Passing Orders On Printed Proforma By Filling Up Blanks Without Application Of Judicial Mind Objectionable: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court deprecated the conduct of some judicial officers for passing orders on printed proforma by filling up the blanks without application of judicial mind.
The Court had to ascertain whether a Magistrate had the power to summon an accused person on a printed proforma without assigning any reason and take cognizance on police report filed under Sections 173 of Cr.P.C.
A Single Bench of Justice Shamim Ahmed observed, “Court can take cognizance of an offence only when condition requisite for initiation of proceedings before it as set out in Chapter XIV of the Code are fulfilled. Otherwise, the Court does not obtain jurisdiction to try the offences under section 190 (1) of the Cr.P.C. provided that "subject to the provisions of this Chapter, any Magistrate of the first class, and any Magistrate of the second class specially empowered in this behalf under sub-section (2), may take cognizance of any offence.”
Advocate Akram Azad represented the applicant, while AGA Yugal Kishore appeared for the opposite party.
The applicant sought to quash the order of cognizance and summoning and charge sheet filed for offences under Sections 406, 323, 504, 506 and 34 I.P.C.
The applicant argued that the magistrate committed a gross error by not mentioning the section under which the charge sheet was filed. The applicant was not summoned, yet his name was transcribed in the order of cognizance. The applicant claimed that the proceedings against him were an abuse of the legal process, as the magistrate passed the impugned order without proper application of mind and without judicial application.
The court outlined filing of a charge sheet under Section 173 of the Cr.P.C. as a necessary step in an investigation process and stated that “Thereafter…Magistrate has to take cognizance after application of judicial mind and by reasoned order and not in mechanical manner.”
Calling the order “cryptic,” the Court held that “summoning of an accused in a criminal case is a serious matter and the order must reflect that Magistrate had applied his mind to the facts as well as law applicable thereto, whereas the impugned summoning order was passed in mechanical manner without application of judicial mind and without satisfying himself as to which offence were prima-facie being made out against the applicant on the basis of the allegations made by the complainant.”
Accordingly, the High Court quashed the order of the magistrate and allowed the application.
Cause Title: Mohd. Suhail (In. F.I.R. Suhail Alias Guddu) v. State Of U.P. & Anr. (Neutral Citation: 2024:AHC-LKO:26883)
Appearance:
Applicant: Advocates Akram Azad and Sayyed Farooq Ahmad
Opposite Party: AGA Yugal Kishore
