SAODHAN Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS petition is filed by the applicant under the provisions of section 482/401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, challenging an order passed by Sessions judge, Bhind, on 7-7-1984.

(2.) A preliminary objection has been raised by Shri D. K. Katare and Shri N. D. Singhal, learned counsel for non-applicants Nos. 2,3,4 and 5 that the applicant has no locus standi to invoke the revisional jurisdiction or the inherent powers of this Court.

(3.) FACTS. On 7-4-1972 a report was lodged by the applicant in the police station, and the police registered a case under sections 420,467,468 and 471 of the Indian Penal code against non-applicants Nos. 2 to 5. It was nearly after three years that a charge-sheet was filed by the police on 7-8-1975, The trial Court fixed the date 23-6-1977 and directed the prosecution to produce its witnesses. Since then, till 1984 the prosecution has been getting opportunities to produce the prosecution witnesses. It was only on 19-6-1984 that Annexure A was filed by the Public Prosecutor under the provisions of section 311, Criminal Procedure Code, for examining M. S. Chauhan, R. R. Chaudhari, jaichand Patwari and other witnesses as Court witnesses. The trial Court refused to exercise its judicial discretion conferred upon it under section 311, Criminal Procedure code on the ground that the prosecution had lost the original records and a very long rope was given to it for examining its witnesses. Being aggrieved by the order passed by the trial Court, the applicant knocked at the doors of the Sessions Judge's Court in revision, which dismissed the revision petition and maintained that the applicant had no locus standi to file the revision before it. The Sessions Court further refused to interfere in the judicial discretion exercised by the trial Court. It is against this order that Shri B. G. Apte, learned counsel for the applicant, has invoked the inherent powers of this Court.