The Allahabad High Court upheld an order rejecting the application for withdrawal of prosecution involving a history sheeter and clarified that a case cannot be withdrawn merely because the Government has issued a Government Order. Public prosecutor should also apply his mind and mention reasons in his application filed under Section 321 CrPC.

The application was filed under section 482 Cr.P.C. before the High Court to quash an order passed by the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate rejecting an application filed under Section 321 CrPC.

The Single Bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal asserted,“Therefore, on the application by public prosecutor to withdraw the criminal case on the basis of government order without mentioning any reason or his opinion, court should not permit to withdraw the prosecution as the same is not permissible in the eyes of law."

Advocate Ram Prasad Yadav represented the Applicant while the Government Advocate represented the Opposite Party.

Factual Background

The FIR was lodged by the opposite party No. 2 against the applicant under Sections 384, 506 IPC and subsequently, after the investigation, the police submitted a charge sheet against the applicant under Sections 384, 352, 504, 506 IPC. During the pendency of the trial, the State filed an application under Section 321 Cr.P.C. seeking permission of the court to withdraw the prosecution against the applicant based on a Government Order.

Reasoning

The Bench explained that the State has the power to withdraw the prosecution under Section 321 Cr.P.C. at two stages i.e. before the framing of charge and after the framing of charge.

Referring to the judgment of the Apex Court in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay Vs. Union of India and others (2021), the Bench said, “In view of the above judgment the legal position regarding withdrawal of cases is clear that it cannot be withdrawn merely government has issued a Government Order and public prosecutor should also apply his mind by mentioning in his application filed under Section 321 Cr.P.C. that he is satisfied that the application has been made under good faith and in the interest of public policy and justice.”

Coming to the facts of the case, the Bench noticed that the present applicant is a history-sheeter having 32 cases against him. However, no reason was assigned in the application filed by the public prosecutor under Section 321 Cr.P.C. for withdrawing the prosecution against the applicant. “If the prosecution is permitted to withdraw case against such type of person on the basis of unreasoned application then it would definitely be against the public interest as well as against the guidelines laid down by the Apex Court”, the Bench held.

Thus, finding no illegality in the impugned order, the Bench dismissed the application.

Cause Title: Dilip Singh v. State of U.P. and Another (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC:7439)

Appearance:

Applicant: Advocates Ram Prasad Yadav, Shesh Narain Mishra

Opposite Party: Government Advocate

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Allahabad High CourtJustice Arun Kumar Singh DeshwalSection 321 of CrPC

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.