Full Bench of J&K High Court to examine maintainability of Letters Patent Appeals in criminal matters

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is set to convene a full bench to hear the question of whether Letters Patent Appeals (LPA) are maintainable against orders passed by a single-judge in criminal matters [Sumit Sabarwal vs OM Parkash Gupta and Ors.].

This would be the first such instance in the history of the High Court where this issue would be examined by a full bench of five judges.

The Bench will be headed by Chief Justice Arun Palli and will also comprise Justices Sanjeev Kumar, Rajnesh Oswal, Sanjay Dhar and Sanjay Parihar.

The Court will start hearing the issue on Thursday, September 25.

The Court will take up the LPA titled Dr. Sumit Sabarwal vs. Om Parkash Gupta & Ors.

The reference to the full bench stems from the LPA filed in the case of Dr. Sumit Sabarwal v. Dr. Om Parkash Gupta & Ors.

The matter came to be referred to a bench of five judges after a single directed registration of an FIR and constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the suspicious deaths of two doctors in 2013.

Aggrieved by the same, Dr. Sabarwal fled an LPA.

A division bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Sanjay Dhar noted on October 18, 2024 that unlike other High Courts, Clause 12 of the J&K Letters Patent does not exclude criminal jurisdiction.

The Bench expressed doubt over earlier coordinate Bench rulings that had barred LPAs in criminal matters and observed that the scope of an LPA is wider than that of a review petition.

Holding that the issue is of “general importance” and requires an authoritative pronouncement, the Division Bench referred two questions to a larger bench:

i). Whether an LPA under Clause 12 is maintainable against orders passed by a Single Judge in criminal jurisdiction.

ii). If yes, what categories of such orders are appealable.

Senior Advocates including Sunil Sethi, Abhinav Sharma and Paras Gupta will represent the petitioners while the respondents will be represented by a team of government counsel led by Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli.