Madhya Pradesh High Court: In a writ petition filed against the respondents including State of Madhya Pradesh and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Indore (DCP), for issuing notice against the Advocate to appear before him and give his statements under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) and also signature specimen, a single-judge bench of Subodh Abhyankar, J., stayed the impugned notice and restrained the DCP from proceeding further in the matter till the next date of hearing.
The instant matter is related to a FIR registered at Police Station Banganga, Indore, concerning allegations under Sections 409 and 420 IPC against the accused. The High Court, vide order dated 19-11-2024, transferred the investigation to a senior officer (not below DCP rank) and directed disciplinary action against the previous Investigating Officer for issuing a Section 41-A CrPC notice to the accused despite the rejection of anticipatory bail by both the High Court and the Supreme Court.
On 11-03-2025, the DCP issued a notice under Sections 91 and 160 CrPC to the Advocate to appear before him and provide statements under Section 161 CrPC and submit specimen signatures. It was contended that the DCP, instead of conducting a fair investigation, allegedly misused his authority by harassing the complainant and his advocate. The petitioner filed the present writ petition challenging the impugned notice as illegal and an abuse of power aimed at intimidating an advocate for performing his professional duties and violating Advocate-Client Privilege
The Court stayed the impugned notice dated 11-03-2025 issued to the Advocate and directed the DCP to file an affidavit explaining the legality of the notice. As an interim measure, the Court restrained the DCP from proceeding further in the matter till the next date of hearing on 24-03-2025.
[Praram Infra v. State of M.P., WP No. 30532 of 2024, Decided on 13-03-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Shri Divyakant Lahoti with Shri Rahul Maheshwar, Counsel
Shri Anand Soni, Additional Advocate General with Dr. Amit Bhatia, appearing on behalf of Advocate General
Buy Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 HERE
