Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 14: Principal Sessions Judge Jammu, R S Jain has returned the challan in a case of appointment on fake SC certificate with the direction to police that bifurcated separate challan against accused persons namely Pradeep Kumar, Gulshan Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, Ajay Kumar and Jaswant Kumar be produced in accordance with the law.
According to the challan, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Akhnoor addressed a communication dated May 30, 2013 to SDPO Akhnoor for registration of FIR against accused Pardeep Kumar on the ground that he (accused) tampered with SC certificate issued by Tehsildar Akhnoor for recruitment in Government job.
“The case is at stage of charge/discharge of accused persons. The question arises whether the court can take cognizance of the joint challan presented against the accused as the allegations in the challan against the accused pertain to two different acts allegedly committed by them in their individual capacity and they had no connection with each other”, Principal Sessions Judge said.
“If at all the accused have committed the offence, they have done so in their individual capacity and not in concert with each other, as such, a joint challan could not have been produced against all the accused as the same is against the spirit of Section 239 CrPC”, the court said, adding “the law does not permit the joint trial of accused because in each case the evidence is different and the defence would also be different”.
“No separate FIRs have being registered nor have separate charge sheets been filed. This does not appear to be the correct legal position and the manner in which a single charge sheet has been filed by clubbing the cases of all the accused in one FIR by showing them as one transaction, is in violation of existing statutory law of the land”, the court said, adding “such practice of the police to present joint challan should be discouraged”.
With these observations, Principal Sessions Judge Jammu returned the challan. “The bifurcated challans against accused can be produced in accordance with law”, the Court added.
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