Allahabad High Court
RAJEEV AHIRWARversusSTATE OF U.P. AND ANOTHER
- Decided
- Bench
- SANJAY KUMAR PACHORI
Holding
The Court held that the application under Section 528 to quash the proceedings was not maintainable and dismissed it, while permitting the applicant to withdraw and pursue a regular bail application.
Summary
The applicant, Rajeev Ahirwar, filed an application under Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 seeking to quash the criminal proceedings (Criminal Case No. 47306 of 2025) arising from offences under Sections 281 and 106(1) of the B.N.S. and Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC. The applicant argued that he was never arrested and that the charge‑sheet had already been filed, contending that the offence carried a maximum punishment of seven years. The Court examined the propriety of invoking Section 528 to terminate the proceedings and considered the relevant Supreme Court precedent on bail for Category A accused whose charge‑sheet has been filed. The Court refused the prayer to quash the case but allowed the applicant to withdraw the application and file a regular bail petition, directing that any bail application be decided in line with the Satender Kumar Antil judgment. Consequently, the application was disposed of with liberty to seek bail.
Issues considered
- Whether an application under Section 528 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita can be entertained to quash pending criminal proceedings where a charge‑sheet has already been filed.
- Whether the applicant is entitled to bail without physical custody under the Supreme Court’s Category A guidelines.
Legislation cited
- Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 — s. 106(1), 281, 528
- Indian Penal Code — s. 279, 304-A
Subjects
- Section 528
- quash of criminal proceedings
- bail
- Category A accused
- charge‑sheet
- discretion of court
- criminal procedure
Judgment
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
APPLICATION U/S 528 BNSS No. - 5725 of 2026
Rajeev Ahirwar
.....Applicant(s)
Versus
State of U.P. and Another
.....Opposite
Party(s)
Counsel for Applicant(s) : Sushil Kumar
Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A.
Court No. - 74
HON'BLE SANJAY KUMAR PACHORI, J.
Sri Babu Lal Ram, Advocate holding brief of Shri Sushil Kumar, learned
counsel for the applicant and Sri Abhishek Kumar, learned A.G.A. for the
State and perused the material on record.
The present application under Section 528 of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha
Sanhita, 2023 has been filed to quash the entire proceedings of Criminal
Case No. 47306 of 2025, arising out of Case Crime No. 97 of 2025, under
Sections 281/106(1) of B.N.S. (Sections 279, 304-A, I.P.C.), Police Station-
Badagaon, District- Jhansi as well as cognizance/summoning order dated
27.10.2025, pending in the Court of Judicial Magistrate- II, Jhansi.
Learned counsel for the applicant submits that applicant was not arrested
during the course of investigation and the charge-sheet have been submitted
against him. It is further submitted that the offence is punishable up to 7
years imprisonment.
Upon considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the prayer made
by learned counsel for the applicant is, hereby, refused.
After some arguments, learned counsel for the applicant wants to withdraw
the application with liberty to file a regular bail application before the court
of competent jurisdiction.
In case bail application is filed by the learned counsel for the applicant, the
same shall be decided in the light of the observations made in the judgment
rendered by the Supreme Court in Satender Kumar Antil Vs. Central
Bureau of Investigation & Another, (2022) 10 SCC 51, wherein the
Supreme Court considering the category(A) as mentioned in the paragraph
no. 2, bail applications of such accused against which charge-sheet has been
NA528 No. 5725 of 2026
2
submitted on appearance may be decided without the accused being taken in
physical custody or by granting interim bail till the bail application is
decided. It has been observed that at the cost of repetition, we wish to state
that, in category A, one would expect a better exercise of discretion on the
part of the court in favour of the accused.
The application stands disposed of with the aforesaid liberty.
March 18, 2026
T. Sinha
(Sanjay Kumar Pachori,J.)
Digitally signed by :-
TRIPTI SINHA
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
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