SANGEETA AGRAWAL & ORS. v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR.

Case Details & Bench

Court: High Court
Hon'ble Judges: Abhay Manohar Sapre
Indu Malhotra
Judgment Date: 2018-12-03
Court Decision / Holding: Appeal allowed; the impugned order of the High Court is set aside. The case is remanded to the High Court (Single Judge) for decision afresh on merits in accordance with law, after issuing notice to respondents.
Final Disposition: Appeal allowed; matter remanded to High Court for fresh consideration on merits in accordance with law.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

Sangeeta Agrawal
Others

Respondents

State of Uttar Pradesh
Anr.

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

• Praveen Swarup
• Ms. Chitra Chaudhary
• Shashank Singh
• Prashant Chaudhary

Case Synopsis & Summary

This is a criminal appeal challenging a High Court order under Section 482 CrPC quashing a charge sheet and proceedings in Case No. 2767 of 2018 (State v. Arvind & Ors) arising from Case Crime No. 79 of 2018 at Dhampur, Bijnor, under IPC sections 498A and 304B and Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 sections 3/4. The appellants, Sangeeta Agrawal and others, sought to quash. The Allahabad High Court dismissed the application. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the High Court did not set out the brief facts, failed to appraise the factual matrix, and did not show on what basis it would interfere. The Court emphasised that a proper Section 482 order must begin by stating the factual matrix and then apply legal principles; without this, the higher court cannot assess the reasoning. The Court remanded the matter to the High Court to decide afresh on merits after providing notice to respondents. It notes that the exercise of power under Section 482 requires a reasoned order and that the legal principles must be applied to the facts, which were not present in the impugned order. The appeal is allowed; the case is remanded for fresh determination, ensuring adherence to due process and factual clarity while examining the relevant legal standards and the underlying allegations.

Provisions of Law Cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: Section 482Indian Penal Code, 1860: Sections 498A and 304BDowry Prohibition Act, 1961: Sections 3/4

Legal Doctrines & Maxims

Powers of the High Court under Section 482 CrPC are to be exercised after consideration of the factual matrix.
A reasoned order setting out the factual matrix is essential to enable the High Court to evaluate the legality of the lower court's reasoning.
Remand to decide afresh on merits is appropriate when the lower court's approach is defective.

Submissions & Arguments

Contentions of Appellants / Petitioners

The appellants contended that the High Court failed to set forth the brief facts and failed to appreciate the factual matrix while applying Section 482 CrPC principles. They argued that the order must disclose the facts, the nature of the complaint/FIR, the grounds of challenge, and why such grounds do not warrant interference, failing which the High Court’s order cannot be tested by the Higher Court. The appeal prayed for setting aside the impugned order and remanding for a fresh merits‑based decision after due notice.

Contentions of Respondents

Not stated in the document; respondents did not appear at the hearing, and no substantive arguments from respondents were recorded in the provided text.

Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

462 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2018] 14 S.C.R.[2018] 14 S.C.R. 462 ## A ## SANGEETA AGRAWAL & ORS. v. ## STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR. (Criminal Appeal No. 1543 of 2018) ## B ## DECEMBER 03, 2018 ## **[ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE AND INDU MALHOTRA, JJ.]** _Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973: s.482 – Quashing of proceedings – Complaint filed under ss.498A, 304B IPC – Application for quashing the proceedings filed under s.482 dismissed_ C _by the High Court – On appeal, held: High Court did not mention the bare facts of the case with a view to appreciate the factual controversy – High Court ought to have first set out the brief facts of the case with a view to understand the factual matrix of the case and then examined the challenge made to the proceedings and then_ D _recorded his finding as to on what basis and reasons, a case is made out for any interference or not – Matter remitted to High Court for consideration afresh – Penal Code, 1860 – ss.498A and 304B._ **Allowing the appeal and remanding the matter to High court, the Court** ## E **HELD : The Single Judge ought to have first set out the brief facts of the case with a view to understand the factual matrix of the case and then examined the challenge made to the proceedings in the light of the principles of law laid down by this Court and then recorded his finding as to on what basis and** F **reasons, a case is made out for any interference or not. This is the least that is required in every order to support the conclusion reached for disposal of the case. It enables the Higher Court to examine the question as to whether the reasoning given by the Court below is factually and legally sustainable. This exercise was not done by the High Court while passing the impugned order** G **and hence interference is called for. [Paras 10, 11 and 12] [464-D-F]** H 462 463 SANGEETA AGRAWAL & ORS. v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR. CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal A No. 1543 of 2018. From the Judgment and Orders dated 12.09.2018 of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in Application u/s 482 No. 31729 of 2018. Praveen Swarup, Ms. Chitra Chaudhary, Shashank Singh, Prashant Chaudhary, Advs. for the Appellants. B The Judgment of the Court was delivered by ## **ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE, J.** 1. Leave granted. 2. This appeal is filed against the final judgment and order dated 12.09.2018 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in an Application filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as “the Code”) bearing No.31729 of 2018 whereby the Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the application filed by the appellants herein. C D 3. Few facts need mention _infra_ to appreciate the short controversy involved in this appeal. 4. By impugned order, the Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the appellants’ application filed under Section 482 of the Code wherein the challenge was to quash the Charge Sheet dated 12.06.2018 as well as the entire criminal proceedings of Case No.2767 of 2018 ( **State** vs. **Arvind & Ors.** ) arising out of Case Crime No.79 of 2018 under Sections 498A, 304B of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as “IPC”) and Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 Police Station Dhampur, District Bijnor, pending before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bijnor. E F 5. The short question, which arises for consideration in this appeal, is whether the High Court was justified in dismissing the appellants’ application filed under Section 482 of the Code. 6. Heard Mr. Praveen Swarup, learned counsel for the appellants. None appeared for the respondents. 7. Having heard the learned counsel for the appellants and on perusal of the record of the case, we are inclined to set aside the impugned order and remand the case to the High Court for deciding the appellants’ application, out of which this appeal arises, afresh on merits in accordance with law after notice to other side. G H 464 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2018] 14 S.C.R. A 8. On perusal of the impugned order, we find that the Single Judge has only quoted the principles of law laid down by this Court in several decisions relating to powers of the High Court to interfere in the cases filed under Section 482 of the Code from Para 2 to the concluding para but has failed to even refer to the facts of the case with a view to appreciate the factual controversy, such as, what is the nature of the B complaint/FIR filed against the appellants, the allegations on which it is filed, who filed it, the grounds on which the complaint/FIR/proceedings is challenged by the appellants, why such grounds are not made out under Section 482 of the Code etc. 9. We are, therefore, at a loss to know the factual matrix of the C case much less to appreciate except to read the legal principles laid down by this Court in several decisions. 10. In our view, the Single Judge ought to have first set out the brief facts of the case with a view to understand the factual matrix of the case and then examined the challenge made to the proceedings in D the light of the principles of law laid down by this Court and then recorded his finding as to on what basis and reasons, a case is made out for any interference or not. 11. In our view, this is the least that is required in every order to support the conclusion reached for disposal of the case. It enables the E Higher Court to examine the question as to whether the reasoning given by the Court below is factually and legally sustainable. 12. We find that the aforementioned exercise was not done by the High Court while passing the impugned order and hence interference is called for. F 13. We, therefore, find ourselves unable to concur with such disposal of the application by the High Court and feel inclined to set aside the impugned order and remand the case to the High Court (Single Judge) with a request to decide the application afresh on merits in accordance with law keeping in view aforementioned observations after issuing notice G to respondent Nos. 1 and 2. 14. Having formed an opinion to remand the case in the light of our reasoning, we do not consider it proper to go into the merits of the case. H 465 SANGEETA AGRAWAL & ORS. v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH & ANR. [ABHAY MANOHAR SAPRE, J.] 15. In view of the foregoing discussion, the appeal succeeds and A is accordingly allowed. Impugned order is set aside. The case is remanded to the High Court for its decision on merits uninfluenced by any of our observations in this order after notice to respondents. Devika Gujral Matter remanded to High Court. B C D E F G H