Pratiksha Verma vs State Of Uttarakhand And Another

Alok Kumar Verma, J

Informant/victim has invoked the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to direct the Court of Ist Judicial Magistrate, Haldwani, District Nainital to decide the Criminal Case No.460 of 2021, “State vs. Gaurav Mathpal”, pending under Section 354, 354A and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, expeditiously.

Heard Mr. Vikas Singh Yadav, learned counsel holding brief of Mr. Karan Singh Dugtal, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr. Atul Kumar Sah, learned Deputy Advocate General assisted by Mrs. Mamta Joshi, learned Brief Holder for the State.

The said prayer is an innocuous prayer.

Speedy and expeditious trial have been envisaged under Section 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as, “the Code”). Intention of the Legislature was that proceedings in inquiry or trial are not adjourned unnecessarily and are concluded expeditiously. Speedy trial is an essential ingredient of “reasonable, fair and just” procedure. A criminal trial has its own gravity and sanctity. Once examination of witnesses begins, the same has to be continued from day-to-day. Only if, there are “special reasons”, which reasons should find in the order for adjournment, that alone can confer jurisdiction on the court to adjourn the case. Trial Court has to be mindful that for the protection of witnesses and also in the interest of justice, the mandate of Section 309 of the Code has to be complied with and evidence should be recorded on continuous basis.

Therefore, learned Trial Court is directed to expedite the proceedings of the said Criminal Case No.460 of 2021 and decide the same as expeditiously as possible without granting any unnecessary adjournment to either party.

With these directions, Criminal Misc. Application (No.708 of 2023), filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, stands disposed of accordingly.