IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA
AT CHANDIGARH
Criminal Revision No. 596 of 2009
Date of decision : 17.11.2009
Vedpal Singh and others ....Petitioners
Versus
State of Haryana ...Respondents
CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. D. ANAND
Present: Mr. J.S.Bedi, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mr. S.S.Pattar, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Haryana
S. D. ANAND, J.
The challenge to the validity of the impugned order dated
11.2.2009 (vide which the summoning of the petitioner as an accused was
ordered by the learned Trial in allowance of a plea under Section
319Cr.P.C.) has to be allowed in view of the fact that the allowance of the
plea by the learned Trial Court came about on the basis of only a partly
recorded statement of Sheela Devi.
The statement made by a witness, who has not been allowed
to be subjected to cross-examination, cannot be said to be substantive in
character and it cannot form the foundational basis of the summoning of an
accused.
The petition shall stand allowed accordingly. The impugned
order shall stand set aside. If a plea under Section 319 Cr.P.C. comes to
be filed at a later stage of the trial and the plea raised proceeds on the
basis of substantive evidence, it will be for the learned Trial Court to
consider it afresh in accordance with the law.
November 17, 2009 (S. D. ANAND) Pka JUDGE