Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has referred to a nine-judge bench, formed for the first time in 55 years, a crucial legal question -- whether an FIR can be quashed under section 528 of the newly-enacted Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The decision in this regard was made by Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal.
The referral comes in light of a previous ruling of a seven-judge bench in the 1989 case of Ram Lal Yadav vs Uttar Pradesh Government. It was held in that judgment that an application under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for quashing an FIR would not be maintainable and the appropriate remedy would be to file a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The BNSS is the new criminal procedure code, replacing the CrPC.
According to court sources, the last time a nine-judge bench was constituted was in 1970.
Highlighting the historical significance of large benches in the Allahabad High Court, senior advocate Dilip Kumar said that in 1969, a bench of 28 judges of the court had quashed a resolution passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Kumar explained that the unprecedented 28-judge bench was convened after the Assembly Speaker had ordered the arrest of two Allahabad High Court judges -- Justices G D Sehgal and N U Beg. The speaker’s order was a reaction to the judges granting bail to a Socialist Party leader who was arrested by the Assembly for contempt.
According to Kumar, the 28-judge bench subsequently nullified the Assembly’s resolution. This remains the largest bench of judges ever constituted in any high court or the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court later intervened and upheld the Allahabad High
Court’s decision in that historic case.