"Court Dismisses Petitioner's Case as 'Not Maintainable'; Highlights Alternative Remedies under CrPC"

In a significant legal development, the Honourable Mr. Justice Anil Kumar Sinha, while hearing a transfer case, dismissed the petitioner's writ application. In his order dated September 4, 2023, Justice Sinha emphasized that the petitioner's challenge to the transfer order was "not maintainable" under Section 407 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The judge observed, "Alternative remedies are available under different provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973," thereby pointing the petitioner towards other available legal avenues for seeking redress. The observation was made in paragraphs 12 and 13 of the judgment.

The case originated from a controversial transfer of Sessions Trial No. 82 of 2020 from the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Naugachia SubDivision, Bhagalpur, to the 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Bhagalpur. The petitioner argued that the transfer was conducted without providing any notice and even cited previous instances where similar petitions were dismissed.

The judgment referred to previous cases including "Nirmal Singh v. State of Haryana" and "State of Punjab v. Divinder Pal Singh Bhullar," underlining the court's lack of jurisdiction to review its previous decisions under Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Following the dismissal, the petitioner has been given liberty to approach the appropriate forum to challenge the transfer order, as per paragraphs 14 and 16 of the judgment.

Mr. Jitendra Singh, Senior Advocate for the petitioner, expressed disappointment but acknowledged the judge's directions for alternative remedies. On the other side, Mr. Binod Kumar, representing the State, termed the judgment as an "important clarification on the maintainability of applications under Section 407 of the Code of Criminal Procedure."

Date of Decision: 04-09-2023

PRUSHOTAM YADAV @ CHOTU vs THE STATE OF BIHAR