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Bhrigunath, Son Of Sumer vs Parmeshwar, Son Of Kumar And Ors.

High Court Of Judicature at Allahabad|29 September, 1995

JUDGMENT / ORDER

ORDER S.K. Jain, J.
1. At the instance of Bhrigu Nath a preliminary order under Section 145 Cr. P. C. was passed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Saidpur, Ghazipur on 14-9-92. An application for attachment of property was moved. The opposite party No. 1 Parmeshwar challenged the jurisdiction of the Court to proceed under Section 145 Cr. P. C. on the ground of he was in joint possession of Chak Nos. 105 and 301. This contention having been rejected by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, opposite party No. 1 Parmeshwar filed a Criminal Revision No. 7/93, which was dismissed on 7-9-94, which order was challenged in writ petition. On 29-10-94 the Sub-Divisional Magistrate directed the attachment of property, This order was challenged in Criminal Revision No. 269 of 1994, before the learned Sessions Judge, Ghazipur. The learned Sessions Judge found that the learned Sub-Divisional Magistrate having not recorded finding that the case was one of emergency, had not applied his mind and decided the application for attachment mechanically and therefore, the impugned order stood vitiated. Consequently he allowed the revision. It is that order of 17th December, 1994, passed by the learned Sessions Judge, Ghazipur, legality whereof has been challenged by Bhrigu Nath in this revision petition.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record of the case. Learned counsel for the petitioner has vehemently argued that the revision before the learned Sessions Judge was not maintainable, inasmuch as the order of attachment under Section 146(1) Cr. P. C. was an interlocutory order. In support of this argument he has relied upon the rations laid down in Indra Deo Pandey v. Smt. Bhagwati Devi, 1981 ACC 316 (DB).
3. I have carefully examined the said judgment. After considering (i) Smt. Prem Lata v. Ram Lubhava, 1978 ACC 336; (ii) Sohan Lal Barman v. State, 1977 ACC 10 (Sic) (iii) Chandu Naik v. Sita Ram, (iv) Amarnath Chawla v. State of Haryana, ; (v) Madhu Limaya v. State of Maharashtra, ; (vi) V. C. Shukla v. State, ; (vii) Mathura Lal v. Bhanwarlal, AIR 1978 SC 57 (Sic), the Division Bench of this Court held as under:-
"The legal position that emerges from various observations made in the cases mentioned above, therefore, is that for the purposes of Section 397(2) order of purely interim or temporary nature which does not decided or touch the important rights or liabilities of parties would be considered to be interlocutory order within the meaning of Section 397(2) of the Code. An order which substantially affects the rights of the accused or decided certain rights of the parties cannot be said to be interlocutory order as contemplated by Section 397(2) of the Code. Further, the order rejecting the plea of a party on a point which when accepted will conclude the particular proceedings will certainly be not an interlocutory order a fortio rari an order which concludes a proceedings would also not be an interlocutory order. Section 145 of the Code enables an Executive Magistrate to, if he is satisfied from a report of a police officer or upon other information that a dispute likely to cause breach of peace exists concerning any land etc., make an order in writing stating the grounds of his being so satisfied and requiring the parties concerned in such dispute to attend the Court in person or pleader and to put in written statements of their respective claims as respects the fact of actual possession of the subject of dispute. The section has been enacted with a view to prevent breach of peace which is likely to arise as a result of a dispute relating to land etc. and the Magistrate has been empowered to find out as to which party had been in actual possession of the property and to see that such possession is not disturbed except by taking recourse to proceedings in accordance with law. For this purpose he has to hear the parties and to take evidence and to hold some enquiry which in the very nature of things takes time. Section 146 accordingly enables a Magistrate to, in a case of emergency attach the subject of dispute and arrange for its management in the interest of the party which may be found to be in its possession. While making an order under Section 146 for attaching the property in dispute the Magistrate is not required to make any inquiries or to adjudicate the rights of any person to remain in possession of the property in dispute or to make any other adjudication of any other type. All that he has to be satisfied is that there is a case of emergency namely, that breach of peace is likely to occur even before he has been able to hold a proper enquiry with regard to possession under Section 145 of the Code and if that be so he can take steps to attach the properties and to arrange for its management with the twin object of avoiding breach of peace being committed by either of the parties and to safeguard the interest of the party which may be found to be entitled to its possession either in accordance with final orders made under Section 145 or a decision given by competent civil Court. Viewed in this light, it is apparent that the order for attachment of property under Section 146(1) of the Code made during the pendency of the proceedings under Section 145 is an order purely of an intermediate or temporary nature. It neither decides nor purports to affect any legal right of any of the parties. The order is made for the purpose of effective adjudication of proceedings initiated under Section 145 of the Code. It does not result in the disposal of any part of the controversy between the parties or the proceedings under Section 145. In such a case a question of proceedings being concluded one way or the other if the plea of one party or the other is accepted arises. Applying the test as laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Amar Nath Chawla v. State of Haryana, , in the light of the observations made by that Court in Madhu Limaye's case, (supra). I am of the opinion that the order made during the pendency of proceedings under Section 145 of the Code for attaching the property in dispute under Section 146 of the Code is purely an interlocutory order within the meaning of Section 397(2) of the Code."
4. In view of the above ratio laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court now I proceed to examine as to whether the Sub-Divisional Magistrate had passed the order of attachment under Section 146(1) of the Code. An analytical examination of the provisions of Section 146(1) of the Code would show that the order of attachment under the said section can be passed by a Magistrate if he considers the case to be one of emergency or if he decides that none of the parties was found in possession or he is unable to satisfy himself as to which party was then in possession of the subject of dispute. A careful examination of the order of the Magistrate dated 29-10-94, a copy where of has been placed on record, would show that although he has directed the attachment of property in question under sub-section (1) of Section 146 of the Code, yet he has not recorded finding either that it was a case of emergency or that none of the parties was in possession or that he was unable to satisfy himself as to which of the parties was in possession. In the first paragraph of his order he has mentioned that on 9-10-92 an application was moved on behalf of Bhrigu Nath Singh Kushwaha that exchange of blows took place between the parties on the question of possession of the disputed piece of land and in this regard a case was pending and further that there was apprehension of repetition of exchange of blows or murder or rioting on the question of possession. He has a further mentioned that in the said application it was prayed that the land in dispute be attached under Section 146(1) of the Code so that apprehension of any untoward incident between the parties may be avoided.
5. In para 2 of his order the objections filed on behalf of either party on 7-11-92, have been referred to. According to those objections the case of the second party was that there was no dispute between the parties with regard to possession of the land in question and the first party had got a police report sent in connivance with the police officials. The incident of exchange of blows as mentioned by the first party had been denied. It was admitted that the first party had filed a case before the consolidation authorities and therefore, the question of title was pending consideration before a competent Court and hence proceedings under Section 145 of the Code were meaningless. The dismissal of the application of the first party dated 9-10-92, was sought.
6. In para 3 of the order of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, steps that had been taken in the proceedings have been mentioned. Relevant part of this paragraph when translated into English would read somewhat as under:-
"Learned counsel for the first party has argued that there was imminent danger of breach of peace between the parties in respect of disputed land, that previously there had been incident of exchange of blows between the parties and therefore, the disputed land be attached under Section 146(1) of the Code and placed in possession of Supurdar. So far as the objection of the second party with regard to non-maintainability of proceedings under Section 145 Cr. P. C. in view of pendency of case between the parties before the consolidation authorities is concerned, learned counsel for the first party had drawn my attention towards the ruling Abdul Ghafoor v. State of U. P., 1991 ACR 597, and has argued that pendency of case before the revenue authorities would not have any adverse effect on the proceedings under Section 145 Cr. P. C. In the police report the incident with regard to exchange of blows has been referred to. In the said report it had been prayed that in order to maintain law and order it was expedient that the land in dispute be attached."
7. The last paragraph of the order of the learned Magistrate when translated into English would read some what as under:-
"Therefore, on the basis of above discussion the application dated 9-10-92, moved by the first party is allowed. The land in dispute which has been described in the preliminary order is directed to be attached under Section 146(1) Cr. P. C. A copy of the order be sent to the Station House Officer, Bhurkura with a direction that he should take the land in dispute which has been described in the preliminary order in his possession first and then put the same in possession of some reliable Supurdar and report compliance."
8. From the above surgical scrutiny of the order of the learned Magistrate it is evident on the face of record that he had not come to any of the three conclusions, as he was required to arrive at under the provisions of Section 146(1) of the Code, and there fore, by no stretch of imagination it could be said that he had passed the order considering the case to be one of emergency.
9. In view of the discussion made above, I do not find any incorrectness, infirmity or irregularity, much less any illegality, in the impugned order which is hereby confirmed.
10. Resultantly, this revision petition fails and is hereby dismissed. Parties through their counsel are directed to appear in the Court of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Saidpur, Ghazipur on 4-11-1995.
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Title

Bhrigunath, Son Of Sumer vs Parmeshwar, Son Of Kumar And Ors.

Court

High Court Of Judicature at Allahabad

JudgmentDate
29 September, 1995
Judges
  • S Jain