SAURABH VERMA AND 2 OTHERSversusSTATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER

             HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD

                   CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 2462 of 2026

Saurabh Verma And 2 Others
                                                                 .....Appellant(s)
                                     Versus
State of U.P. and Another
                                                               .....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Appellant(s)             :   Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi
Counsel for Respondent(s)            :   Ajay Kumar, Shubham Kumar, G.A.

Court No. - 51
                      HON'BLE MADAN PAL SINGH, J.

1. Supplementary affidavit filed on behalf of the appellants in the Court
today is taken on record.

2. Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned A.G.A. for the State
and the learned counsel opposite party no.2.

3. The present appeal has been filed with a prayer to quash the summoning
order dated 5th February, 2026 passed by the Special Judge (S.C./S.T.
Act)/Additional Sessions Judge, Agra in Case No. 339 of 2025 (Swevata Vs.
Saurabh Verma & Others), arising out of Case Crime No. 577 of 2024, under
Sections 323, 376, 511, 504, 506 I.P.C. and Sections 3 (1)da, 3 (1) dha and 3
(2) (5) of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities),
Act, 1989, Police Station-Sikandara, District-Agra.

4. Submission of the learned counsel for the appellant is that the appellants
are innocent, as the present first information report implicating the appellants
is false and fabricated with ulterior motive. The present first information report
lodged by opposite party no.2 is nothing but a bundle of lie and the same has
been lodged only for exploiting the appellants by indulging their names in a
fake, false and frivolous case. The entire prosecution story as unfolded in the
first information report is absolutely a self-made story projected by opposite
party no.2 in harass the appellants. It is further submitted that for the alleged
incident dated 8th June, 2024, the instant first information report/complaint
has been lodged by opposite party no.2 after three months i.e. on 7th
September, 2024 for which no plausible explanation has been given. He has
further submitted that such incident has never taken place. The real fact is that
there was business transaction between the husband of opposite party no.2,
who is Sub-Divisional Magistrate and due to money, the present false criminal
proceedings have been initiated by opposite party no.2 against the appellants
in collusion with her husband. Since due to money, the husband of the
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opposite party no.2 used to harass and threaten the appellant no.1 who is
doing business of silver, therefore, he has made complaint against the
husband of opposite party no.2 under Section 115 (2), 352, 351 (3), 108, 318
(4), 308 (2) and 61 B.N.S., Police Station-Nai Ki Mandi, District-Agra. In
counter blast to the said proceedings, the instant criminal case has been
engineered against the appellants.

5. Learned counsel for the appellants also submits that after statutory
investigation, since the Investigating Officer found the allegations made by the
oppose party no.2 against the appellants to be false, therefore, he has
submitted final report against them.

6. Learned counsel for the opposite party no. 2 and the learned A.G.A. have
opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the appellant. So
far as the submission of the learned counsel for the appellants that the
application for lodging of the first information report has been lodged after
delay of thee months, is concerned, the learned counsel for opposite party
no.2 has placed reliance upon the contents of the first information report
lodged by opposite party no.2 against the appellants in which the delay in
lodging of the first information report has satisfactorily been explained.

7. He also submits that the complaint made by appellant no.1 against the
husband of opposite party no.2 on 17th August, 2024 is for another incident
and the same has no concern with the present criminal proceedings.

8. I have considered the facts and circumstances of the case, the submissions
made by the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the
records of the present criminal appeal including the impugned summoning
order.

9. The contention of learned counsel for the appellant is that no offence
against the appellant is disclosed and the present prosecution has been
instituted with a malafide intention and as a counter blast to the proceedings
initiated by appellant no.1 against the husband of opposite party no.2. He
pointed out certain documents and statements in support of his contention.

10. Since the argument raised by learned counsel for the appellant involves
factual disputes and appraisal of evidence, the same can only be decided after
conclusion of the trial by examining oral as well as documentary evidence
adduced during the course of trial.

11. From the perusal of the material on record and looking into the facts of the
case at this stage it cannot be said that no offence is made out against the
appellant at this stage. All the submissions made at the bar, relate to the
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disputed questions of fact, which cannot be adjudicated upon by this Court
under Section 482 Cr.P.C. At this stage only prima facie case is to be seen in
the light of the law laid down by Supreme Court in cases of R.P. Kapur Vs.
State of Punjab, A.I.R. 1960 S.C. 866, State of Haryana Vs. Bhajan Lal,
1992 SCC (Cr.) 426, State of Bihar Vs. P.P.Sharma, 1992 SCC (Cr.) 192,
Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. Vs. Mohd. Saraful Haq and another
(Para-10) 2005 SCC (Cr.) 283 and lastly, State of U.P. Vs. Akhil Sharda &
Others reported in 2022 SCC OnLine SC 820.

12. In the opinion of the Court if the Magistrate finds that the criminal case or
complaint is supported with material evidence and there appears prima facie
case to have been made out that will be the sufficient ground for summoning
as has been held by the Apex Court in the case of Chandra Dev Singh Vs.
Prakash Chandra Bose reported in ACR 1964 (1) 639 and Smt. Nagbba Vs.
Viranna Shivlingappa Konjalgi & Others reported in 1976 (13) ACC 22
(SC).

13. In the present case, he trial court while passing the impugned summoning
order has referred to the statements of the victim/opposite party no.2 recorded
under Sections 180 and 183 B.N.S.S., wherein the victim has stated that on
the date of the incident i.e. 8th June, 2024 between 11:00 to 11:30 p.m., he
along with her husband and children had gone to Sky Restaurant, Sikandra, to
celebrate Mukesh Kumar's wedding anniversary. The appellant no.1 had
come there with his wife, Durgesh, and sister. When the victim went to the
restaurant washroom at the time of the incident, appellant no.1 forcibly
entered there. Appellant no.1 had taken off his underwear and pants. When
the victim saw him, she screamed, but he gagged her and tried to rape her.
When the victim refused, he beat her up, abused by using cast indicated
words, and threatened to kill her and her. The trial court has also found that
the same version has also been reiterated in the protest petition filed by
victim/opposite party no.2. The trial court has also recorded the statement of
independent witness, namely, Mukesh, who supports the version of the
victim/opposite party no2.

14. On the basis of aforesaid statements and contents made by the victim in
the first information report as well as in the protest petition, the trial court has
prima faice opined that offences under sections 376 along with 511, 323, 504,
506 of IPC and section 3(2)5 of SC/ST Act appear to be made out against the
accused Saurabh Verma and the offences under sections 323, 504, 506 of
IPC and sections 3(1)d, 3(1)d of SC/ST Act appear to be made out against the
accused Mrs. Durgesh Verma and Lata Verma. Therefore, the final report No.
280/2024 dated 17.10.2024 sent by the investigating officer is liable to be
cancelled and the protest petition of the plaintiff is liable to be accepted.
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                                    15. After deeper scrutiny, this Court is of the view that the impugned order is
                                    based on well detailed discussion of the documentary material and evidence
                                    on record. As such, this Court finds that the Magistrate has rightly summoned
                                    the accused-appellants for facing trial and there is no illegality or impropriety in
                                    the impugned order. The delay in lodging of the first information report has
                                    also been explained by learned counsel for opposite party no.2 referred to
                                    above. As such, the impugned order is correct and the same is liable to be
                                    confirmed.

                                    16. The prayer for quashing the aforesaid summoning order as well as entire
                                    proceeding of the aforesaid case is refused.

                                    17. The present criminal appeal is, accordingly, dismissed.
                                    April 21, 2026
                                    Sushil/-
                                                                                                (Madan Pal Singh,J.)




Digitally signed by :-
SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad