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Meenu Prakash Bhantu vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 244Decided 16 Mar 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 738 of 2023
Abhay S. Oka · Rajesh Bindal

Background

A bank customer in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh lodged an FIR alleging that Rs. 55,20,000 had been fraudulently withdrawn from his account and that an unauthorised cheque book had been issued and diverted. The chargesheet named two bank employees, but during trial the complainant sought to have the appellant, a bank clerk who had once handed him an illegible/misprinted account statement, also summoned as an accused under Section 319 CrPC. The trial court first rejected this, but on revision by the prosecution, later allowed it without giving any real reasons; the Allahabad High Court upheld that order with only general observations.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that summoning an additional accused under Section 319 CrPC is a discretionary and extraordinary power that must be exercised sparingly, only where the evidence shows a "near probability" of guilt: a standard higher than what is needed to frame a charge, though short of what is needed to convict. Applying the tests laid down in the Constitution Bench ruling in Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab, the Court found no material connecting the appellant, a mere clerk with no authority over withdrawals, to the alleged fraud beyond having once supplied an illegible statement. The appeal was allowed, the High Court's order set aside, and the application to summon the appellant as an additional accused was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

Courts cannot add someone as a criminal accused mid-trial merely on suspicion or a tenuous link to the alleged offence. There must be strong, cogent evidence pointing to near-certain complicity, not just an opinion that "some other person may also be guilty."

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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