01Facts
The Petitioner lodged an FIR in 2003 alleging that two officials demanded a bribe
¶ 2During the subsequent trial in CTR No. 44 of 2003, the Petitioner was examined as P.W.4 but turned hostile, leading to the acquittal of the accused officials in 2011
¶ 2Consequently, the Vigilance Department filed a fresh FIR (No. 94 of 2011) against the Petitioner under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption (P.C.) Act and Sections 181 and 182 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly lodging a false case and abetting the accused by resiling from his statement
¶ 3The Petitioner’s application for discharge under Section 239 Cr.P.C. was rejected by the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sambalpur on 26.07.2025
¶ 5The Petitioner challenged this rejection via criminal revision
¶ 102Issues
i.1. Whether a witness who turns hostile during a trial can be prosecuted for abetment under Section 12 of the P.C. Act
¶ 11ii.2. Whether the Court could take cognizance of offences under Sections 181 and 182 of the IPC based on a police FIR, in view of the bar under Section 195(1)(a) of the Cr.P.C.
¶ 12, 1303Law Applied
Section 12 of the P.C. Act, which punishes the abetment of offences under Sections 7 or 11
¶ 8Section 195(1)(a)(i) of the Cr.P.C., which mandates that cognizance of offences under Sections 172 to 188 of the IPC (including 181 and 182) can only be taken upon a "complaint in writing" by the public servant concerned or their superior
¶ 8, 12Kamal Kumar Nanda v. State of Orissa (Vig) (2017), establishing that a witness cannot be prosecuted for abetment simply for resiling from a police statement, and that the procedural bar of Section 195 is absolute
¶ 9, 14Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency Pvt. Ltd v. CBI regarding the limited scope of interference in revision against charge-framing
¶ 9Provisions in the judgment · 53 · Linked ones open on LawLens
Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 Section 438Section 442
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 9 provisions
Section 2Section 161Section 162Section 164Section 195Section 239Section 248Section 397Section 482Indian Penal Code, 1860 36 provisions
Section 34Section 172Section 173Section 174Section 175Section 176Section 177Section 178Section 179Section 180Section 181Section 182Section 183Section 184Section 185Section 186Section 187Section 188Section 193Section 194Section 195Section 196Section 199Section 200Section 205Section 206Section 207Section 208Section 209Section 210Section 211Section 228Section 463Section 471Section 475Section 476Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 Section 7Section 11Section 12Section 13Section 17Section 20
04Reasoning
The Court reasoned that Section 12 of the P.C. Act requires evidence of abetting the commission of a bribe-related offence; merely failing to support the prosecution case as a witness does not constitute abetment
¶ 11Under Section 195(1)(a) Cr.P.C., the trial court was prohibited from taking cognizance because the prosecution was initiated via a police FIR rather than a formal written complaint by the public servant to whom the false information was allegedly given
¶ 12, 13The Inspector who filed the FIR was not the competent "public servant" under the statute
¶ 13The Court observed that forcing the Petitioner to face trial 23 years after the original incident and 15 years after his testimony would be a travesty of justice given these legal bars
¶ 1505Holding
The Court answered both issues in the negative and held that the prosecution for abetment was groundless and the cognizance of IPC offences was illegal and without jurisdiction due to non-compliance with Section 195 Cr.P.C.
¶ 11, 16The High Court set aside the order dated 26.07.2025 and discharged the Petitioner from all charges under Section 12 of the P.C. Act and Sections 181 and 182 of the IPC
¶ 17The Criminal Revision was allowed
¶ 18Original Court PDF
PAWAN KUMAR AGRAWALAvsSTATE OF ODISHA(VIG.)
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