Madhya Pradesh High Court
Arun Dagaria vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 13 December, 2023
Author: Vijay Kumar Shukla
Bench: Vijay Kumar Shukla
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
AT INDORE
BEFORE
HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE VIJAY KUMAR SHUKLA
ON THE 13 th OF DECEMBER, 2023
CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 15034 of 2023
BETWEEN:-
ARUN DAGARIA S/O SHRI NEMICHANDJI DAGARIA,
AGED ABOUT 51 YEARS, OCCUPATION: BUSINESS R/O
54, SAMPAT AVENUE BICHOLI HAPSI INDORE
(MADHYA PRADESH)
.....APPELLANT
(SHRI ANUJ BHARGAVA, COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONER .
AND
THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH STATION HOUSE
OFFICER THROUGH POLICE STATION TEJAJI NAGAR
DISTT. INDORE (MADHYA PRADESH)
.....RESPONDENTS
(SHRI VISHAL SANOTHIYA - G.A. FOR STATE)
This appeal coming on for orders this day, the court passed the following:
ORDER
The present appeal is filed under section 449 of Cr.P.C. being aggrieved by the order dated 7.11.2023 passed by X ASJ, Indore in S.T.No. 292/2020 whereby the bail bonds of the appellant have been directed to be forfeited and warrant of arrest has been directed to be issued. By the said order, the application filed by the appellant under section 317 Cr.P.C. has also been rejected.
2. The appellant is facing trial for the offence punishable under sections 420, 406, 468, 34 of the IPC. The appellant was released on bail and furnished surety and thereafter he did not appear before the trial court. Upon perusal of Signature Not Verified Signed by: MUKTA CHANDRASHEKHAR KOUSHAL Signing time: 13-12-2023 16:48:02 2 the impugned order, it is manifest that 22 dates were fixed but the appellant did not appear and he also did not file any application explaining the non- appearance on the said dates. The Court has recorded that he was not co- operating with the trial and therefore trial could not be completed. After passing of the said order, an application under section 317 Cr.P.C. was filed for exemption from personal appearance on the ground of sickness of appellant. Trial court did not consider the said application and recorded a finding that appellant has not filed any medical certificate along with the application. Section 317 Cr.P.C. reads as under :-
(1) At any stage of an enquiry or trial under this Code, if the Judge or Magistrate is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded, that the personal attendance of the accused before the Court is not necessary in the interest of justice, or that the accused persistently disturbs the proceedings in Court, the Judge or Magistrate may, if the accused is represented by a pleader, dispense with his attendance and proceed with such inquiry or trial in his absence and may, at any subsequent stage of the proceedings, direct the personal attendance of such accused.
(2) if the accused in any such case is not represented by a pleader, or if the Judge or Magistrate considers his personal attendance necessary, he may, if he thinks fit and for reasons to be recorded by him, either adjourn such inquiry or trial, or order that the case of such accused be taken up or tried separately.
3. Upon bare perusal of the said provisions, it is manifest that any stage of any enquiry or trial, if the Judge is satisfied, for the reasons to be recorded, that the personal attendance of the accused before the Court is not necessary in the interest of justice, or that the accused persistently disturbs the proceedings in Court, the Judge or Magistrate may dispense with his attendance and proceed with such inquiry or trial in his absence, and may, at any subsequent stage of the proceedings, direct the personal attendance of such accused. Thus, there has to be satisfaction of the trial court for reasons to be recorded that personal Signature Not Verified Signed by: MUKTA CHANDRASHEKHAR KOUSHAL Signing time: 13-12-2023 16:48:02 3 appearance of the accused can be dispensed with.
4. In the present case, the trial court has found that 22 dates were fixed for appearance of the accused/appellant and he did not appear on the said dates. Even on 7.11.2023 he did not appear and an application under section 317 Cr.P.C. has been filed without any medical documents. In view of aforesaid, I do not find any illegality or perversity in the order passed by the trial court. The appeal sans merit and is hereby dismissed.
(VIJAY KUMAR SHUKLA) JUDGE MK Signature Not Verified Signed by: MUKTA CHANDRASHEKHAR KOUSHAL Signing time: 13-12-2023 16:48:02