HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No. - 8545 of 2024 Court No. - 86 HON'BLE SHEKHAR KUMAR YADAV, J. 1. Heard learned counsel for the appellants, learned counsel for the respondent no.2 and learned A.G.A for the State as well as perused the record. 2. The present criminal appeal under Section 14-A(1) Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been preferred to set- aside the impugned summoning order dated 30.07.2024 passed by learned Special Judge SC/ST Act, Mirzapur in Complaint Case No. 102 of 2023 ( Babulal Versus Chhotelal Tiwari and others) under Sections 323, 504, 506, 452 I.P.C. and Sections 3(1)r, 3(1)s, 3(2)(va) of SC/ST Act, Police Station- Kotwali Dehat, District- Mirzapur with a further prayer to stay further proceedings of the aforesaid case. 3. As per prosecution story, the opposite party no. 2 moved an application under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C. against appellants in the court of Special Jude SC/ST Act Mirzapur on 06.07.2023 with allegation that on 29.06.2023 at about 10 a.m., the appellants forcibly tied the wire at chakroad Arazi No. 107 which is situated in side of plot no. 108, when he opposed them, they started abusing him and beaten him with kick-punch and lathi-danda, when he ran away and entered in his house, they beaten him entering in his house and when his wife Malti Devi trying to save him, they also beaten his wife, due to that both sustained injury. 4. Learned counsel for the appellants contends that the appellants are Versus Counsel for Appellant(s) : Ashish Bajpayee, Sanjay Dwivedi, Surendra Tiwari Counsel for Respondent(s) : G.A., Kunvar Saurabh Singh, Shailesh Pandey Chhote Lal And 7 Others .....Appellant(s) State of U.P. and Another .....Respondent(s) innocent and have been falsely implicated. It is further contended that the appellants neither beaten the opposite party no.2 nor abused him by caste indicating words, he has filed complaint case against the appellants on the basis of forged and fabricated injury report. 5. It is further contended that the learned court below took cognizance and summoned the appellants on 30.7.2024, by which date the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) had already come into force w.e.f. 01.07.2024; hence, the provisions of BNSS, 2023 would be applicable to the present proceedings. In support of his submission, learned counsel has relied upon the judgment of this Court in Deepu and 4 others vs. State of U.P. and 3 others, Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 12287 of 2024, wherein it has been held that the procedural provisions of the BNSS apply retrospectively to proceedings commenced after 01.07.2024, subsequent proceedings including inquiry, trial and appeal shall be governed by BNSS, 2023. The relevant extract from paragraphs 15 and 16 of the said judgment reads as under: "If any offence is committed prior to the enforcement of new criminal laws, and F.I.R. is also registered prior to the enforcement of new criminal laws, then the procedure of investigation would be as per the Cr.P.C. in view of Section 531(2)(a) of the BNSS. However, where cognizance is taken on or after 01.07.2024, all subsequent proceedings including enquiry, trial or appeal would be conducted as per the procedure of BNSS. Section 531(2)(a) of BNSS saves only pending investigation, trial, appeal, application and enquiry, therefore, if any trial, appeal, revision or application is commenced after 01.07.2024, the same will be proceeded as per the procedure of BNSS." 6. Reliance has also been placed on Rahul Gandhi vs. State of U.P. through Addl. Chief Secretary (Home), Lko. and another, Application U/S 482 No. 4623 of 2025. It is argued that there is no reliable evidence connecting the appellants with the alleged offence, and no prima facie case is made out against them. It is further urged that the learned court CRLA No. 8545 of 2024 2 below has passed the impugned summoning order mechanically, without due application of judicial mind. The impugned order, therefore, deserves to be set aside. 7. Learned A.G.A. opposed the appeal but did not dispute the legal position as laid down in Deepu (supra). 8. Upon hearing the rival submissions and perusal of the record, this Court finds that the learned Special Judge has failed to apply his judicial mind to the material available before summoning the appellants. Moreover, in view of the law laid down in Deepu and others vs. State of U.P. (supra), since cognizance in the present case was taken after 01.07.2024, the procedure prescribed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 was applicable. The court below, however, proceeded under the old procedural regime without adverting to the applicability of BNSS, rendering the impugned order legally unsustainable. 9. Accordingly, the impugned summoning order dated 30.7.2024 passed by the learned Special Judge (SC/ST Act), Mirzapur, is hereby quashed and set aside. The matter is remanded to the court below to pass a fresh order in accordance with law after due consideration of the facts, evidence, and the procedural provisions of BNSS, 2023. 10. With the aforesaid observations and directions, the present criminal appeal stands allowed. October 14, 2025 Krishna* CRLA No. 8545 of 2024 3 (Shekhar Kumar Yadav,J.) Digitally signed by :- KRISHNA KUMAR High Court of Judicature at Allahabad