IN RE: THAMMINENI SANTHANAMMA AND ORS. Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) NOTICE is not necessary on this petition, the point involved being one between the Court and four women accused. A private complaint was laid against them and their husbands under Sections 147 and 352, Indian Penal Code. The Magistrate dismissed an application for the women to be represented by their husbands at the trial under Rule 82 of the Criminal Rules of Practice. His order is prima facie erroneous. One reason he gives is that this rule cannot be construed to abrogate the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code by which he presumably meant Section 205(1), Criminal Procedure Code. Rule 82 merely amplifies and explains Section 205(1), Criminal Procedure Code and a Court should under this "as a rule where there are more accused than one" permit any one to appear plead or act for such other in any criminal proceeding. The present case is one eminently suitable for the application of this rule. The petitioners are permitted to appear at the adjournments of this case through their husbands unless the Court requires their presence for purposes of identification or for any other reason.