In a writ petition filed before the Jharkhand High Court, pointing out that the petitioner, a practicing advocate, was being harassed by the police for a petty road accident in the absence of notice under Section 35(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), a Single Judge Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi stayed the proceedings including further investigation and directed no adverse action to be taken against the petitioner.
By way of the present petition, it had also been prayed that the investigation of one case registered under Sections 281, 324(2), 125(b), 115(2), 117(2), 126(2), 351(2), 302, 351(3), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and another case registered under Sections 281, 115(2), 126(2), 324(2), 192, and 3(5) of BNS, be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On 17-02-2026, the petitioner was going to the High Court when his car slightly touched a motorcycle that suddenly came in front of the car. This led to an altercation, and the petitioner was kept in the police station for 7 hours. His car was also seized by the police, but no seizure memo was prepared for it. It was contended that the case against the petitioner was handed over to an investigating officer from a particular community, whereas the one lodged by the petitioner was handed over to another officer.
It was further contended that the motorcycle had not been seized and that the rider was a software engineer at TCS who had posted a banned slogan from the People’s Front of India, a banned organization, on his Instagram profile.
The Court stated that if two cases arise out of the same occurrence, then they must be investigated by the same IO, and that at the initial stage of an FIR, investigation cannot be stayed. It was stated that the Constitution’s federal structure cannot be allowed to be destroyed and that once such a matter is brought to the knowledge of the High Court, it is duty-bound to rise to the occasion.
Thus, the Court stayed further proceedings, including the investigation, in both cases, directing that no coercive steps were to be taken against the petitioner in the case pending before the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ranchi, till the next date of listing. Further, the Senior Superintendent of Police was directed to take note of the situation and ensure that no harm is caused to the petitioner.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mrs. Ritu Kumar, Mr. A.K. Kashyap (Sr. Adv), Mr. Rajendra Krishna, Mr. Abhay Kumar Mishra, Mr. Siddharth Ranjan, Ms. Akansha Priya, Mr. Piyush Kumar Roy, Mr. Amritansh Vats, Mr. Karamjit Singh Chhabra
For Respondents – Mr. Deepankar (AC to GA-III), Mr. Kumar Vaibhav (CGC), Ms. Shivani Jaluka (AC to ASGI)
