2012 (4) TMI 794 - HC - Indian Laws

Summary

Issues involved: Registration of petitions as criminal misc. petitions instead of criminal writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution.

The petitioner argued that the matters were wrongly registered as criminal misc. petitions instead of criminal writ petitions as per Rule 315(h) of the Rajasthan High Court Rules, 1952. The petitioner cited judgments from Bombay High Court and Jharkhand High Court where criminal writ petitions were separately registered. The petitioner contended that confining the petition to Section 482 Cr.P.C. limits the jurisdiction of the High Court, whereas registering them as criminal writ petitions under Article 226/227 would provide wider jurisdiction to the High Court.

The learned Public Prosecutor agreed that if Rule 315(h) requires criminal writ petitions to be registered separately, there should be no impediment in directing the registry to do so. Section 482 of Cr.P.C. allows petitions to give effect to any order under the Code or to prevent abuse of process, while petitions under Article 226/227 may have wider ramifications beyond the state's territory. The Court held that since Rule 315(h) requires criminal writ petitions to be separately registered, the petitions should be registered as such, overruling the objection raised by the registry. The registry was directed to register the petitions separately as S.B. Criminal Writ Petitions and list them before the appropriate bench.