Ashok Kumar vs The State of Punjab

Viney Mittal, J.—The present petition has been filed by the petitioner Ashok Kumar u/s 482 Cr.P.C. read with Article 227 of the Constitution of India for quashing of complaint dated September 25, 1987 and a charge sheet dated May 10, 1989 framed by the learned trial Magistrate, on the aforesaid complaint.

Vide order dated April 7, 1993, this Court had stayed passing of the final judgment by the learned trial Magistrate.

At the outset Shri Dinesh Goyal, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he wishes to withdraw the present petition with liberty to file an appropriate application before the learned trial Magistrate taking up all the pleas raised in the present petition and other defences available to him in accordance with law for dropping of the proceedings against him.

I find that the stand adopted by the learned counsel is very just and fair.

Under these circumstances, I dismiss the present petition as withdrawn with liberty to the petitioner to file an appropriate application before the learned trial Magistrate for dropping of the proceedings against him. While filing the aforesaid application, it shall be open to the petitioner to raise all the pleas raised in the present petition and other defences available to him in accordance with law before the trial Court. If any such application is filed by the petitioner within a period of four weeks from the date a certified copy of the order is received by him, the trial Magistrate would decide the same on merits after affording an opportunity of hearing to all concerned within a further period of one month thereafter.

The personal presence of the petitioner shall also remain exempted during the course of trial. However, the learned trial Court is at liberty to secure the personal presence of the petitioner as and when the same is required by it in accordance with law.

Since the matter has remained pending in this Court for a sufficiently long time, therefore, the trial Court is directed that the proceedings in the case be concluded expeditiously and in any case not later than July 31, 2004.