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Criminal LawSupreme Court of India

Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency P. Ltd. v. Central Bureau of Investigation

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 413Decided 25 Apr 2018
Criminal Appeal Nos. 1375-1376 of 2013
Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The appellants had challenged a trial court order framing criminal charges against them in a CBI case. This specific appeal followed on from a landmark three-judge-bench judgment of the same Court dated 28 March 2018 in the same matter, which had laid down that stay orders on trial proceedings under the Prevention of Corruption Act automatically lapse after six months unless specifically extended.

Decision Breakdown

Applying the principles settled in the 28 March 2018 judgment and after considering the material on record, the two-judge bench found no ground to interfere with the trial court's order framing charges. It directed the trial court to proceed with the matter, with all parties' contentions left open for the trial court to consider, and fixed a date for the parties to appear. The Court also issued administrative directions that, going forward, only photocopies/scanned copies of original trial court records should ordinarily be sent for appellate/revisional reference, with originals retained at the trial court to avoid delaying proceedings. The appeals were accordingly disposed of.

Lesson Learnt

A challenge to an order merely framing criminal charges faces a high bar: courts are reluctant to interfere at that stage and will generally let the trial proceed, leaving substantive defenses open to be argued at trial itself.

Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency P. Ltd. v. Central Bureau of Investigation – Legal Case Shots | LegalAware