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Saloni Arora v. State of NCT of Delhi

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 64 of 2017)Decided 10 Jan 2017
Criminal Appeal No. 64 of 2017
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre

Background

In the course of a criminal case involving serious charges (including Sections 302, 364, 365 and 120-B IPC), the prosecuting agency also sought to prosecute the appellant, Saloni Arora, for a separate offence under Section 182 IPC (giving false information to a public servant). The appellant argued she could not be prosecuted for this because the mandatory procedure under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, requiring the public servant concerned to file a written complaint, had never been followed. Both the Trial Court and the Delhi High Court rejected her discharge application, prompting two connected appeals to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that prosecution for an offence under Section 182 IPC is barred unless the specific procedure under Section 195 CrPC is followed, relying on its earlier decision in Daulat Ram vs. State of Punjab (AIR 1962 SC 1206), which held that a trial without the concerned public servant's written complaint is void ab initio and without jurisdiction. Since it was undisputed that the prosecution had not followed this procedure, the Court found the action against the appellant under Section 182 IPC legally unsustainable: a conclusion the State's own counsel fairly conceded. The Court allowed both appeals and set aside the orders of the Trial Court and High Court, while expressly leaving it open for the State to proceed afresh through a properly filed complaint, without expressing any opinion on the merits of any such future application.

Lesson Learnt

A criminal prosecution for certain specified offences (such as giving false information to a public servant under Section 182 IPC) cannot proceed unless the mandatory complaint procedure under Section 195 CrPC is strictly followed, skipping this procedural safeguard renders the entire prosecution void from the start, regardless of the facts alleged.

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

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