Disposed¶22

R.D. Ramnath Company Family Trust v. Sub Divisional Magistrate & Ors.

Delhi HC21 Jan 2026W.P.(C)/7955/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

R.D. Ramnath Company Family Trust v. Sub Divisional Magistrate & Ors., W.P.(C) 7955/2024 and CM APPL. 32767/2024, High Court of Delhi, Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav J., order dated 21.01.2026. Keywords: Section 152 BNSS 2023; Section 133 Cr.P.C.; public nuisance; Executive Magistrate; District Magistrate; Sub-divisional Magistrate; alternative remedy; writ jurisdiction; Article 226; Ratlam v. Vardichan; Nilabh Sharma v. MCD; petition disposed with liberty to approach jurisdictional Magistrate; due expedition.

What did the court decide?

Petition disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to approach the jurisdictional Magistrate by proper application seeking exercise of power under Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023; the concerned authority directed to act with due expedition. ¶22

R.D. Ramnath Company Family Trust Vs Sub Divisional… — Writ and Judicial Review | Delhi HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner's subsisting grievance is to be redressed by the High Court in writ jurisdiction, or whether the remedy lies before the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023.

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Court's answer

Even if any subsisting grievance of the petitioner remains, the remedy lies not before this Court but before the jurisdictional Magistrate under the BNSS, 2023.

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Ratio / Principle

Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023 empowers the District Magistrate, a Sub-divisional Magistrate, or any other Executive Magistrate specially empowered by the State Government, on receiving a police report or other information and on taking such evidence; the corresponding erstwhile Cr.P.C. provisions were in Section 133 of the Cr.P.C.

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Key takeaways

If the petitioner's grievance is not mitigated, it shall have liberty to approach the jurisdictional Magistrate by way of proper application and to impress upon that authority to exercise its power under Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023.ratio¶20
On receipt of such an application, the concerned authority is to undertake the necessary exercise as required in law and take the issue to its logical conclusion with due expedition.ratio¶21

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition disposed of. The Delhi High Court held that even if any subsisting grievance of the petitioner remains, the remedy lies not before the High Court but before the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS, 2023), the provision corresponding (_pari materia_) to the erstwhile Section 133 of the Cr.P.C. Adopting the view taken in the Court's earlier order in Sh. Nilabh Sharma v. MCD, W.P.(C) 11400/2024 (decided 20.08.2024) — wherein decisions including Ratlam v. Vardichan, Gobind Singh v. Shanti Sarup, Vipan Kumar v. State of Punjab, Ajeet Mehta v. State of Rajasthan, Gunturi Varalakshmi v. State of A.P. and Surender Kumar Sood v. MCD were considered — the petitioner was granted liberty to approach the jurisdictional Magistrate by proper application to seek exercise of power under Section 152 BNSS, 2023, and the concerned authority was directed to undertake the necessary exercise and take the issue to its logical conclusion with due expedition.

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$~47

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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- W.P.(C) 7955/2024 and CM APPL. 32767/2024

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R.D. RAMNATH COMPANY FAMILY TRUST .....Petitioner

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Through: Mr. Vedansh Vashisht, Advocate.

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versus

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SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE & ORS. .....Respondents

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Through: Mr. G S Oberoi (SC-MCD) with Mr.Ankur Sharma & Mr. J S Oberoi, Advocates.

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV

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O R D E R

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% 21.01.2026

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The status report has been presented by the respondents.

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Even if any subsisting grievance remains, the remedy for the petitioner, lies not before this Court, but before the jurisdictional Magistrate under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS, 2023).

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Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023 empowers the District Magistrate or a Sub-divisional Magistrate or any other Executive Magistrate specially empowered in this behalf by the State Government, on receiving the report of a police officer or other information and on taking such evidence. The same is also the view taken by this Court in the case titled as Sh. Nilabh Sharma vs. Municipal Corporation of Delhi Through its Deputy Commissioner, South Zone & Anr. in W.P.(C) 11400/2024 dated 20.08.2024. The Court has taken into consideration the erstwhile provisions

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 27/01/2026 at 12:26:00

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of the Cr.P.C. pari materia to Section 152, which were in Section 133 of the Cr.P.C.

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The decisions of the Supreme Court in the case of Ratlam v. Vardichan¹ , Gobind Singh v. Shanti Sarup² , Vipan Kumar v. State of Punjab³ , Ajeet Mehta v. State of Rajasthan⁴ , Gunturi Varalakshmi vs. State of A.P .⁵ and Surender Kumar Sood v. MCD⁶ were also considered. In paragraph no.14 of the order dated 20.08.2024, the Court has held as under:-

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“14. It is thus discernible from the aforesaid discussion that the concerned magistrate under Section 152 of BNSS, 2023 has the power to remove public nuisance in circumstances which warrant exercise of such powers. Therefore, in the instant case, the petitioner can duly approach the magistrate to ventilate his grievance rather than directly invoking writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.”

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In view of the aforesaid, if at all the petitioner’s grievance is not mitigated, it shall have liberty to approach the jurisdictional Magistrate by way of proper application and to impress upon the said authority to exercise its power under Section 152 of the BNSS, 2023.

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On receipt of such an application, let the concerned authority to undertake necessary exercise as required in law and to take the issue to its logical conclusion with due expedition.

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With the aforesaid observations, the instant petition stands disposed of.

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PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J

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JANUARY 21, 2026 Nc/ ksr

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1 (1980) 4 SCC 162

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2 (1979) 2 SCC 267

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3 2017 SCC OnLine P&H 3420

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4 1990 Cri LJ 1956 (Raj)

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5 2017 SCC OnLine Hyd 290

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6 2006 SCC OnLine Del 158

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This is a digitally signed order.

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The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 27/01/2026 at 12:26:00

R.D. Ramnath Company Family Trust v. Sub Divisional Magistrate & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

R.D. Ramnath Company Family Trust v. Sub Divisional Magistrate & Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Cases cited

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Procedural history

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