East Singhbhum (Jharkhand) v. The State of Jharkhand
Case Details
1 Cr.M.P. No.705 of 2023 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI Cr.M.P. No. 705 of 2023 1. Buchu Dhibar @ Buchhu Dhibar, aged about 31 years, Son of Jogendra Dhibar, Resident of Chitai Colony, Mango, Near Post Office Road, P.O. & P.S. –Mango, Town Jamshedpur, District –East Singhbhum (Jharkhand) 2. Sujit Verma @ Sujeet Kumar Verma, aged about 33 years, Son of Janardhan Prasad Verma, Resident of Road No. 5, Krishna Nagar, Gour Basti Mango, P.O. & P.S. –Mango, Town –Jamshedpur, District –East Singhbhum (Jharkhand) .... Petitioners Versus The State of Jharkhand …. Opposite Party P R E S E N T
Legal Reasoning
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY ….. For the Petitioners For the State : Mr. Vijayant Verma, Advocate : Mr. Pradeep Kumar, Advocate : Mr. Bhola Nath Ojha, Addl. P.P. ….. By the Court:- 1. 2. Heard the parties. This criminal miscellaneous petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. with a prayer for quashing the order dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023, passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi in connection with Bundu P.S. Case No.60 of 2022, registered for the offences punishable under Section 341/323/365/307/34 of the Indian Penal Code. 3. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that vide order dated 22.09.2022, the learned Magistrate issued the 2 Cr.M.P. No.705 of 2023 non-bailable warrant of arrest consequent upon the prayer of the I.O. of the case, as the accused persons could not could not be found out, in-spite of best efforts of the police and vide order dated 21.01.2023, consequent upon submission of the execution report of the non-bailable warrant of arrest, as the accused persons-petitioners were absconding and concealing themselves and since the non-bailable warrant of arrest could not be executed by the I.O., the proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. has been ordered to be issued vide the said order dated 21.01.2023. It is next submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the petitioners have been falsely implicated in this case. It is next submitted that without service of summons, warrant of arrest has been ordered to be issued against the petitioners which is against the law. It is then submitted that without following the due procedure of law, the I.O. has prayed for issuance of process under Section 82 Cr.P.C. and the learned Magistrate has mechanically passed the order for proclamation under Section 82 Cr.P.C. 4. Relying upon the Judgment of a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court, in the case of Md. Rustum Alam @ Rustam & Ors. Vs. The State of Jharkhand, in Cr.M.P. No. 2722 of 2019 dated 27.04.2020, para - 14 & 16 of which reads as under:- “14. In this case only on the ground of absence of the accused, the warrant has been issued. Further, from the record, I also find that the service report of bailable warrant was not before the Court. Thus, the order issuing warrant of arrest, without recording satisfaction that the accused are evading their arrest, is not in consonance with the provisions of Section 73(1) of the Code. Accordingly, the order by which non-bailable warrant of arrest has been issued against the petitioners, is, hereby, quashed and set aside. 3 Cr.M.P. No.705 of 2023 16. From perusal of sub section (1) of Section 82 of the Code, it is clear that the Court must have reasons to believe that the person, against whom warrant has been issued, has absconded or concealing himself so that the warrant cannot be executed. In view of the said provision, only after the Court is satisfied that the person is absconding, or is concealing, and it is not possible to arrest him, the Court should issue proclamation requiring the accused to appear on a specified date on specified time not less than 30 days from the date of publication of such proclamation.” it is submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the order dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023 is not in accordance with the said order passed by the Co-ordinate Bench. Hence, it is submitted that the order dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023, passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi in connection with Bundu P.S. Case No.60 of 2022 be quashed and set aside. 5. Learned Addl. P.P. on the other hand vehemently opposes the prayer for quashing the order dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023, passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi in connection with Bundu P.S. Case No.60 of 2022 and submits that Section 73 of the Code of Criminal Procedure envisages that a Magistrate of 1st Class may direct a warrant to any person within his local jurisdiction for arrest of any person who is accused of a non-bailable offence and is evading arrest. It is next submitted by the learned Addl. P.P. that undisputedly the petitioners are accused of the case involving the offences punishable under Section 365 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code and both the said offences are non-bailable in nature and it is evident from the report submitted by the police that the petitioners are evading their arrest and hence vide order dated 22.09.2022, the learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi, taking note of the facts of the case, directed issuance of non-bailable warrant of arrest 4 Cr.M.P. No.705 of 2023 against the petitioner. So far as the order dated 21.01.2023 is concerned, it is submitted by the learned Addl. P.P. that in the said order, the learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi has taken note of the fact that the non-bailable warrant of arrest issued against the petitioners could not be executed as the petitioners were found absconding, when the police went to their house on 21.10.2022 as well as on 21.01.2023 and therein the court has directed the petitioners to appear before the court during court hours on 21.02.2023 and even then, the petitioners have not appeared before the court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI. Hence, it is submitted that there is no illegality in the order dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023, passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi in connection with Bundu P.S. Case No.60 of 2022, registered for the offences punishable under Section 341/323/365/307/34 of the Indian Penal Code. Hence, it is submitted by the learned Addl. P.P. that this criminal miscellaneous petition being without any merit be dismissed. 6. Having heard the submissions made at the Bar and after going through the materials in the record, it is crystal clear that there is no dispute that the petitioners are accused of having committed non-bailable offences punishable under Section 365 of 307 of the Indian Penal Code and the petitioners are evading their arrest and police could not caught hold of them till today. 7. Under such circumstances, this Court is of the considered view that there is no illegality in the order dated 22.09.2022 by which non-bailable warrant of arrest has been issued against the 5 Cr.M.P. No.705 of 2023 petitioners by the learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi. Similarly, in the order dated 21.01.2023, the learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi has after detailed consideration, came to the conclusion that the petitioners are absconding as police in-spite of going to their house twice could not find them nor their whereabouts could be disclosed to the police by any one present in the house. Therefore this Court is of the considered view that there is no illegality involved in the order dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023, passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi in connection with Bundu P.S. Case No.60 of 2022, registered for the offences punishable under Section 341/323/365/307/34 of the Indian Penal Code. 8. Because of the discussions made above, this Court is of the considered view that this is not a fit case where the orders dated 22.09.2022 and 21.01.2023, passed by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class –XVI, Ranchi in connection with Bundu P.S. Case No.60 of 2022, registered for the offences punishable under Section 341/323/365/307/34 of the Indian Penal Code be quashed and set aside. 9. Accordingly, this criminal miscellaneous petition being without any merit is dismissed. High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi Dated the 9th May, 2023 AFR/Sonu-Gunjan/- (Anil Kumar Choudhary, J.)