HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL REVISION No. - 6541 of 2025 Court No. - 87 HON'BLE ABDUL SHAHID, J. 1. Heard Sri Yakoob Ali, holding brief of Sri Ajahar Zamil, learned counsel for the revisionist and the learned AGA for the State. None is present for opposite party/first informant despite service sufficient. 2. The present criminal revision has been preferred against the impugned order dated 17.9.2025, passed by learned Special Judge, POCSO Act/Additional Sessions Judge, Kushinagar at Padrauni in Special Sessions CXase No. 238 of 2020 (State Vs. Hashmat and others) relating to Case crime No. 396 of 2019, under Section 504, 506, 354 IPC and Section 7/8 of POCSO Act, Police Station Patherwa, District Kushinagar, whereby the application under Section 319 Cr.P.C. has been allowed and the revisionist has been summoned to face trial. 3. Learned counsel for the revisionist has submitted that an FIR has been lodged under Section 354, 506, 504 IPC on 16.12.2019 against three accused persons (1) Hashmat, (2) Sahnawaz and (3) Moharram. Neither any date or place of incident or time has specifically been mentioned in the FIR. There is no specific allegation has been raised against the revisionist/Moharram, who is a practicing advocate. Learned counsel for the revisionist has further submitted that the revisionist has been falsely implicated in the said case because he advised to Sahnawaj and Hashmat and thereafter, father of the complainant has lost his service. Due to that enmity, the revisionist/Moharram has been included in the said case. 4. After detail investigation, charge sheet has been filed on 1.5.2020 only against accused Hashmat and Sahnawaj under Section 504, 506, 354 IPC and Section 7/8 of POCSO Act, whereas during investigation and after perusing the statement of victim, witnesses and inspection of spot, no offence was found against the revisionist/Moharram and he had been exonerated in the said case. 5. After more than five years, an application under Section 319 Cr.P.C has been filed on 27.8.2025 and the impugned order was passed on 17.9.2025, whereby the Versus Counsel for Revisionist(s) : Ajahar Zamil, Juned Alam Counsel for Opposite Party(s) : G.A. Moharram .....Revisionist(s) State Of U.P. And 3 Others .....Opposite Party(s) revisionist has been summoned under Section 319 Cr.P.C. 6. Learned counsel for the revisionist has specifically relied on the affidavit filed by the revisionist/Moharram in support of memo of criminal revision and he relied on paragraph nos. 31 and 32 of the said affidavit which read as under: "31. That the Revisionist is a lawyer he is a practicing in the Tehsil Tamkuhiraj, district Kushinagar since long back with full honesty and the Co-accused Hashmat and Shahnawaz both are clients of the Revisionist and on the advised of the Revisionist the Co-accused Hashmat and Shahnawaz made Complaint against the father of Victim then enquiry initiated against him and after completion of the enquiry father of Victim has been terminated/Since the date of termination suspended from His job. Since the date of termination from the Job the Victim and her family members keeping enmity with the Revisionist and falsely implicated in this Case for none of his fault. 32. That the entire Prosecution story as stated against the Revisionist is false, fabricated and baseless. Infact neither the Revisionist Participated/Involved in the alleged incident nor the Revisionist was present at the place of alleged incident at the relevant time and date." 7. It is held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Hardeep Singh Vs. State of Punjab and others (2014) 3 SCC 92 that the word 'evidence' used in Section 319(1) Cr.P.C. indicates the word 'evidence' is limited to the evidence recorded during trial. It is further held by the Apex Court in Omi @ Omkar Rathore Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and another; 2025 INSC 27 that trial court can add an individual as accused only on the basis of the evidence adduced before it and not on the basis of the materials available in the charge sheet or the case diary because such materials contained in the charge sheet or the case diary do not constitute evidence. 8. It is held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Shiv Baran Vs. State of U.P. and another decided on 16th July, 2025 in Criminal Appeal No. 3008 of 2025 (arising out of SLP (Criminal) No. 3993 of 2025 that trial court can exercise power to summon an additional accused under Section 319 Cr.P.C. only on the basis of the evidence adduced before it and not any other material collected during investigation. It is also held in Brijendra Singh and others Vs. State of Rajasthan (2017) 7 SCC 706 that the word 'evidence' used in Section 319 Cr.P.C. means the material brought before the court during trial but evidence collected by the I.O. can be utilized for corroboration. Whereas, during investigation, no evidence has been found against the revisionist. 9. It is held by the Supreme Court in Chhaya Vs. State of Maharashtra, (2018) 17 SCC 8 which reads as under: CRLR No. 6541 of 2025 2 "10. A perusal of the oral evidence of the parents of the deceased would indicate that only minor allegations are made against the appellant. Vague and cryptic allegations are found against her with no specific allegation in respect of demand for dowry or harassment in any manner. In the absence of definite evidence against the appellant, the Sessions Court and the High Court are not justified in convicting her even for the offence punishable under Section 498-A IPC." 10. It is held by the Supreme court in Geeta Mehrotra Vs. State of U.P. (2012) 10 SCC 741 as under: "18. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court in Ramesh case [(2005) 3 SCC 507 : 2005 SCC (Cri) 735] had been pleased to hold that the bald allegations made against the sister-in-law by the complainant appeared to suggest the anxiety of the informant to rope in as many of the husband's relatives as possible. It was held that neither the FIR nor the charge-sheet furnished the legal basis for the Magistrate to take cognizance of the offences alleged against the appellants. The learned Judges were pleased to hold that looking to the allegations in the FIR and the contents of the charge-sheet, none of the alleged offences under Sections 498-A, 406 IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act were made against the married sister of the complainant's husband who was undisputedly not living with the family of the complainant's husband. Their Lordships of the Supreme Court were pleased to hold that the High Court ought not to have relegated the sister-in-law to the ordeal of trial. Accordingly, the proceedings against the appellants were quashed and the appeal was allowed." 11. It is further held in paragraph no. 25 of Geeta Mehrotra (supra) as under:- "25. However, we deem it appropriate to add by way of caution that we may not be misunderstood so as to infer that even if there are allegation of overt act indicating the complicity of the members of the family named in the FIR in a given case, cognizance would be unjustified but what we wish to emphasize by highlighting is that, if the FIR as it stands does not disclose specific allegation against accused more so against the co-accused specially in a matter arising out of matrimonial bickering, it would be clear abuse of the legal and judicial process to mechanically send the named accused in the FIR to undergo the trial unless of course the FIR discloses specific allegations which would persuade the court to take cognizance of the offence alleged against the relatives of the main accused who are prima facie not found to have indulged in physical and mental torture of the complainant-wife. It is the well settled principle laid down in cases too numerous to mention, that if the FIR did not disclose the commission of an offence, the court would be justified in quashing the proceedings preventing the abuse of the process of law. Simultaneously, the courts are expected to adopt a cautious approach in matters of quashing specially in cases of matrimonial dispute whether the FIR in fact discloses commission of an offence by the relatives of the principal accused or the FIR prima facie discloses a case of over-implication by involving the entire family of the accused at the instance of the complainant, who is CRLR No. 6541 of 2025 3 out to settle her scores arising out of the teething problem or skirmish of domestic bickering while settling down in her new matrimonial surrounding." 12. It is held in Hardeep Singh (supra) that summoning of accused under Section 319 Cr.P.C. is settled, that this power is an extra ordinary power, which should be used sparingly with circumspection and while passing the summoning order under Section 319 Cr.P.C, court must consider whether more than prima facie case made out, or not, mere prima facie case is not sufficient. 13. There is no specific allegation and specific role of the revisionist has been made in the said complaint which is filed by the complainant/victim herself. After complete investigation, his name was exonerated and no charge sheet was filed against him. 14. The statement of opposite party no.2/complainant has been recorded before the trial court on 19.12.2024, where she states victim's age 19 years. She deposed that the incident is of the year 2019. When she was going to study then co-villager Hashmat, Sahnawaj and Moharram have committed some bad act with her. She has specifically stated that she do not remember the date of incident. Whenever I go to school, they commit some bad act with her. I had narrated the incident to my parents. I had left my study due to fear of these persons and whenever he met the revisionist, he threatened that he is an advocate and also hurled abuses. She has not specified any specific act committed by the revisionist/Moharram either in the FIR or in the statement recorded before the court of law in her examination-in-chief. She did not remember date of incident. She has barely made allegation on the revisionist. Even thereafter whenever if he threatened because of an advocate, no date, time and place is even disclosed in the statement recorded before the court of law. 15. It is settled law that to summon an accused under Section 319 Cr.P.C., there must be more than prima facie case whichever is required for framing of charge. The evidence that must be of such nature that if it goes unrebutted, it may close to the conviction. In this case, neither any specific role or specific act committed by the revisionist with the complainant has been mentioned in the FIR nor in the statement recorded before the court of law. She did not remember the date of incident. She never disclosed either place, time or place of incident whenever revisionist had committed any mal-treatment with her. 16. The said application under Section 319 Cr.P.C. was even filed on 27.8.2025 after five years of the alleged incident. The revisionist has also exonerated in the charge sheet and no evidence was found against the revisionist during investigation. The evidence recorded by the victim/complainant as PW-1 is not upto such extent which fulfills ingredients of Section 319 Cr.P.C. 17. In view of all these facts and circumstances of the case and provisions of law, the impugned order dated 17.9.2025 is hereby set aside. The order, if any, passed in CRLR No. 6541 of 2025 4 consequence of that order, are also set aside. 18. The criminal revision is hereby allowed, accordingly. March 10, 2026 sfa/ CRLR No. 6541 of 2025 5 (Abdul Shahid,J.) Digitally signed by :- SYED FAHEEM AHMAD High Court of Judicature at Allahabad