Court No. - 80
Case :- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 10860 of 2021 Applicant :- Santosh Pal And Another Opposite Party :- State of U.P.
Counsel for Applicant :- Rajeev Nayan Singh,Amit Goel Counsel for Opposite Party :- G.A.
Hon'ble Rajiv Gupta,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicants, learned AGA for the State and perused the record.
This application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed by the applicant with the prayer to quash the entire proceedings of Sessions Trial No. 161 of 2019 (State Vs. Santosh Pal and another) arising out of Case Crime No. 0434 of 2018, under Sections 323, 504, 506, 352, 325, 307 IPC, P.S. Phulpur, District- Varanasi, pending in the court of Addl. Sessions Judge/Special Judge (E.C. Act), Varanasi.
As per the allegations made in the first information report, it is alleged that on 29.9.2018 at about 7:45 a.m., applicants armed with gadasa and country made pistol entered in the field and threatened the victim of life and assaulted him. On account of assault made by the applicants, Ravi Shankar has suffered as many as seven injuries on his person and has been medically examined. Subsequently, the police thoroughly investigated the matter and after collecting the relevant material has submitted charge sheet against the applicants. Pursuant to the said charge-sheet, the applicants appeared before the court and have been granted bail. Thereafter, the applicants moved discharge application, which has been rejected vide order dated 6.2.2021. Being aggrieved by the said order dated 6.2.2021, the applicants have filed the present application before this Court.
Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that from the perusal of the allegations made in the FIR and the material collected during the course of investigation, no offence is disclosed against the applicant and the present prosecution has been instituted with a malafide intention for the purposes of harassment.
Learned counsel for the applicants has next submitted that the injuries are simple in nature, however, the court below without appreciating the evidence and material on record, in right perspective, has illegally rejected the discharge application, which order is bad in the eyes of law and is liable to be set aside.
Per contra, learned AGA has submitted that specific allegation of assaulting the victim by country made pistol and gadasa has been made and on account of assault made by the applicants, the victim suffered as many as seven injuries. Learned trial court, after taking into consideration the entire evidence and material on record, has rightly rejected the discharge application, which does not suffer from any illegality or infirmity.
It is also to be noted that at the stage of discharge the court has to consider the material only with a view to find out if there is a ground for 'presuming' that the accused had committed the offence :
"It is trite that at the stage of framing of charge, the court is required to evaluate the material and documents on record with a view to finding out if the facts emerging therefrom, taken at their face value, disclose the existence of all the ingredients constituting the alleged offence or offences. For this limited purpose, the court may sift the evidence as it cannot be expected even at the initial stage to accept as gospel truth all that the prosecution states. At this stage, the court has to consider the material only with a view to find out if there is ground for presuming that the accused has committed an offence and not for the purpose of arriving at the conclusion that it is not likely to lead to a conviction."
"Section 227 itself contains enough guidelines as to the scope of enquiry for the purpose of discharging an accused. It provides that the judge shall discharge when he considers that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. The ground in the context is not a ground for conviction, but a ground for putting the accused on trial. It is in the trial, the guilt or the innocence of the accused will be determined and not at the time of framing of charge. The court, therefore, need not undertake an elaborate enquiry in sifting and weighing the material. Nor is it necessary to delve deep into various aspects. All that the court has to consider is whether the evidentiary material on record. If generally accepted, would reasonably connect the accused with the crime."
Considering the rival submissions of learned counsel for the applicants as well as learned AGA, from the allegations made in the first information report and the statement of the witnesses, I do not find any illegality or error in the order passed by the court below.
The present application u/s 482 Cr.P.C. is devoid of merit and is accordingly, dismissed.
Order Date :- 12.8.2021 KU