Disposed¶23

Abhishek Prasad @ Abhishek Kumar v. The State of Bihar

Patna HC8 Jul 2025CR. REV./779/2019

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Maintainability of Criminal Revision filed by complainant/victim against acquittal; remedy of victim's appeal under Proviso to Section 372(2) Cr.PC; revision hit by Section 401(4) Cr.PC; conversion of Criminal Revision into Criminal Appeal; Suman Devi v. State of Bihar (Patna HC) followed; Section 138 Negotiable Instrument Act; Bagaha, West Champaran; Cr. Appeal No. 17C of 2016; P.S. Case No. 451/2007; Jitendra Kumar, J.; Patna High Court CR. REV. No. 779 of 2019, decided 08-07-2025.

What did the court decide?

The Criminal Revision petition was converted into a Criminal Appeal; the Office was directed to make the necessary correction in the record and to list the Appeal before the appropriate Bench after obtaining the permission of Hon'ble the Acting Chief Justice. ¶23

Abhishek Prasad @ Abhishek Kumar Vs The State of Bihar — Cheque Dishonour | Patna HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the Criminal Revision petition preferred by the complainant/victim against the appellate acquittal of respondent Bhola Sah is maintainable, given the victim's remedy of appeal under the Proviso to Section 372(2) Cr.P.C. +1 more

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Court's answer

The present Criminal Revision petition is not maintainable: the victim has the remedy of filing a Criminal Appeal against the judgment of acquittal under the Proviso to Section 372(2) Cr.PC, and the revision is hit by Section 401(4) Cr.PC, following Suman Devi v. State of Bihar and Anr. (Patna High Court).

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Ratio / Principle

Notwithstanding non-maintainability, the Court has the power to direct conversion of the Criminal Revision petition into a Criminal Appeal and to treat it accordingly and decide it on merit; accordingly the revision petition was converted into a Criminal Appeal, with directions to the Office to correct the record and list the Appeal before the appropriate Bench after the permission of the Hon'ble Acting Chief Justice.

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Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Criminal Revision by a complainant/victim against the acquittal of the accused (trial-court conviction under S. 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act having been set aside by the Appellate Court in Cr. Appeal No. 17C of 2016) held not maintainable: the victim's remedy lies in an appeal under the Proviso to S. 372(2) Cr.PC, so the revision is barred by S. 401(4) Cr.PC, following Suman Devi v. State of Bihar and Anr. (Patna HC) [2025 SCC OnLine Pat 1862]. Exercising the power recognised therein, the Court converted the Criminal Revision petition into a Criminal Appeal and directed the Office to effect necessary corrections and list the Appeal before the appropriate Bench after obtaining the permission of Hon'ble the Acting Chief Justice. Order by Jitendra Kumar, J., dated 08-07-2025.

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL REVISION No.779 of 2019

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Arising Out of PS. Case No.-451 Year-2007 Thana- WEST CHAMPARAN COMPLAINT District- West Champaran

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======================================================

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Abhishek Prasad @ Abhishek Kumar, Son Of Late Jhakkad Sah, Resident Of Village - Malkauli, P.S.- Bagaha, District - West Champaran.

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... ... Petitioner/s

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Versus

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The State of Bihar

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Bhola Sah, Son of Late Chhathu Sah, Resident of Village - Naraipur, P.S.Bagaha, District - West Champaran (Accused/Appellant in the Courts Below).

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... ... Respondent/s

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====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Suresh Prasad Sharma, Advocate For the State : Mr. Brajendra Nath Pandey, APP For the O.P. No. 2 : Mr. Prithvi Nath Mishra, Advocates ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA KUMAR ORAL ORDER

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21 08-07-2025

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The present Criminal Revision petition has been preferred by the petitioner against the impugned judgment and order dated 30.04.2019, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge-I^st , Bagaha, West Champaran in Cr. Appeal No. 17C of 2016, whereby learned Appellate Court below has set aside the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 19.08.2016, whereby learned Trial Court of S.D.J.M., Bagaha, West Champaran has found the O.P. No. 2/Bhola Sah guilty of offence punishable under Section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act, whereas co-accused, Shivshankar Sah, was acquitted.

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2. Against the judgment of conviction and order of

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Patna High Court CR. REV. No.779 of 2019(21) dt.08-07-2025 2/3

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sentence, passed by learned Trial Court against O.P. No. 2/Bhola Sah, Bhola Sah preferred the said Cr. Appeal bearing No. 17C of 2016 and the same has been allowed by learned Appellate Court below acquitting him of all the charge. Hence, the present petition has been preferred by the complainant/victim, who is the petitioner herein.

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3. I find that the present Criminal Revision is not maintainable in view of Suman Devi Vs. State of Bihar and Anr., as decided by this Court and as reported in 2025 SCC OnLine Pat 1862/ MANU/BH/0406/2025/AIROnline 225 PAT 224.

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4. In Suman Devi case (supra), this Court has exhaustively dealt with the issue regarding right of victim to file Appeal under Proviso to Section 372(2) Cr.PC and held that in view of Proviso to Section 372(2) Cr.PC, the victim has always remedy to file Criminal Appeal against the judgment of acquittal of the accused and in view of such availability of the remedy to the victim, Criminal Revision is hit by Section 401(4) Cr.PC. However, it has been held that the Court has liberty to convert the present Criminal Revision petition into Criminal Appeal and treat the same accordingly and decide it on merit.

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5. As such, the present Criminal Revision petition is

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Patna High Court CR. REV. No.779 of 2019(21) dt.08-07-2025 3/3

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liable to be dismissed on account of maintainability.

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6. However, in view of the legal Provisions, this Court

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has right to direct conversion of the present Criminal Revision Petition into Criminal Appeal.

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7 . Accordingly, the present Criminal Revision petition is converted into Criminal Appeal. Office is directed to do necessary correction in the present Criminal Revision petition and list the Appeal before appropriate Bench after obtaining necessary permission of Hon’ble the Acting Chief Justice.

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(Jitendra Kumar, J.)

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shoaib/-

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U T

Abhishek Prasad @ Abhishek Kumar v. The State of Bihar

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Abhishek Prasad @ Abhishek Kumar v. The State of Bihar

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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