Use of blank printed proformas by Magistrates for judicial orders unacceptable: Allahabad High Court

The use of blank printed proformas by Magistrates for passing judicial orders is unacceptable as it indicates a lack of judicial consideration in the decision-making process, the Allahabad High Court recently held..A Bench of Justice Syed Qamar Hasan Rizvi observed that while passing any judicial order including an order taking cognizance of a chargesheet, the concerned court is required to apply judicial mind and the order of taking cognizance cannot be passed in a mechanical manner. "It would not be out of place to note that although no detailed order is required to be passed at the time of taking cognizance, but the use of blank printed proforma for passing the judicial order by the Magistrate is also not acceptable being indicative of non-application of judicial mind in passing the judicial order," the Court stated. .Consequently, the Court set aside a cognisance and summoning order issued by a Magistrate court in Azamgarh in a case under Sections 434 (mischief) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The judicial officer was directed to pass a new order based on the chargesheet filed in the case."Taking into consideration the factual matrix of the case and the deliberations made herein above, this Court finds force in the submission made by the learned counsel for the applicant that the impugned summoning / cognizance order dated 25.07.2022 being prepared by filling the blanks on the printed proforma, in the most machinal manner without application of judicial mind, is legally unsustainable thereby, causing miscarriage of justice," the Court noted..The Court was hearing a plea filed by one Roshan Lal challenging the cognisance and summoning order from July 2022, as well as the ongoing proceedings in the criminal case before the Additional Civil Judge (Judicial Division) / Judicial Magistrate, Azamgarh..The applicant contended that he had been falsely implicated in the criminal case by the opposite party to harass him and exert undue pressure despite the dispute between them being purely civil in nature.It was further argued that the lower court passed the cognisance order mechanically and arbitrarily, using a printed proforma, thereby disregarding the requirements under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which deals with cognizance of offences by Magistrates..In light of the above, the Court examined the challenged order and observed that the Magistrate had issued the order using a printed proforma, where he placed his abbreviated signature above the court's seal. The Court further noted that the magistrate filled in only specific details such as the case number, name of the accused, relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, name of the police station, date of the order issuance and the next scheduled date."It is abundantly clear that in the present case, impugned cognizance and summoning order has been passed without any application of mind as the same does not reflect any consideration by the learned Magistrate, qua the material on record to be sufficient to proceed against the accused-applicant, before taking cognizance of the offence under Sections 434 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. Therefore, the impugned cognizance and summoning order is unsustainable in law and is liable to be quashed on this score alone," the High Court said. .Such action on the part of the Magistrate is dehors of the provision of Section 190, CrPC, the Court concluded. Hence, it set aside the Magistrate's order."This Court in order to prevent the abuse of the process of Court and to secure the ends of justice finds reasons to entertain the present Application in exercise of its power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure," the order said. .Advocates Babu Lal Ram and Kamlesh Kumar Rajbhar appeared for applicant..[Read Order]