Om Prakash S/o Ganga Ram v State of Uttarakhand, Dehradun and another

Uttarakhand High Court

 26 March 2012

Bench

PRAFULLA C. PANT

Criminal W.P. No. 166 of 2012 The Judgment was delivered by : Hon’ble Justice Prafulla C. Pant Heard. By means of this writ petition moved under Article 226 of Constitution of India, the petitioner has sought direction for re-investigation and further investigation on F.I.R. No. 41 of 2010, relating to offences punishable under section 477A, 420, 506 and 120B of I.P.C., and under section 65 ofInformation Technology Act, Police Station Mallital, District Nainital, by C.B.I. or any independent agency. Brief facts of the case are that the First Information Report in question was lodged by the Registrar Judicial of this court on 08.10.2010, stating that a Criminal Appeal No. 752 of 2001 Dheeru vs. State, was pending in this court. When said case was taken up by the Devision Bench of this court, it came to light that the record of the case was missing. An enquiry appears to have been conducted, and after the enquiry, under orders of the Chief Justice, First Information Report was lodged without naming anyone. The investigation was conducted initially by Circle Officer Aruna Bharti (Deputy Superintendent of Police), and completed by Shri J.S.Bhandari (Additional Superintendent of Police, Nainital). After investigation, charge sheet was filed against the petitioner Om Prakash relating to offences punishable under section 420, 477A, 120B and 506 of I.P.C, and under section 65 of Information Technology Act. In said charge sheet other names of Suresh Singh, Ram Singh and Shyam Singh, who were accused/appellants in the Criminal Appeal of which record was lost were also shown as the persons suspected to be involved in the case. On said charge sheet, cognizance was taken by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nainital, and Criminal Case No. 129 of 2011 was registered not only as against the accused Om Prakash, but also accused Suresh Singh, Ram Singh and Shyam Singh. It further appears that after providing necessary copies to the accused charge was framed and prosecution led its evidence. Witnesses were cross examined and after recording statements of the accused under section 313 of Cr.P.C, and after giving opportunity of defence evidence, the trial court held the accused Om Prakash (present petitioner) guilty of charge of offences punishable under section 477A, 420 and 506 of I.P.C., and he was on the sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and fine. The other above mentioned accused were also found guilty in respect of offences punishable under section 120B and 420 ofI.P.C. Said judgment and order dated 17.12.2011 passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Nainital, which runs into more than eighty pages is annexed as annexure 13 to this writ petition. Learned counsel for the petitioner admitted before this court that aforesaid order dated 17.12.2011, is already challenged by the convict and appeal is pending. At this stage, i.e. after the petitioner has been found guilty by the trial court, this petition under Article 226 of Constitution of India, has been moved for re-investigation and further investigation of the case. Having considered submissions of learned counsel for the writ petitioner, and after going through the order passed by the trial court, this court finds that this writ petition is not only devoid of merits but also frivolous. Therefore, the writ petition is dismissed summarily.