Judicial officers should not pass orders mechanically on printed proforma without applying mind: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently said that conduct of judicial officers in passing orders on printed proforma by filling up blanks without any application of judicial mind is objectionable and deserves to be deprecated. [Krishna Kumar v State].The Court made the observation while quashing a summoning order issued by a magistrate in a criminal case, which the High Court found had been passed mechanically, thereby resulting in a miscarriage of justice..The summoning of an accused in a criminal case is a serious matter and the order must reflect that magistrate had applied his mind to the facts as well as law applicable, Justice Shamim Ahmed added..The Court was dealing with a plea moved by man booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Before the High Court, he challenged the criminal proceedings, charge-sheet and summoning order issued against him in the POCSO case on the ground that no offence was made out against the him.The counsel for the applicant argued that the magistrate had taken cognizance on a printed proforma and that the summoning order was passed without any application of judicial mind.The State counsel countered the plea on facts, alleging that the man stood accused of persuading a minor girl to run away with him. However, the State counsel did not dispute that the magistrate had taken cognizance of the case on a printed proforma..Having heard the submissions, the High Court found that the order under challenge was passed in a mechanical manner and without the magistrate applying his mind or satisfying himself as what offence was prima face made out against the applicant-accused."The impugned cognizance order passed by the learned Magistrate is against the settled judicial norms," the Court went on to hold.There has to be an application of mind as to whether the material collected by the investigating officer results in sufficient grounds to proceed further, and whether there appears to be a violation of law that would call for a person to face criminal trial, the Court said.The magistrates concerned has a responsibility to act judiciously and should ensure that their orders do not suffer from non-application of judicial mind when cognisance is taken, the High Court said.The Court also recounted that the Supreme Court in HN Rishbud v State of Delhi had emphasised that a magistrate must apply judicial mind before taking cognisance of an offence, by means of a reasoned order, and not in a mechanical manner.Further, reference was made to the Allahabad High Court's judgment in Abdul Rasheed and others v. State of UP, wherein it was held that judicial orders should not be passed in a mechanical manner either by filling in blanks on a printed proforma or by affixing a ready-made seal etc..Justice Ahmed ultimately quashed the cognizance order that had summoned the applicant-accused and remanded the matter back to the POCSO court to decide the matter afresh, after taking into consideration the observations of the High Court. The magistrate was directed to do the same within two months' time. .Advocate Siddharth Shankar Dubey represented applicant..[Read Order]