Madhya Pradesh High Court: In a petition filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC), challenging the legality and validity of the impugned orders passed by the MP/MLA Court issuing a bailable warrants against Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP State President Vishnu Datt Sharma for not Submitting personal undertakings for permanent exemption, a single-judge bench comprising of Sanjay Dwivedi, J., stayed the impugned orders dated 22-03-2024 and 02-04-2024 as an interim measure, and directed that the warrants against the petitioners are not to be issued until the next hearing on 23-04-2024.
In the instant matter, the petitioners filed a petition under Section 482 of CrPC, challenging the legality and validity of the orders dated 22-03-2024 and 02-04-2024 passed by the Special Judicial Magistrate (MP/MLA Court), Jabalpur. The trial court, vide order 22-03-2024, partly allowed the petitioners’ application seeking exemption from personal appearance for that date only but directed them to submit their personal undertaking for permanent exemption and vide order dated 02-04-2024 the trial court rejected the petitioners’ applications for permanent exemption and preponed the date of their appearance, along with issuing bailable warrants against them.
The petitioner argued that their failure to submit the undertaking was due to their busy schedules as they are senior leaders of the ruling party contesting Parliamentary Elections. It was contended that the complaint in question is politically motivated which has been filed to malign the political career of the petitioners and the said action of the complainant is an outburst of the same owing to the forthcoming Lok Sabha Election. On the other hand, the respondent argued that the trial court’s directions were in line with the legal requirements and asserted that the petitioners were obligated to comply with the trial court’s orders, including submitting the undertaking.
The Court noted the petitioners’ prior exemption from appearance and the upcoming elections as relevant factors. Consequently, the Court directed that warrants against the petitioners should not be issued until the next hearing scheduled on 23-04-2024. The Court observed that the matter was already under consideration by the High Court and stayed the impugned orders as an interim measure.
[Shivraj Singh Chouhan v. Vivek Krishna Tankha, 2024 SCC OnLine MP 1820, order dated 03-04-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Shri R.N. Singh, Senior Advocate with Shri Akshat Arjaria, Counsel for the Petitioners
Shri Shivendra Pandey, Counsel for the Respondent
Buy Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 HERE
