Sakunjay Vyas
Published on: March 11, 2022, at 07:59 IST
The Two Judge Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Abhay S. Oka of Supreme Court overturned the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad bench order that has set aside the order of trial court by accepting the application under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that power under Section 319 of the Code is a discretionary and extraordinary power that should be exercised sparingly.
The Two Judge Bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Abhay S. Oka was hearing an appeal against the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad bench, whereby the appellant was assailing the correctness of the order passed by the High Court of that has set aside the order of trial court by accepting the application under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
For the judgment in hand, The Apex Court was of the view that learned Single Judge has set aside cogent reasoning recorded by the learned trial Judge. The apex court stated that has not appreciated the well-recorded shreds of evidence and has set aside the order of the trial court in a casual manner.
“The learned Single Judge, without even appreciating the evidence of PW.1 and PW.2, which was recorded during the course of trial, in a casual and cavalier manner, set aside the wellreasoned order passed by the learned trial Judge under its order impugned…”
the Court said.
The apex court further stated that power under section 319 is a discretionary power and shall be used sparingly and only where the case’s circumstances so warrant and the test which has to be applied is one that goes beyond the standard of prima facie case as applied at the time of charging and that the evidence does not satisfy to an extent that will lead to a conviction, if unrebutted.
“The Constitution Bench has given a caution that power under Section 319 of the Code is a discretionary and extraordinary power which should be exercised sparingly and only in those cases where the circumstances of the case so warrant and the crucial test as noticed above has to be applied is one which is more than prima facie case as exercised at the time of framing of charge, but short of satisfaction to an extent that the evidence, if goes unrebutted, would lead to conviction..” the Court said.
As a result, the Apex Court has quashed and set aside the order of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad bench by stating the learned Single Judge of the High Court has even failed to consider the basic principles laid down by this Court while invoking Section 319 of the Code, which has been considered by the learned trial Judge.