it is not essential for a person to be arrested before a challan can be presented against him

Section 167(2) CRPC Sections 420, 406, 409, 465, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B IPC Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 Sections 7 and 13(1) Grant of default bail Petitioner has been involved in this case as at the relevant time he was working as Inspector, Grade-II, PUNSUP, Ferozepur, deputed to purchase paddy from 'Mandi Jiwan Arai' and 'Panje ke Uttar' and allegedly, he along with the co-accused showed purchase of more paddy than actually done thereby causing a loss of Rs.3 crores (approx.) to the State Exchequer - A charge sheet is a final report within the meaning of Sub-section (2) of Section 173 of the Code. It is filed so as to enable the court concerned to apply its mind as to whether cognizance of the offence thereupon should be taken or not. The report is ordinarily filed in the form prescribed therefor. One of the requirements for submission of a police report is whether any offence appears to have been committed and, if so, by whom. In some cases, the accused having not been arrested, the investigation against him may not be complete. There may not be sufficient material for arriving at a decision that the absconding accused is also a person by whom the offence appears to have been committed. If the investigating officer finds sufficient evidence even against such an accused who had been absconding, in our opinion, law does not require - It is evident that in law it is not essential for a person to be arrested before a challan can be presented against him - Only requirement for applicability of the proviso to Section 167(2) Cr.P.C. is that investigation should be pending against the petitioner - Language of the challan presented on 23.01.2019 gives the impression that investigation against the petitioner is not pending - Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to dispel this impression either with his argument or with the help of any other evidence - Petition dismissed

HANSA SINGH vs STATE OF PUNJAB CRR 710/20 02/07/20 [ Sudhir JJ ]

[ PUNJAB HARYANA HIGH COURT ]