Dismissed¶¶25

Joseph B Braganza And Anr. v. State of Goa Through Chief Secretary and 6 others

Bombay HC18 Mar 2026WPCR/20/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Section 340 Cr.P.C; JMFC Mapusa; Criminal Writ Petition; withdrawal of petition; leave to refile refused; stay of pending proceedings before Single and Division Bench; exemption from appearance; untenable reliefs; standalone proceedings; disposed of on merits; Goa; 2026:BHC-GOA:522-DB

What did the court decide?

The reliefs sought in the Petition are absolutely untenable; there is no question of the Court staying the Petitioners' pending proceedings until disposal of the Section 340 Cr.P.C application. ¶¶24

Joseph B Braganza And Anr. vs State of Goa Through Chief Secretary and 6 others — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Dismissed

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Issue for consideration

Whether the reliefs sought in the Petition - an enquiry into and time-bound completion of the pending Section 340 Cr.P.C application before the JMFC, Mapusa, a stay of the Petitioners' other pending proceedings before the Single and Division Benches of this Court, and exemption from appearing before the Magistrate - were tenable. +1 more

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Court's answer

The reliefs sought in the Petition are absolutely untenable; there is no question of the Court staying the Petitioners' pending proceedings until disposal of the Section 340 Cr.P.C application.

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Ratio / Principle

The Petitioners' at least 5 pending proceedings before the Division Bench and Single Bench are standalone proceedings in which it is incumbent on the Petitioners to appear and, if called upon, to depose; accordingly no stay or exemption from appearance could be granted.

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Key takeaways

Leave to withdraw and refile the Petition on the very same grounds is refused, since such grounds are otherwise not available to the Petitioners.ratio¶¶25

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

High Court of Bombay at Goa, Division Bench (Valmiki Menezes & Amit S. Jamsandekar, JJ.), Criminal Writ Petition No.20 of 2026, decided 18th March, 2026 - Joseph B Braganza and another v. State of Goa through Chief Secretary and others. The Petition sought an enquiry into a pending application under Section 340 Cr.P.C before the JMFC, Mapusa, directions to the Magistrate to complete those proceedings in a time-bound fashion, a stay of at least 5 other proceedings of the Petitioners pending before the Single and Division Benches of this Court until conclusion of the Section 340 application, and exemption from personal appearance before the Magistrate. On the day of hearing the Petitioners filed an application to withdraw the Petition with leave to file a fresh Petition on similar subject matter, but remained absent. Holding the reliefs absolutely untenable - the pending applications being standalone proceedings in which the Petitioners must appear and depose, and the Section 340 application being listed for arguments on 23.03.2026 - the Court dismissed the Petition, refused leave to refile on the very same grounds (such grounds being otherwise not available), and directed that the Petition stands disposed of on merits.

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7 WPCR 20 2026

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2026:BHC-GOA:522-DB

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Suzana

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY AT GOA

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CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION NO.20 OF 2026

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JOSEPH B BRAGANZA AND ANR

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... PETITIONERS

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Versus

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STATE OF GOA THROUGH CHIEF SECRETARY AND 6 OTHERS

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... RESPONDENTS

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Mr. Vedraj Toraskar, Advocate for Petitioner No.2.

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Mr. Shailendra G. Bhobe, Public Prosecutor for Respondents No.1 and 5.

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Mr. Devidas J. Pangam, Advocate General with Ms. Maria Simone J. Correia, Additional Government Advocate for the Respondent State.

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CORAM:- VALMIKI MENEZES & AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, JJ.

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DATED :- 18th March, 2026

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ORAL ORDER:

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Registry to waive office objections and register the matter.

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The Petitioners have, today, filed an application requesting for grant of permission to withdraw this Petition with leave to file a fresh Petition on similar subject matter. The application is under the signature of the two Petitioners. The Petitioners are not present today.

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The reliefs sought in the Petition is for conducting an enquiry

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into a pending application under Section 340 Cr.P.C before the JMFC, Mapusa. In addition, the Petitioner has sought various other reliefs, which include seeking stay of all proceedings of the Petitioners pending before the Single Bench and before any Single Judge or before Division Bench of this Court, until the final conclusion of the application under 340 Cr.P.C pending before the Magistrate; further direction is sought to the said Magistrate to complete the proceedings under Section 340 Cr.P.C in a time-bound fashion and during such proceedings, to exempt the Petitioners from appearing before the Magistrate.

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On going through the reliefs sought in the Petition, the same are absolutely untenable. There would be no question of this Court giving any directions to stay the Petitioners' pending proceedings, which we believe are at least 5, filed before the Division Bench and before the Single Bench of this Court, till the disposal of the application under Section 340 Cr.PC. The said applications are standalone proceedings, and in such proceedings, it would be incumbent for the Petitioner to appear and, if called upon, to depose in the matter. We are informed that the application is listed on 23.03.2026 before the concerned Magistrate for arguments.

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In this view of the matter, the present Petition is dismissed. There is no question of granting leave to the Petitioners to refile this Petition on the very same grounds which are mentioned therein, since

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such grounds are otherwise not available to the Petitioners.

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The Petition stands disposed of on merits.

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AMIT S. JAMSANDEKAR, J. VALMIKI MENEZES, J.