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Syed Shahnawaz Ali vs. The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors.

Not available · 2025 INSC 1484Decided 19 Dec 2025
Not available
Justice Sanjay Karol · Justice Manoj Misra

Background

The appellant's father had filed a complaint alleging that certain respondents used a fabricated sale deed to falsely claim his property, leading to an FIR and charges including cheating and forgery. A trial court discharged the accused of most charges, keeping only the cheating charge, and the father challenged this in a criminal revision before the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He died while the revision was pending, and the appellant (his son) sought to continue the case as his father's substitute, but the High Court held that a criminal revision has no provision for substitution and so it had "abated" (automatically ended) on the revisionist's death.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court clarified that the rule of "abatement" that applies to a criminal appeal on the death of the appellant (under Section 394 CrPC) does not automatically apply to a criminal revision, since the Code has no equivalent abatement provision for revisions and revisional power is a discretionary jurisdiction that can even be exercised by the court on its own motion. It held that when a revision is filed by an informant or victim (rather than the accused) and that person dies, the proceeding does not abate, and the court may allow another interested victim, even without a formal right of "substitution", to assist it in deciding the revision on its merits. Since the appellant, as his father's heir, stood to inherit an interest in the disputed property, he qualified as a "victim" under Section 2(wa) CrPC with a genuine stake in the outcome. The Supreme Court set aside both High Court orders, restored the revision, and allowed the appellant to assist the revisional court as a victim, without expressing any opinion on the underlying merits.

Lesson Learnt

A criminal revision petition filed by a victim or complainant does not automatically die with that person: unlike a criminal appeal, there is no formal abatement rule for revisions, so a deceased revisionist's heirs (if they themselves qualify as victims of the crime) can be permitted to step in and see the case through.

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

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