M SHANKARAIUH Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner is a practicing Advocate at Nclamangala. He has filed this petition under Section 482, Cr. P.C. for quashing the show-cause notice dated 10-10-1990 issued to him by the J.M.F.C., Nclamangala (for short 'the Magistrate') in C.C. No. 836 of 1990 on his file calling upon him to show-cause on or before 15-10-1990 why action should not be taken against him as per law for having identified a wrong person as A-6. First paragraph of the said show-cause notice reads thus:

(2.) It can be gathered from the contents of the above extracted show-cause notice and the submissions made by Sri H.C. Hanumaiah, learned counsel for the petitioner, that the petitioner was appearing for accused Nos. 1 and 6 in C.C. No. 788 of 1989. On 9-10-1990, petitioner appears to have made attestation to the thumb impression of one Ganganna who appeared as accused No. 6 Narasaiah s/o Gangaiah, aged about 24 years and the said impersonator appears to have been brought to the notice of the JMFC by the concerned clerk by name K.N. Subba Rao, SDA in the Criminal Pending Branch. On the basis of the said report, the learned Magistrate perhaps acting under Section 190, Cr. P.C. took cognizance of the offence under Section 419, IPC against the alleged impersonator for having appeared before him in place of A-6 Narasaiah in C.C. No. 788 of 1989 and remanded him to judicial custody till 15-10-1990. By the same order, he directed issue of show-cause notice to the petitioner Petitioner feels aggrieved by the act of the learned Magistrate in issuing show-cause notice to him.

(3.) Sri H.C. Hanumaiah, learned counsel for the petitioner, contended that the petitioner has not committed any offence and, even otherwise, the learned Magistrate has abused the process of the court in issuing show-cause notice in the terms extracted above to a Member of the Bar by treating as if he was an accused before him, and, therefore, it amounts to abuse of the process of the court calling for interference under Section 482, Cr. P.C.