2000 INSC 0932
State of Delhi
Vs
Gyan Devi & others
Criminal Appeal No. 888 of 2000
(D.P. Mohapatra and Ruma Pal, JJ.)
18.10.2000
JUDGMENT
D.P. Mohapatra, J.:- Leave granted.
The limited question that arises for consideration in this case is whether the High Court committed
any illegality/error in quashing the charge framed under Section 304 read with Section 34 of the
Indian Penal Code (for short `I.P.C.') against respondents 1 to 3 by the Sessions Judge in exercise of
its powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short `Cr. P.C.')?
On receipt of a report regarding the murder of one Smt. Sudesh, who was the daughter-in-law of
respondent 1 and wife of respondent 2, the police made an investigation and laid a challan against
the three respondents under Section 173 (2) Cr. P.C. The Additional Sessions Judge, Karkardooma,
on consideration of the challan and the papers filed along with it, framed charges under Section 498-
A/34 IPC against all the three respondents and under Section 304/34 I.P.C. against the respondent 1
and 2 vide the order dated 19th February, 1996. The charge under Section 304/34 I.P.C. which is
relevant for the purpose of this proceeding is to the following effect:
"And secondly, that you Veer Bhan Gulati and Smt. Gian Devi, on or about 26.11.91 a H.N.N.-
11B/II, Dilshad Garden, both in furtherance of common intention caused the death of Sudesh with
intention of causing such bodily injury as was likely to cause her death and thereby committed an
offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder punishable under section IPC read with 34
IPC and within my cognizance".
Shortly after the said order was passed, the accused persons filed a revision being Criminal Revision
No. 113 of 1996 in the High Court seeking quashing of the charge under Section 304/34 I.P.C.
which was disposed of by the order passed on 12.12.1997. On a perusal of the said order it appears
that the High Court disposed of the revision petition accepting the suggestions made by the counsel
for the petitioners (accused) and the counsel representing the State that the Addl. Sessions Judge
may be directed to proceed to first record the medical evidence in the case and till the recording of
such evidence presence of Gyan Devi and Raj Sehgal i.e. respondents 1 and 2 herein in Court be
exempted as they would not be required for the purposes of identification and they can be
effectively defended even in their absence. The learned single Judge accepted the suggestion and
accordingly issued direction to the Addl. Sessions Judge to record the medical evidence first and till
that part of the prosecution evidence is concluded to exempt the aforementioned accused persons
from personal appearance in Court. The operative portion of the order reads as follows:
"In view of what has been ordered above the learned counsel for the petitioners prays that without
prejudice to the pleas which the petitioners may like to take after the recording of the medical
evidence, the present petition be dismissed as withdrawn. Consequently, it is dismissed as
withdrawn".
In compliance with the direction in the High Court order, the Addl. Sessions Judge recorded the
evidence of the doctors i.e. Dr. S.K. Verma (PW-1), Dr. Nagendra Prasad (PW-2), Dr. V.V. Gupta
(PW-3) and V.P. Gupta (PW-5). Thereafter, the Public Prosecutor representing the State informed
the Court that the prosecution has no other medical evidence to be led in the case. Thereafter an
application was filed on behalf of the accused persons before the learned trial Judge seeking their
discharge from the offence under Section 304/34 I.P.C. which was dismissed by the order dated 14th
May, 1999. Thereafter, the accused persons filed an application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. assailing
the legality of the order of the Addl. Sessions Judge and also seeking quashing of the charge under
Section 304/34 I.P.C. framed against them. The said petition was allowed by the learned single
Judge of the High Court and the charge framed under Section 304/34 I.P.C. against respondent 1 and
2 was quashed by the order passed on 7th December, 1999. The said order is under challenge in this
appeal filed by the State.
From the discussions in the order under challenge, it is patent that the learned single Judge has sifted
the evidence of P.Ws 1 to 4 in the light of the autopsy report - Ex. PW1/A, discussed the testimony
of the doctors, taken note of the order sheet dated 3rd July, 1999 of the Trial Court in which the
statement made by Ms. Lata Sharma, A.P.P. appearing for the State that no order medical evidence
is to be produced by the prosecution and has recorded the finding which reads "obviously there is
absolutely no evidence on record to suggest that aforesaid injury no.4 in Ex. PW1/A was in any way
responsible for causing meningitis which disease has been opined by PW-1 to be the cause of death
of said Smt. Sudesh. That being so, charge under Section 304/34 I.P.C. could not have been legally
framed against the said two petitioners and the same to secure the ends of justice, needs to be
quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C.".
Shri Altaf Ahmed, learned Additional Solicitor General, appearing for the appellant, contended that
the High Court has clearly erred in passing the order quashing the charge as it has approached the
case as if to determine whether the said charge framed against respondent 1 and 2 will succeed or
not. This question, according to the learned Addl. Solicitor General, should not have been
considered at a stage when before the entire prosecution evidence has not come on record.
Shri S.L. Aneja, learned counsel appearing for the respondents, on the other hand, contended that
the High Court, in the facts and circumstances of the case, has rightly quashed the charge under
Section 304/34 I.P.C. against respondents 1 and 2.
In the backdrop of the factual position discussed above, the question formulated earlier arises for
our consideration. The legal position is well settled that at the stage of framing of charge the Trial
Court is not to examine and assess in detail the materials placed on record by the prosecution nor is
it for the Court to consider the sufficiency of the materials to establish the offence alleged against
the accused persons. At the stage of charge the Court is to examine the materials only with a view to
be satisfied that a prima facie case of commission of offence alleged has been made out against the
accused persons. It is also well settled that when the petition is filed by the accused under Section
482 Cr.P.C. seeking for the quashing of charge framed against them the Court should not interfere
with the order unless there are strong reasons to hold that in the interest of justice and to avoid abuse
of the process of the Court a charge framed against the accused needs to be quashed. Such an order
can be passed only in exceptional cases and on rare occasions. It is to be kept in mind that once the
Trial Court has framed a charge against an accused the trial must proceed without unnecessary
interference by a superior court and the entire evidence from the prosecution side should be placed
on record. Any attmept by an accused for quashing of a charge before the entire prosecution
evidence has come on record should not be entertained sans exceptions cases.
In this connection we may refer to the case of Radhey Shyam vs. Kunj Behari & Ors. etc. etc. , 1989
Suppl. 2 SCC 572, in which a bench of three learned Judges of this Court referring to the decision in
Mohd. Akbar Dar & Ors vs. State of Jammu and Kashmir & Ors., 1981 Supp. SCC 80, pointed out
that at the stage of framing of charges meticulous consideration of evidence and materials by the
Court is not required. This Court further observed:
"The High Court has also deemed it necessary to quash the charge against respondents 1 to 3
because in its opinion the evidence proposed to be adduced by the prosecution, even if fully
accepted, cannot show that respondents 1 to 3 committed any offence and referred in that behalf to
the decision in State of Bihar vs. Ramesh Singh, (1977) 4 SCC 39. We find that the High Court's
conclusion about the inadequacy of the evidence against respondents 1 to 3, besides being a
premature assessment of evidence, is also attributable to the wrong premises on which the High
Court's reasoning is based.
We, therefore, find that there was no warrant for the High Court to quash the charge against
respondents 1 to 3 in exercise of its powers under Section 482 Cr. P.C...."
In the case of Minakshi Bala vs. Sudhir Kumar & Ors., (1994) 4 SCC142, this Court considered the
question of quashing of charge by the High Court in invoking its inherent jurisdiction under Section
482 Cr.P.C. In that context, this Court made the following pertinent observations:
".... To put it differently, once charges are framed under Section 240 CrPC the High Court in its
revisional jurisdiction would not be justified in relying upon documents other than those referred to
in Sections 239 and 240 Cr. PC; nor would it be justified in invoking its inherent jurisdiction under
Section 482 CrPC to quash the same except in those rare cases where forensic exigencies and
formidable compulsions justify such a course. We hasten to add even in such exceptional cases the
High Court can look into only those documents which are unimpeachable and can be legally
translated into relevant evidence.
Apart from the infirmity in the approach of the High Court in dealing with the matter which we
have already noticed, we further find that instead of adverting to and confining its attention to the
documents referred to in Sections 239 and 240 CrPC the High court has dealt with the rival
contentions of the parties raised through their respective affidavits at length and on a threadbare
discussion thereof passed the impugned order. The course so adopted cannot be supported; firstly,
because finding regarding commission of an offence cannot be recorded on the basis of affidavit
evidence and secondly, because at the stage of framing of charge the Court cannot usurp the
functions of a trial court to delve into and decide upon the respective merits of the case".
In a recent decision in State of M.P. vs. S.B. Johari & Ors., (2000) 2 SCC 57, this Court, adverting
to the question of quashing of charges in the Light of the provisions contained in Ss. 227 & 288,
401 & 397 and 482 Cr.P.C. did not favour the approach of the High Court in meticulously
examining the materials on record for coming to the conclusion that the charge could not have been
framed for a particular offence. This Court, while quashing and setting aside the order passed by the
High Court, made the following observations:
"After considering the material on record, learned Sessions Judge framed the charge as stated above.
That charge is quashed by the High Court against the respondents by accepting the contention raised
and considering the details of the material produced on record. The same is challenged by filing
these appeals.
In our view, it is apparent that the entire approach of the High Court is illegal and erroneous. From
the reasons recorded by the High Court, it appears that instead of considering the prima facie case,
the the High Court has appreciated and weighed the materials on record for coming to the
conclusion that charge against the respondents could not have been farmed. It is settled law that at
the stage of framing the charge, the court has to prima facie consider whether there is sufficient
ground for proceeding against the accused. The court is not required to appreciate the evidence and
arrive at the conclusion that the materials produced are sufficient or not for convicting the accused.
If the court is satisfied that a prima facie case is made out for proceeding further then a charge has
to be framed. The charge can be quashed it the evidence which the prosecutor proposes to adduce to
prove the guilt of the accused, even if fully accepted before it is challenged by cross-examination or
rebutted by defence evidence, if any, cannot show that the accused committed the particular offence.
In such case, there would be no sufficient ground for proceeding with the trial..."
Judged in the light of the settled position of law as reiterated in the decisions noted above, the order
under challenge in the present case does not stand the scrutiny. The High Court has erred in its
approach to the case as if it was evaluating the medical evidence for the purpose of determining the
question whether the charge under Section 304/34 I.P.C. framed against the accused respondents 1
and 2 was likely to succeed or not. This question was to be considered by the Trial Judge afterr
recording the entire evidence in the case. It was not for the High Court to pre-judge the case at the
stage when only a few witnesses (doctors) had been examined by the prosecution and that too under
the direction of the High Court in the revision petition filed by the accused. The High Court has not
observed that the prosecution had closed the evidence from its side. There is also no discussion or
observation in the impugned order that the facts and circumstances of the case make it an
exceptional case in which immediate interference of the High Court by invoking its inherent
jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is warranted in the interest of justice. On consideration of the
matter we have no hesitations to hold that the order under challenge is vitiated on account of
erroneous approach of the High Court and it is clearly unsustainable.
Accordingly, the appeal is allowed. The order under challenge is set aside. The trial Court is
directed to proceed with hearing of the case in accordance with law.