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Omi @ Omkar Rathore v. State of Madhya Pradesh

Special Leave Petition (Criminal) · 2025 INSC 27Decided 3 Jan 2025
SLP(Crl) No.-017781 - 2024
Justice J.B. Pardiwala · Justice R. Mahadevan

Background

Omi @ Omkar Rathore and another man were named in an FIR over a 2018 murder in Gwalior, but the police's own investigation cleared them and filed a closure report in their favour, while charging other accused persons. During the trial, the original complainant testified and directly implicated the two men with a specific role in the killing. Based on this trial testimony, the trial court used its power under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to summon them as additional accused, and the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld that order in revision. The two men then approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the courts below should have given weight to the police closure report clearing them.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, holding that a police closure report does not tie a trial court's hands when live evidence recorded during trial points to a person's involvement. Relying on the Constitution Bench decision in Hardeep Singh v. State of Punjab, the Court reiterated that Section 319 requires more than a prima facie case but less than proof sufficient for conviction, and that this test is met by testing the evidence actually led in court, not by what was or wasn't included in the charge-sheet or closure report. The Court summarised the settled principles on Section 319: that a person can be summoned even if initially cleared by police, that the power depends on evidence given before the court and not on investigation-stage material, and that an investigating officer's satisfaction is not decisive once a witness's testimony implicates a person. It did note that the trial court should have decided the pending closure report earlier rather than letting it linger, but that did not affect the validity of the summoning order.

Lesson Learnt

Being cleared by police in a closure report is not a permanent shield. If a witness gives direct, credible testimony implicating a person during the actual trial, the court can still summon that person to stand trial under Section 319 CrPC.

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

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