HC sets aside order summoning Salman Khurshid in trespass case

The Delhi High Court today set aside a trial court order summoning former union minister Salman Khurshid in a trespass case.

Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva asked the trial court here to consider afresh the main charge sheet and the supplementary charge sheet filed in the case, before passing any order while making it clear that it has not opined anything on their merit.

The high court allowed the petition of the Congress leader seeking to quash January 8 order of the trial court summoning him as an accused for alleged offence of trespassing into an office of the Delhi Public School (DPS) society in south Delhi.

Senior advocate Amrendra Sharan and advocate Pramod Dubey, appearing for Khurshid, argued that the trial court's summoning order was erroneous as the entire record of the case was not available with the magistrate when he was summoned.

Dubey submitted that Khurshid was given a clean chit by the Delhi Police in the first charge sheet in which it was mentioned that no case was made out against him.

The high court noted that at the time of summoning Khurshid, the entire case record was not available with the magistrate and the file was pending before a sessions judge who was hearing a revision petition.

"The trial court should have taken note of both the original charge sheet and the supplementary charge sheet before summoning the accused. The trial court order is set aside," it said.

The court asked how can the trial court pass an order by taking note of one part of the case record and ignoring the other. "Is it not the duty of the court to examine the whole evidence. In the first charge sheet, it was written these accused have no role. Is it not the court's duty to examine the record. It shows non application of mind," it said.

Delhi Police's counsel, however, said the supplementary charge sheet, in which Khurshid and others were named as accused, were available before the magistrate and on that basis, the order was passed.

According to the police, the DPS Society had alleged that on March 30, 2015, that Khurshid, along with one Sharda Nayak, had trespassed into the office of the society and the latter had forcibly occupied the office of the Chairman.

"They took control of the premises of the society" and it was in the presence of Khurshid that Nayak announced herself as the society's chairperson, the DPS Society had alleged, adding that Khurshid was part of a "well-planned conspiracy to illegally occupy and take over the premises of the society".

Following the incident, an FIR was also lodged in the matter.

Khurshid had alleged in his plea before the high court that the magistrate had passed the summoning order without application of mind. The plea had said the police had filed a charge sheet in the case in February 2016 exonerating Khurshid, but filed a supplementary charge sheet in December 2017 naming him and five others as accused.

The Congress leader was neither named, nor was any role attributed to him in the FIR lodged on March 31, 2015 at Amar Colony police station here, the petition had claimed, adding that he was a life member of the DPS Society on the date of the alleged incident and had the legal right to visit the society premises as a stakeholder.