Court No. - 66
Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 24590 of 2019 Applicant :- Mohit Agrawal @ Gunjan Opposite Party :- State Of U.P. And Another Counsel for Applicant :- Vishal Agarwal Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Rajul Bhargava,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A.
The present application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed for quashing the entire proceedings of Case No. 3418 of 2018 (State vs. Mohit Agrawal @ Gunjan) arising out of Case Crime no. 735 of 2018, u/s 302/120B I.P.C., P.S. Kasganj, District Kasganj, pending in the court of C.J.M., Kasganj.
The applicant is aggrieved by the concerned proceeding arising out of impugned charge-sheet No. 00654 of 2018. The certified copy of the chargesheet has been filed as annexure-9 to the affidavit.
Learned counsel for the applicant and learned A.G.A. have agreed that this application may be disposed of finally in view of short legal points involved in the matter without calling for counter affidavit either from learned A.G.A. or opposite party no. 2.
From a bare perusal of the impugned chargesheet it is amply clear that the chargesheet has been submitted against him u/s 120-B I.P.C. simpliciter and has not been chargesheeted with any substantive offence. Learned counsel for the applicant has relied upon the judgment in the case of Laloo alias Nahar Singh vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, Laws (All) 2006 2 29 rendered by this Court on the basis of which it is argued that chargesheet and cognizance thereupon by the learned Magistrate u/s 120-B simpliciter cannot be taken against any accused as he cannot be said to have conspired for commission of an offence which is not known.
Under the scheme of the Code the charge is to be framed on the basis of the of the evidence contained in the case diary. Section 120-B is an offence of conspiracy. The said section cannot be applied simpliciter unless and until some offence is disclosed. There cannot be any conspiracy without any offence. Section 120-B has to be appended with a primary offence. For the understanding section 120-B is quoted herein below:
"Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death, imprisonment for life or rigorous imprisonment for a term of two years or upwards, shall, where no express provision is made in this Code for the punishment of such a conspiracy, be punished in the same manner as if he had abetted such offence. Whoever is a party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable as aforesaid shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months, or with fine or with both."
Thus, in view of the said provisions of law, there cannot be any charge of conspiracy against any accused without the aid of a substantive offence. Thus, the impugned chargesheet and cognizance taken thereof by the learned Magistrate in respect of the applicant is wholly illegal and against the settled proposition of law and is hereby quashed so far as the applicant is concerned.
However, it is open for the I.O. to file fresh supplementary chargesheet, if prima facie, evidence of any substantive offence read with 120-B I.P.C. has been collected against the applicant during investigation.
The application stands allowed in respect of the applicant only with aforesaid direction issued to the Investigating Officer. The learned Magistate shall direct the Investigating Officer to do the needful in accordance with law.
Order Date :- 25.7.2019 Dhirendra/