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Karunashankar Gupta vs State Of U.P. And Another

Allahabad High Court6 May 2026Subhash Chandra Sharma

Ratio decidendi

The rule this decision rests on

At the stage of consideration of an application for discharge under Section 227 Cr.P.C., the trial court is required only to scrutinize the material on record to determine whether a prima facie case exists against the accused, and not to conduct the scrutiny as would be appropriate during the course of trial itself. Where the victim has made a clear and consistent statement establishing the alleged offence against the accused, both during investigation and before the Magistrate under Section 164 Cr.P.C., the rejection of an application for discharge by the trial court does not constitute illegality or impropriety and is not subject to revision where no error of law is discernible in the order.

Written by Miss Lucy from the judgment below, not taken from a headnote.

Judgment

As delivered

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABADNeutral Citation No. - 2026:AHC:105076HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABADCRIMINAL REVISION No. - 2942 of 2026Karunashankar Gupta.....Revisionist(s)VersusState of U.P. and Another.....Opposite Party(s)Counsel for Revisionist(s):Vinod Kumar ShuklaCounsel for Opposite Party(s):G.A.Court No. - 86HON'BLE SUBHASH CHANDRA SHARMA, J.

Heard learned counsel for the revisionist as well as learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the material on record.

This criminal revision has been filed against the order dated 17.03.2026 passed by learned Additional District and Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court First, Varanasi on an application u/s 227 Cr.P.C. for discharge in Session Trial No.864 of 2025 (State vs. Karunashankar Gupta) arising out of Case Crime No.504 of 2020, Police Station Bhelupur, District Varanasi,by which learned trial court has rejected the application for discharge.

It is submitted by learned counsel for the revisionist that in this case the F.I.R. was lodged by the victim herself but there was no allegation of commission of rape against the revisionist in the F.I.R. except an attempt to establish physical relations as a result F.I.R. was lodged under Sections 323, 406, 376/511 I.P.C. During the course of the investigation, the offence u/s 376/511 I.P.C. was not found to be made out as a result charge sheet was filed u/s 406 I.P.C. only. The victim made improvement in her statement before the I.O. u/s 161 Cr.P.C. and also before the learned Magistrate u/s 164 Cr.P.C. in which she stated that the revisionist established physical relations with her. In this way, the statement of the revisionist cannot be said to be reliable. Further submitted that the F.I.R. was lodged after inordinate delay which creates doubt in the whole prosecution story. During the course of trial, learned trial court has summoned the revisionist u/s 376, 506 I.P.C. also for which he has moved and application for discharge but it has been rejected illegally without taking into consideration the contents of F.I.R. and also the statements of the victim, therefore, request to set aside the order dated 17.03.2026 passed by the learned trial court and allow the revision.

Learned A.G.A. opposed the prayer as aforesaid and contended that the F.I.R. cannot be said to be an encyclopedia. In the F.I.R., there is version that the revisionist tried to establish physical relations with her and during the course of investigation when her statement u/s 161 Cr.P.C. was recorded by the I.O. she clearly stated that the revisionist established physical relations with her four times against her will and also he used to administer medicine. In the statement as recorded by the learned Magistrate u/s 164 Cr.P.C. she has again made similar statement regarding establishment of physical relations by the revisionist with her without her consent. The learned trial court has considered the statement as made by the victim herself against the revisionist and then passed the order in question rejecting the application for discharge. Since, at the stage of framing of charge only prima facie case is to be seen and the learned court is not required to appreciate the evidence or material on record as during the course of trial. There is no illegality or impropriety in the order passed by the learned trial court.

Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions made by learned counsel for the revisionist as well as learned A.G.A., perusal of record, the contents of F.I.R., the statements of the victim as recorded by the I.O. during the course of investigation and u/s 164 Cr.P.C. as recorded before the learned Magistrate, it transpires that the victim herself has made clear cut statement against the revisionist to establish physical relation with her against her will that is the reason learned trial court has rejected the application for discharge u/s 227 Cr.P.C. At the stage of framing of charge, the material on record is to be scrutinized by the learned court only to find out the prima facie case against the accused but it is not to be scrutinized as during the course of trial. The learned trial court has considered all these facts and the law on the point and then passed the order dated 17.03.2026. There appears no any illegality or impropriety in the order in question but this revision being devoid of merit is liable to be dismissed.

Accordingly, this criminal revision is dismissed at the admission stage itself.

(Subhash Chandra Sharma,J.)

May 6, 2026

Ashok Gupta

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