The High Court of Rajasthan dismissed a criminal miscellaneous petition invoking Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash orders upholding a negative final report in a theft prosecution. The Court held that employees acting on superior instructions lacked criminal intent.
The criminal miscellaneous petition was dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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[2023/RJJP/006505]
[CRLMP-6433/2022]
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR
S.B. Criminal Miscellaneous (Petition) No. 6433/2022
Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd., Through Excutive Engineer, Sambhar District Jaipur.
----Petitioner
Versus
State Of Rajasthan, Through P.p.
----Respondent
| For Petitioner(s) | : Mr. Mahesh Krapal Sharma, Ex.En. |
|---|---|
| (OSM) JVVNL, Dudu (Present in | |
| person) | |
| For Respondent(s) | : Mr. Babu Lal Nasuna, PP |
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRAVEER BHATNAGAR Order
03/05/2023
The present criminal misc. petition has been filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking quashing of order dated 13.01.2022 passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge No.2, Sambhar Lake, District Jaipur in Cr. Revision No.79/2020 (51/2016), whereby, learned revisional court has dismissed the revision petition and affirmed the order dated 07.12.2015 passed by learned Civil Judge & Judicial Magistrate, Sambhar Lake, District Jaipur, whereby, learned Magistrate has dismissed the protest petition filed by the petitioner and accepted the negative final report.
Brief facts of the case are that an FIR No.17/2007 came to be lodged by the petitioner at Police Station Narena, Tehsil Dudu, District Jaipur for the offence under Section 379 IPC. It was stated in the FIR that in village Naren some local villagers in
[2023/RJJP/006505]
[CRLMP-6433/2022]
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collusion with employees of the department have illegally shifted the 11 KV line and also the material of shifting has been sold illegally, misappropriated the amount and caused huge loss to the Nigam.
After lodging the FIR, Police conducted thorough investigation and submitted negative final report before the learned court below.
After filing negative final report by the Police, a protest petition was filed by the petitioner. In the said protest petition on 12.11.2010 Shri Ramawatar Singh Kasana, Ex. Eng., who was posted at Jaipur, remained present in the Court and informed that the protest petition was filed by Shri Devendra Singh Chauhan, the then Assistant Engineer, Dudu. On 12.01.2011 Shri Devendra Singh Chauhan was present in the Court and submitted that the OIC is not interested to continue the proceedings of protest petition. On such statement of Shri Devendra Singh Chauhan, negative final report was accepted vide order dated 12.01.2011.
Against the said order dated 12.01.2011, a Criminal Misc. Petition No.1720/2011 under Section 482 Cr.P.C. was filed by the complainant, in which, vide order dated 13.12.2011 it was directed that after hearing the complainant an appropriate order be passed in accordance with law.
Being aggrieved against the orders impugned, the present criminal misc. petition has been filed on behalf of the petitioner.
Learned Magistrate, as well as the learned Revisional Court, have concurrently opined that facts of malice and dishonest intention are missing in the case to initiate criminal proceedings
[2023/RJJP/006505]
[CRLMP-6433/2022]
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under Section 379 IPC and the act of the employees of JVVNL labours and the consumer do not fell within the ambit of any criminality. From the police investigation as well as the enquiry conducted by the learned Magistrate it was revealed that the said 11 KV line was shifted in pursuance to the application of the Dadu Sampradaya after receiving the telephonic instructions from the then Junior Engineer Gopal Tak and on his instructions Employees Ramratan, Mevaram and Malchand with the help of labours Nathulal and Chittar Jat shifted the 11 KV line. It is also revealed from the enquiry and investigation that the department has already assessed the estimated amount for shifting the said line, however, before depositing the requisite amount the said work was executed by the employees.
It is apparent from the material collected during the enquiry and investigation that the aforesaid work was executed on the telephonic instructions of J.En. Gopal Tak. The JVVNL employees and labours who followed the instructions and executed the work can't be affixed in the criminal act as the necessary ingredients constituting an offence of theft of electricity and willfully damaging public property are missing. At the last, it can be inferred that the act of the concerned J.En. or the employees may be negligent and may attract disciplinary enquiry but not sufficient to fasten them in the criminal act. Therefore the impugned orders do not suffer from any patent illegality and the misc. petition is sans any merit and hence dismissed.
(PRAVEER BHATNAGAR),J
AK Chouhan/-
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the impugned orders dismissing the protest petition and accepting the negative final report suffer from any patent illegality warranting quashing.
Whether the employees of JVVNL who shifted the line based on telephonic instructions committed the offence of theft under Section 379 IPC.
2 provisions across 2 enactments
Jaipur Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.
State Of Rajasthan
Praveer Bhatnagar
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
