Pendency of minor criminal charges under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC cannot justify denying a character certificate.

The petitioner applied for issuance/renewal of a character certificate.

The application was rejected by the District Magistrate, Jalaun at Orai, by order dated 1 November 2021, principally because Case Crime No. 913 of 2018 under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC was pending against him.

The petitioner challenged the rejection and relied upon Avatar Singh v. Union of India, 2016 (8) SCC 471, and the subsequent decision in Anil Kumar v. State of U.P., Writ-C No. 718 of 2025, concerning the effect of a pending criminal case on issuance of a character certificate.

The State opposed the petition, asserting that the petitioner was not entitled to relief.

Whether the petitioner’s application for issuance of a character certificate could be rejected solely on the ground that a criminal case under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC was pending against him.

Whether the rejection order dated 1 November 2021 was sustainable in light of the principles laid down in Avatar Singh v. Union of India and applied in Anil Kumar v. State of U.P.

The Court relied on Avatar Singh v. Union of India, 2016 (8) SCC 471, particularly the principle that disclosure of criminal antecedents must be truthful, while the competent authority must consider the nature of the offence, the applicable rules, the circumstances of the case, and whether the acquittal or conviction is substantive or merely technical.

The Court further followed Anil Kumar v. State of U.P., wherein it was held that issuance of a character certificate cannot be declined merely because a criminal case is pending, and that the authority should issue the certificate in the prescribed format with appropriate particulars.

The pendency of a criminal case under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC, by itself, is therefore insufficient to reject an application for a character certificate.

The Court found that the sole basis for rejecting the petitioner’s application was the pendency of Case Crime No. 913 of 2018 under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC.

Applying the reasoning in Anil Kumar and the broader principles in Avatar Singh, the Court held that the authority could not treat the mere pendency of such a case as an automatic disqualification for issuance of a character certificate.

The appropriate course was to issue the certificate in the prescribed format, rather than reject the application outright.

Accordingly, the order dated 1 November 2021 was quashed.

The District Magistrate was directed to issue the character certificate in the format prescribed in Anil Kumar within three weeks from the date of production of a certified copy of the judgment.

The writ petition was consequently allowed.