Chattisgarh High Court
Waisuddin Kamaljada vs State Of Chhattisgarh on 16 April, 2025
Author: Ramesh Sinha
Bench: Ramesh Sinha
1
2025:CGHC:17373-DB
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
CRMP No. 1308 of 2025
1. Waisuddin Kamaljada S/o Salamuddin Aged About 37 Years R/o House No.
329/330, First Floor, Saman Bazaar, Bhogal, South Delhi, Permanent Ad-
dress Kabul, Chilistun, Agalsamas, Afganistan.
2. Fayazuddin S/o Salamuddin Aged About 32 Years R/o House No. 329/330,
First Floor, Saman Bazaar, Bhogal, South Delhi, Permanent Address Kabul,
Chilistun, Agalsamas, Afganistan.
3. Samandrova Najira D/o Vafabiwana Aged About 39 Years R/o Flat No. 44,
First Floor, Kalakaji, South Delhi, Permanent Address Ujbegistan Haarejam
Kiva, District Ilenchina, Mahalas, R/o Afganistan.
... petitioners(s)
versus
1. State Of Chhattisgarh Through Station House Officer, Police Station Ratan-
pur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
2. Sunil Kori S/o Manharan Lal Kori Aged About 37 Years Posted As Consta-
ble No. 460, Police Station Ratanpur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. (Com-
plainant) ---- Respondents
(Cause title taken from Case Information System) For petitioners : Mr. B.P. Singh, Advocate.
For Respondent/State : Mr. Sakib Ahmed, P.L. 2 Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Arvind Kumar Verma, Judge Order on Board Per Arvind Kumar Verma, Judge 16/04/2025 Proceedings of this matter have been taken through video conferencing.
1. Heard Mr. B.P. Singh, learned counsel for petitioners. Also heard Mr. Sakib Ahmed, learned Panel Lawyer for the State/Respondents.
2. The present petition has been filed by the petitioners with the following relief(s):-
"It is therefore prayed that this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to allow the Criminal Miscellaneous petition and may kindly be pleased to quash/set aside the F.I.R. / Crime No. 90/2023 registered at P.S. Mujgahan, District Raipur (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Section 420, 467, 468 and 34 of IPC on 01.04.2023, in the interest of justice.
3. Brief facts of the case are that as per prosecution's version, the complainant, Constable Sunil Kori of Police Station Ratanpur, alleged in the FIR that the petitioners were driving a silver Honda City car bearing registration number DL9CU4208 at high speed in a suspicious manner on the night of 15.11.2024 - 16.11.2024. The police had received prior information about the said vehicle's movement and had placed a barrier at Shanichari Chowk for checking. It is alleged that when the police personnel signaled the petitioners' vehicle to stop, the petitioners, instead of stopping, sped towards the officers, breaking the barrier and allegedly attempting to run them over, before fleeing the 3 scene. Subsequently, the vehicle was intercepted in Koni Police Station limits, and the petitioners were arrested. The based on the allegation in the FIR bearing Crime No. 730/2024, registered at Police Station Ratanpur, District Bilaspur, the petitioners were registered under Sections 109, 221, 132 and 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The petitioners were taken into custody and their case was subsequently investigated by the police authorities.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners would submit that the Petitioners No. 1 and 2 are Afghan nationals and Petitioner No. 3 is a citizen of Uzbekistan. The petitioners, being refugees in India, have been residing in New Delhi for 13 years, having fled their respective countries due to life-threatening circumstances. They have been legally residing in India under refugee status, and their official refugee documents form part of the charge sheet.
5. Learned counsel for the petitioners would further submit that on 11.11.2024, Petitioner No. 1 received an official invitation from the Government of Chhattisgarh to set up a stall for selling Afghani dry fruits at the Swadeshi Mela, scheduled to be held from 15.11.2024 to 21.11.2024. Looking at this as an opportunity to sustain their livelihood, the petitioners booked stalls at the event and were allotted Dome Nos. 36 and 37.
6. Learned counsel for the petitioner would further submit that the petitioners, having no criminal antecedents, were only focused on participating in the fair. However, on 16.11.2024, at around 02:00 AM, while en route to Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, the petitioners had an 4 unfortunate encounter with a group of unidentified men who had their faces covered and were armed with lathis. Given the late hour and the lonely forest road and with a female companion, and the incident of that type are common in New Delhi, the petitioners thought they will be the victim of loot and dacoity and the intimidating appearance of the individuals, the petitioners, fearing for their safety, decided to accelerate their vehicle and leave the scene without confrontation there were no police barricades on the road and neither there was any torch in the hands of unidentified persons. Shortly after, upon spotting uniformed police officers, the petitioners voluntarily stopped their vehicle, intending to seek assistance. However, due to language barriers, a grave misunderstanding arose. The petitioners, who spoke only limited Hindi, struggled to communicate their details, while the police officials present did not fully understand English or Afghani. This led to an erroneous conclusion that the petitioners had deliberately attempted to evade the police, which further escalated the situation.
7. Learned counsel for the petitioner would further submit that the petitioners are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case. The allegations in the FIR are completely baseless, and the petitioners have not committed any act as alleged by the prosecution. The incident in question arose solely due to miscommunication and misunderstanding, primarily due to the petitioners' limited knowledge of Hindi and the police officials' lack of familiarity with their language. Therefore, he prays for quashment and Digitally signed by JYOTI JHA setting aside the FIR No. 730/2024 dated 16.11.2024 and charge- Date:
2025.04.22 10:54:37 +0530 sheet for the offence under Section 109, 221, 132 and 324(4) of the 5 BNS 2023.
8. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioner have applied for bail before the Hon'ble High Court and after due consideration, they were granted bail on 20.12.2024 in MCRC No 8443/2024 to the petitioners No. 1 & 2 and on 07.02.2025 in MCRC No. 38/2025 to petitioner No. 3.
9. On the other, learned State counsel opposes the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners and submits that the investigation has been done strictly in accordance with law and after completion of investigation the final report/charge-sheet has been filed before the trial Court and the learned trial Court had already taken the cognizance and the trial is in progress.
10. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record.
11. The legal position on the issue of quashing of criminal proceedings is well-settled that the jurisdiction to quash a complaint, FIR or a charge- sheet should be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional cases and Courts should not ordinarily interfere with the investigations of cognizable ofences. However, where the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint even if taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any ofence or make out a case against the accused, the FIR or the charge-sheet may be quashed in exercise of powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India or inherent powers under Section 528 of the BNSS.
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12. In the present case, admittedly, after completion of the investigation, charge-sheet has been filed against the petitioner and the learned trial Court has taken cognizance of the evidences and upon finding prima facie evidence regarding commission of offence the trial has been initiated against the petitioners.
13. From perusal of the FIR and charge-sheet, it transpires that the complainant, Constable Sunil Kori of Police Station Ratanpur, alleged in the FIR that the petitioners were driving a silver Honda City car bearing registration number DL9CU4208 at high speed in a suspicious manner on the night of 15.11.2024 - 16.11.2024. The police had received prior information about the said vehicle's movement and had placed a barrier at Shanichari Chowk for checking. It is alleged that when the police personnel signaled the petitioners' vehicle to stop, the petitioners, instead of stopping, sped towards the officers, breaking the barrier and allegedly attempting to run them over, before fleeing the scene. Subsequently, the vehicle was intercepted in Koni Police Station limits, and the petitioners were arrested. Therefore, it cannot be said that no cognizable offence is made out. Hence, the present petition does not fall in any of such category, wherein, this Court can exercise jurisdiction under Section 528 of the BNSS.
14. In view of the above, we do not find it a case to quash the FIR bearing Crime No. 730 of 2024 dated 16.11.2024, charge-sheet dated 04.02.2025 filed by the Police Station Ratanpur District Bilaspur (C.G.) and the order taking cognizance dated 27.02.2025 for the offence punishable under Section 109, 221, 132 and 324(4) of the 7 BNS 2023 and the consequential criminal proceedings bearing Criminal Case No.82/2025 pending before the learned trial Court, as such, this petition is dismissed.
Sd/- Sd/-
(Arvind Kumar Verma) (Ramesh Sinha)
Judge Chief Justice
Jyoti