant and his wife Raj Kumari were beaten by the accused persons and two visible injuries of Raj Kumari was found in her medical examination which are simple in nature and in the form of abrasion.

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Learned counsel for the appellant has placed reliance on the judgment of this Court passed in Application U/S 482 No. 24169 of 2023 ( Vishwanath Singh Rathore and Other Vs. State of UP and Others) decided on 10/7/2023 wherein Notification No. 1841 (3)/VI-538-71 dated 30.01.1975 issued by Grih Vibhag ( Police) Anubhag-9 by the State of U.P. has been referred which requires sanction from the competent authority for the prosecution of a members of the U.P. Police Force.

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He also placed reliance on the judgment of this Court passed in Case :- U/S 482, 378, 407 No. 587 of 2009 (Ramjeet Yadav versus State of U.P.) , this Court observed that where the police officials had gone to raid the premises of the deceased in discharge of their public duty, the provisions of Section 197 Cr.P.C. are attracted. Since the cognizance has been taken and the petitioners have been summoned without there being sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C., the impugned order needs to be set aside.

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The matter requires consideration.

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Admit.

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CRLA No. 2181 of 2025

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List on 11.05.2026.

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Till the next date of listing, no coercive process shall be taken against the appellant by the court below.

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