Pramod Kumar Singh vs State Of Jharkhand

Anil Kumar Choudhary, J

Heard the parties.

This Criminal Miscellaneous Petition has been filed invoking the jurisdiction of this Court under Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 with a prayer for twin prayers to quash the orders dated 30.03.2022 and 19.01.2023 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Ramgarh in connection with SC/ST Case No.29 of 2021 for the offences punishable under Sections 323, 341, 406, 420, 463, 464, 468 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3/4 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Preventions of Atrocities) Act. At the outset, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner does not press the prayer to quash the order dated 30.03.2022 and confines the prayer to quash the order dated 19.01.2023. Accordingly, the prayer to quash the order dated 30.03.2022 is rejected as not pressed.

So far as the order dated 19.01.2023 is concerned, the perusal of the record reveals that vide the said order, the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh has considered that the accused has disposed of property and absconded from the jurisdiction of this court, hence, ordered for attachment simultaneously with the order for issuance of proclamation under Sections 82 and 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the proclamation under Sections 82 and 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure simultaneously has been issued vide order dated 19.01.2023 without recording the satisfaction that the petitioner is absconding or concealing himself to evade his arrest and without fixing any time and place for appearance of the accused person of the case; who is the petitioner herein this Criminal Miscellaneous Petition.

Learned counsel for the petitioner next submits that without recording any satisfaction that the accused person of the case namely Pramod Kumar Singh who is the petitioner herein is about to dispose of whole or any part of the property and about to remove whole or any part of the property from local jurisdiction of the court on the basis of affidavit or otherwise, the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh has committed a grave illegality by simultaneously issuing the attachment order of property under Section 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure along with the order of proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Hence, it is submitted that the order dated 19.01.2023, being not sustainable in law, be quashed and set aside.

Learned Addl.P.P. appearing for the State on the other hand vehemently opposes the prayer as prayed for by the petitioner for quashing the order dated 19.01.2023 and submits the very fact that he learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh has issued the proclamation order and the attachment order under Sections 82 and 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure respectively itself shows that there were materials available in the record for he learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh to be satisfied that there is justification for issuance of the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the attachment order under Section 83 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Hence, it is submitted that this Criminal Miscellaneous Petition, being without any merit, be dismissed.

Having heard the rival submissions made at the Bar and after carefully going through the materials available in the record, it is pertinent to mention here that by now it is a settled principle of law that the court which issues the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure must record its satisfaction that the accused in respect of whom the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is made, is absconding or concealing himself to evade his arrest and in case the court decides to issue the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it must mention the time and place for appearance of the petitioner in the order itself by which the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is issued and in case at the time of issuance of the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the court is satisfied by affidavit or otherwise that any person in relation to whom the proclamation is to be issued is about to dispose of whole or any part of the property and about to remove whole or any part of the property from the local jurisdiction of the court, then a court may order for attachment simultaneously with the direction for issuance of the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Now coming to the facts of the case, as already indicated above since the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh has neither recorded its satisfaction that the petitioner is absconding or concealing himself to evade his arrest; without fixing any time or place for appearance of the petitioner who is the accused person of the case concerned has issued the proclamation under Section 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and without recording any satisfaction as to on what basis, it was satisfied that the petitioner who is the accused person of the case is about to dispose of whole or any part of the property and about to remove whole or any part of the property from the local jurisdiction of the court of learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh, certainly the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge, Ramgarh committed a grave illegality by simultaneously directing issuance of order of attachment of the property concerned without mentioning the description of the property to be attached. Hence, in the considered opinion of this court, the order dated 19.01.2023 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Ramgarh in connection with SC/ST Case No.29 of 2021, being not sustainable in law, is liable to be quashed and set aside.

Accordingly, the order dated 19.01.2023 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Ramgarh in connection with SC/ST Case No.29 of 2021 is quashed and set aside.

The learned Additional Sessions Judge-I-cum-Special Judge (SC/ST Act),

In the result, this Criminal Miscellaneous Petition is allowed.