TMI Blog2019 (12) TMI 1624X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nder Section 205 Code of Criminal Procedure and submitted that on all dates of adjournments, his counsel Sri Bharadwaj Reddy shall appear and no adjournment shall be asked for on his behalf. In the case of Bhaskar Industries Ltd. [ 2001 (8) TMI 1407 - SUPREME COURT] this Court has observed that if a Court is satisfied that in the interest of justice the personal attendance of an Accused before it need not be insisted on, then the court has the power to dispense with the attendance of the Accused. It is further observed by this Court in the aforesaid decision that if a court feels that insisting on the personal attendance of an Accused in a peculiar case would be too harsh on account of a variety of reasons, the court can grant relief to such an Accused in the matter of facing the prosecution proceedings. It is observed and held by this Court in the aforesaid decision that the normal Rule is that the evidence shall be taken in the presence of the Accused. However, even in the absence of the Accused, such evidence can be taken but then his counsel must be present in the court, provided he has been granted exemption from attending the court. The impugned judgment and order pass ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... not less than two days. Therefore, it was the case on behalf of the Appellant that on account of posting the case on every Friday, he has been facing undue hardship in meeting his business commitments, in addition to continuous financial loss being caused to him. Therefore, it was prayed to dispense with his appearance permitting his counsel Sri Bharadwaj Reddy to appear on his behalf. 3.2. The said application was opposed by the Respondent-CBI. It was submitted on behalf of the CBI that the grounds on which the Appellant has requested to dispense with his appearance before the learned Trial Court are not germane and cannot be a ground to dispense with his appearance before the learned Trial Court Under Section 205 Code of Criminal Procedure. It was also contended on behalf of the CBI that the Appellant is facing very serious charges/offences. The learned Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad dismissed the said application. Aggrieved by the order passed by the learned Trial Court, the Appellant preferred a petition before the High Court. By the impugned judgment and order, the High Court has dismissed the said petition and has confirmed the order passed by the learne ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Trial Court on every Friday. 4.4. Making the above submissions and relying upon the above decisions of this Court, it is prayed to allow the present appeal and consequently allow the application submitted by the Appellant for dispensation with his personal appearance before the learned Trial Court. 5. The present appeal is vehemently opposed by Shri Vikramjit Banerjee, learned ASG appearing on behalf of the Respondent-CBI. 5.1. It is vehemently submitted by Shri Banerjee, learned ASG appearing on behalf of the Respondent-CBI that, as rightly held by the learned Trial Court as well as the High Court, the grounds on which the Appellant has requested to dispense with his personal appearance, namely, on account of business commitments and preoccupation in connection with his business activities and inconvenience being caused to the Appellant to appear before the learned Trial Court, are not valid grounds for allowing the application Under Section 205 Code of Criminal Procedure. 5.2. It is further submitted by Shri Banerjee, learned ASG that in fact the High Court has specifically observed that if the Appellant is exempted from personal appearance before the learned Trial C ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ms. Therefore, the Appellant sought for exemption from personal appearance before the learned Trial Court on each and every Friday and submitted the application Under Section 205 Code of Criminal Procedure and submitted that on all dates of adjournments, his counsel Sri Bharadwaj Reddy shall appear and no adjournment shall be asked for on his behalf. In the cases of Bhaskar Industries Ltd. (supra) and Rameshwar Yadav (supra), this Court had the occasion to consider the scope and ambit of the application Under Section 205 Code of Criminal Procedure. In the case of Bhaskar Industries Ltd. (supra), this Court has observed that if a Court is satisfied that in the interest of justice the personal attendance of an Accused before it need not be insisted on, then the court has the power to dispense with the attendance of the Accused. It is further observed by this Court in the aforesaid decision that if a court feels that insisting on the personal attendance of an Accused in a peculiar case would be too harsh on account of a variety of reasons, the court can grant relief to such an Accused in the matter of facing the prosecution proceedings. It is observed and held by this Court in the afo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... timately be asked--what might happen if the counsel engaged by the Accused (whose personal appearance is dispensed with) does not appear or that the counsel does not cooperate in proceeding with the case? We may point out that the legislature has taken care of such eventualities. Section 205(2) says that the Magistrate can in his discretion direct the personal attendance of the Accused at any stage of the proceedings. The last limb of Section 317(1) confers a discretion on the Magistrate to direct the personal attendance of the Accused at any subsequent stage of the proceedings. He can even resort to other steps for enforcing such attendance. 19. The position, therefore, boils down to this: it is within the powers of a Magistrate and in his judicial discretion to dispense with the personal appearance of an Accused either throughout or at any particular stage of such proceedings in a summons case, if the Magistrate finds that insistence of his personal presence would itself inflict enormous suffering or tribulations on him, and the comparative advantage would be less. Such discretion need be exercised only in rare instances where due to the far distance at which the Accused r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the case and that Sri Bharadwaj Reddy-advocate who is permitted to represent the Appellant, would appear before the learned Trial Court on his behalf on each and every date of hearing and that he shall not object recording of the evidence in his absence and that no adjournment shall be asked for on behalf of the Appellant and/or his advocate Sri Bharadwaj Reddy; (2) That the Appellant shall appear before the learned Trial Court for the purpose of framing of the charges and also on other hearing dates whenever the learned Trial Curt insists for his appearance; (3) If there is any failure on the part of the advocate Sri Bharadwaj Reddy, who is to represent the Appellant, either to appear before the learned Trial Court on each adjournment and/or any adjournment is sought on behalf of the Appellant and/or if the learned Trial Court is of the opinion that the Appellant and/or his advocate is trying to delay the trial, in that case, it would be open for the learned Trial Court to exercise its powers Under Section 205(2) Code of Criminal Procedure and direct the appearance of the Appellant on each and every date of adjournment. The present appeal is disposed of in the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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