LAL SAHU Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Mr. Learned Senior Counsel on behalf of the applicants/petitioners has earnestly entreated to the Court that his wife Smt. Rekha Arya is going to file her nomination on the ticket given by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to present herself as a potential contesting candidate in the forthcoming elections of the Legislative Assembly from the Someshwar constituency and because she, after defection from the Congress Party, joined the BJP and supported the latter in the floor test on 10.5.2016 in the Assembly, since then a mission has been launched by the high-ups of the ruling Congress Party to take every vengeance and not to leave any stone unturned pursuant to the political vendetta against her and her family. As a consequence, soon after the floor test, not one or two, but as many as five FIRs inter alia under Sections 506, 420 Penal Code were managed to be lodged against her husband Girdhari Lal Sahu in a land transaction matter between him and his associate on the one hand and Mr. Sundar Singh Bist and his associates on the other. All these FIRs were challenged by way of filing five separate separate writ petitions, wherein a coordinate Bench of this Court was pleased to direct Girdhari Lal Sahu to appear before the Investigation Officer and answer the queries put to him on all the dates as asked by the Investigation Officer.

(2.) Learned Senior Counsel for the applicants has argued that many a times, the accused appeared and answered the queries so put to him by the Investigation Officer, but unfortunately the Investigation Officer, who was conducting the investigation in all those five cases, was transferred and a new Investigation Officer joined on 11.10.2016, to whom the task of investigation has been assigned. Applicants tried to contact the new Investigation Officer, but all went in vain. So, the Investigation Officer moved an application 29.11.2016 to the Magistrate concerned narrating the details of all five FIRs and their crime numbers and requested for issuance of the arrest warrants against the applicants/petitioners. Magistrate concerned quickly issued the NBWs on the same date without rendering any opportunity of hearing to the applicants to clarify their stand in this regard.

(3.) When the petitioners moved warrant recall application on 9.1.2017, it was rejected by the Magistrate concerned with the observation that since the proceedings are pending before the High Court, hence it was not proper to pass any order in such matters.