Court cannot issue summons after sentencing: High Court

Zainul Abdin
Prayagraj. Allahabad High Court has said in its important decision that no magistrate or court has the right to issue summons to anyone after sentencing the accused in a criminal case. The court has canceled the summons issued by Additional District and Sessions Judge Meerut to the Principal of Meerut Medical College Padmashree Dr. Usha Sharma terming it illegal. Justice Shiv Shankar Prasad has given this order while accepting the revision petition of Padmashree Dr. Usha Sharma.

The court said that the trial court did not consider the evidence and decisions and issued the summons without drawing concrete conclusions. The dead body of second-year student Siddharth Chaudhary was found in the room allotted to Sachin Malik in the hostel of the medical college.

The warden called the police and the parents. The father of the deceased, Dr. Surendra Singh Garwal resident of Muzaffarnagar lodged an FIR in the Medical Police Station Meerut on 6 July 2004. The cause of death could not be ascertained in the post-mortem report. Injuries were found on the body of the deceased. Police filed a closure report. When the complainant objected, the summons was issued to the three accused Sachin Malik, Amandeep Singh, and Yashpal Rana, and the trial was held after framing charges but the closure report on the principal was accepted.

On 12 December 19, the court sentenced all three accused to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. By this order, the summons was issued to the petitioner under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which was challenged. After giving the verdict, the court considered issuing summons to others as illegal and canceled it.