Allahabad High Court
ARSH ALIversusSTATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER
- Decided
Holding
The trial court’s order rejecting the discharge application is upheld; the revision is dismissed.
Summary
The High Court examined a criminal revision filed by Arsh Ali challenging the Special Judge’s order that rejected his application for discharge under Section 250 of the B.N.S. The revisionist argued that he was not arrested on the spot, no arms were recovered from him, and the prosecution relied solely on statements of co‑accused, which should not sustain charges under the Arms Act. The State contended that the co‑accused identified him as having participated in firing on police personnel and that, at the discharge stage, the court need only find a prima facie case, not conduct a full trial‑level scrutiny. The Court held that the FIR, recovery memo, witness statements and the co‑accused’s identification provided sufficient prima facie material to reject the discharge application and that no illegality existed in the trial court’s order. Accordingly, the revision was dismissed at the admission stage, reaffirming that the threshold for framing charges is merely a prima facie evidentiary basis even without seizure of weapons.
Issues considered
- Whether the trial court erred in rejecting the revisionist’s discharge application under Section 250 of the B.N.S.
- Whether the absence of recovered arms precludes framing of charges under the Arms Act against the revisionist
- Whether statements of co‑accused persons are sufficient to establish a prima facie case for the offences alleged
Legislation cited
Subjects
- criminal revision
- discharge application
- prima facie case
- Arms Act
- confessional statements
- evidentiary standards
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
CRIMINAL REVISION No. - 2895 of 2026
Arsh Ali
.....Revisionist(s)
Versus
State of U.P. and Another
.....Opposite
Party(s)
Counsel for Revisionist(s) : Archit Mandhyan, Mantosh Singh
Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A.
Court No. - 86
HON'BLE SUBHASH CHANDRA SHARMA, J.
Heard learned counsel for the revisionist as well as learned A.G.A. for the
State and perused the material on record.
The present criminal revision has been filed with prayer to set aside the
impugned judgment and order dated 10.04.2026 passed by learned Special
Judge (S.C./S.T.) Act, Bhadohi-Gyanpur in Sessions Trial No.78 of 2026
(State vs. Haris and others) arising out of Case Crime No.140 of 2025, under
Sections 109(1), 317(4), 3(5) of B.N.S., Police Station Bhadohi, District
Bhadohi and to stay the further proceedings of the aforesaid case.
It is submitted by learned counsel for the revisionist that he was not arrested
by the police on the spot in the alleged incident but on the basis of statement
made by other co-accused persons namely Atiq Ahmad the present
revisionist was also involved in the case for making fire on the police
personnel. Further submitted that no any recovery was made from the
possession of the present revisionist even though the learned trial court has
rejected the application for discharge against the present revisionist for the
offences u/s 109(1), 317(4), 3/5 B.N.S. and Section 3/25 Arms Act. He also
submitted that he was not involved in the incident but only on the basis of
confessional statement of co-accused persons his involvement in the present
case cannot be said to be established and he cannot be prosecuted for the
aforesaid offences. Learned trial court has not considered all these facts
while deciding the application for discharge u/s 250 B.N.S.S., therefore, the
order dated 10.04.2026 passed by learned trial court is erroneous and is
liable to be set aside.
CRLR No. 2895 of 2026
2
Learned A.G.A. opposed the prayer as aforesaid and contended that there
were two motorcycles on which the culprits were riding and made fire on the
police party. Three persons on one motorcycle were arrested by the police
and two others ran away form the spot whose names were disclosed by the
arrested accused persons. Since, there was no any recovery from the
possession of the present revisionist that was the reason no charge sheet u/s
3/25 Arms Act was filed against the present revisionist. The learned trial
court has considered all these facts while passing the order in question and at
the stage of framing of charge, the appreciation of material collected during
the course of investigation by the police is not expected to be done as during
the course of trial but it is only with a view to find out prima facie case.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions made by
learned counsel for the revisionist as well as learned A.G.A., perusal of
record, the contents of F.I.R., the recovery memo, the statements of
witnesses and the order dated10.04.2026 passed by learned trial court, it
transpires that as per the allegation in F.I.R. the revisionist was also involved
with other accused persons in making fire on the police personnel though no
any injury was caused to them but he ran away from the spot and his name
was disclosed by the other co-accused persons those were arrested by the
police. Since, there was no any recovery of arms or ammunition from the
possession of the present revisionist that was the reason charge sheet was not
filed against him u/s 3/25 Arms Act. Learned court concerned has taken into
consideration the material collected during the course of investigation and
then passed the order in question. At the stage of discharge, the court is to
appreciate the material on record only with a view to find out prima facie
case against the accused persons and even on grave suspicion charge can be
framed. At this stage, the scrutiny of material is not to be made as is required
during trial. In this way, there appears no any illegality and impropriety in
the order passed by learned trial court dated 10.04.2026 but this revision
being devoid of merit is liable to be dismissed.
Accordingly, this criminal revision is dismissed at the admission stage itself.
May 12, 2026
Ashok Gupta
(Subhash Chandra Sharma,J.)
Digitally signed by :-
ASHOK KUMAR GUPTA
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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