Pranay Singh Baghel @ Pranay Singh, aged about 51 years, son of Prempal Singh v. The State of Jharkhand
Case Details
Cr. M.P. No.1768 of 2023 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI Cr.M.P. No.1768 of 2023 ------ Pranay Singh Baghel @ Pranay Singh, aged about 51 years, son of Prempal Singh Baghel @ Premlal Singh Baghel, resident of 208, Jambu Tower, Bhalubasa, Agrico, P.O. Agrico, P.S.- Sitaramdera Jamshedpur, District East Singhbhum, PIN- 831009, Jharkhand. … Petitioner Versus The State of Jharkhand … Opposite Party For the Petitioner For the State ------
Legal Reasoning
: Ms. Aanya, Advocate : Mr. Pankaj Kumar, P.P. Mr. Shirsh Mazumdar, A.C. to P.P. ------ P R E S E N T HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR CHOUDHARY By the Court:- Heard the parties. 2. This criminal miscellaneous petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. with a prayer to quash the order dated 07.12.2022 by which the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was issued and also the order dated 10.02.2023 by the which the prayer of the Investigating Officer to extend the time for proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was extended till 28.04.2023 in connection with Mandu P.S. Case No.171 of 2021. 3. The brief fact of the case is that the petitioner is an accused of Mandu P.S. Case No.171 of 2021. The Investigating Officer of the said case filed an application before the learned A.C.J.M., Ramgarh stating therein that he went to execute the non-bailable warrant of arrest to the address of the petitioner on 21.02.2022 and 03.06.2022 but the petitioner was not found and inter alia the petitioner fled from his house and evaded his arrest. Consequently, the 1 Cr. M.P. No.1768 of 2023 Investigating Officer returned the warrant of arrest to the court along with the petition with prayer for proclamation under Section 82 of the Cr.P.C. The learned A.C.J.M, Ramgarh taking into consideration the materials available in the record, was of the opinion that there are sufficient materials available in the case record to believe that the petitioner and the co-accused Kush Singh have absconded and are concealing themselves to evade so that warrant of arrest issued by the court, cannot be executed and on being thus satisfied; it issued the proclamation under Section 82 of the Cr.P.C. by mentioning in the order itself that the accused persons of the case in respect of whom the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. has been issued, have to appear before the court on 02.02.2023. On 10.02.2023, the Investigating Officer of the case filed an application mentioning therein that due to law and order duty, investigation of other cases and death of his father-in-law, he could not make the proclamation issued under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. and prayed to extend the date for the proclamation issued under Section 82 of the Cr.P.C. The learned A.C.J.M, Ramgarh being satisfied with the prayer extended the date for proclamation to be made till 28.04.2023. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the allegation against the petitioner is false. No case is made out against the petitioner. After coming to know about the F.I.R., the petitioner approached the Superintendent of Police, Ramgarh by intimating him about his innocence and also filed an application vide Cr.M.P. No.2197 of 2022 for quashing of the entire criminal proceeding but withdrew the same on 29.08.2022 with liberty to raise all the points at the appropriate stage but still did not appear before the trial court. It is next submitted that the petitioner never absconded. Hence, it is submitted that the 2 Cr. M.P. No.1768 of 2023 order dated 07.12.2022 by which the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was issued and also the order dated 10.02.2023 by the which the prayer of the Investigating Officer to extend the time for proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was extended till 28.04.2023 in connection with Mandu P.S. Case No.171 of 2021, be quashed and set aside. 5. Learned P.P. appearing for the State on the other hand vehemently opposes the prayer for quashing and setting aside the order dated 07.12.2022 by which the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was issued and also the order dated 10.02.2023 by the which the prayer of the Investigating Officer to extend the time for proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was extended till 28.04.2023 in connection with Mandu P.S. Case No.171 of 2021 and submits that the learned A.C.J.M., Ramgarh on being satisfied that the petitioner is absconding and concealing himself to evade his arrest, has passed the order dated 07.12.2022 for issuing the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. in compliance of all the mandatory provisions of law and the order dated 10.02.2023 is a formal order by which the time period for the proclamation issued under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. has been extended. Hence, it is submitted that there being no illegality in the said two orders, this Cr.M.P., being without any merit, be dismissed. 6. Having heard the rival submissions made at the Bar and after carefully going through the materials available in the record, it is crystal clear that the learned A.C.J.M., Ramgarh has recorded its satisfaction on the basis of the materials available in the record that the petitioner is absconding and concealing himself for evading his arrest. It is also pertinent to mention here that though the petitioner withdrew the Cr.M.P. No.2197 of 2022 on 29.08.2022 3 Cr. M.P. No.1768 of 2023 with a liberty to raise all the points at the appropriate stage and was very much aware about the pendency of the case but he did not appear before the learned trial court without any plausible reason. As there is no illegality in the order dated 07.12.2022 by which the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was issued and also the order dated 10.02.2023 by the which the prayer of the Investigating Officer to extend the time for proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was extended till 28.04.2023 in connection with Mandu P.S. Case No.171 of 2021, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the said orders. 7. Accordingly, the prayer of the petitioner to quash and set aside the order dated 07.12.2022 by which the proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was issued and also the order dated 10.02.2023 by the which the prayer of the Investigating Officer to extend the time for proclamation under Section 82 of Cr.P.C. was extended till 28.04.2023 in connection with Mandu P.S. Case No.171 of 2021, stands rejected. 8. Accordingly, this Cr.M.P., being without any merit, is dismissed. (Anil Kumar Choudhary, J.) High Court of Jharkhand, Ranchi Dated the 06th of December, 2023 AFR/ Animesh 4