Continuing Proceedings In Petty Disputes Would Be Persecution & Harassment To Appellant: SC Quashes Charges Against An Engineer

The Supreme Court has quashed charges against an Assistant Engineer under Sections 323, 504, and 506 IPC while observing that continuing cases of trivial nature would amount to persecution and harassment to the appellant.

A two-judge Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Bela M. Trivedi considering the trivial nature of the allegations against the appellant and the lack of progress in the proceedings since 2015 believed that such a minor incident should have been resolved amicably on the same day instead of dragging it for so long.

The Bench observed, "Considering the nature of allegations against the appellant which are of very trivial nature and considering the fact that there is no progress made in the proceedings since the chargesheet was filed against the appellant in the year 2015, the Court is of the opinion that continuing the proceedings would be a persecution and harassment to the appellant. As such a petty incident which took place in their office should have been resolved by the parties on that day itself, instead of stretching it so far."

The Appeal before the Apex Court had challenged the High Court's judgment of 2015. The appellant, an Assistant Engineer, sought to quash the chargesheet and proceedings in case no. 3354 of 2015 pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Fatehpur. The incident involved a dispute with a Peon in the office which included abusing, threatening, and attempting to assault the appellant with a sleeper. Both parties filed complaints against each other, leading to the chargesheet against the appellant under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. The High Court had dismissed the appellant's application for quashing the proceedings.

Advocate Sandeep Singh (AOR) appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate Ardhendhumauli Kumar Prasad (A.A.G) appeared for the Respondents.

Based on the submissions made by both parties and the documents on record, it was evident that the alleged incident occurred on September 11, 2014 in the appellant's office. The chargesheet was filed against the appellant in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Fatehpur (U.P.) based on a complaint filed by respondent no. 2. The case had been pending without trial since 2015.

“the Court is of the opinion that continuing the proceedings would be a persecution and harassment to the appellant. As such a petty incident which took place in their office should have been resolved by the parties on that day itself, instead of stretching it so far.”

Therefore, the Court quashed and set aside the proceedings pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Fatehpur (U.P.), against the appellant and allowed the appeal.

Cause Title: Sunil Kumar v. State of U.P. & Anr.

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