Doon court grants 78 adjournments, SC says complete trial in 6 months

Dehradun: The Supreme Court has directed a lower court in Dehradun to complete trial in a case of cheating and forgery within six months after it emerged that the court had granted at least 78 adjournments in the case in seven years but charges were yet to be framed against the three accused.
Observing that the trial court had “not moved an inch” in these years, a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice C T Ravikumar on Wednesday directed police to ensure that the witnesses are present on the scheduled dates for examination by the trial court.
In 2012, an FIR was registered in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district against three people – Maneesh Verma, Sanju Verma and Neetu Verma – after the complainant, Atul Krishna, alleged cheating and forgery in a property matter. The accused were booked under section 420 (cheating), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 470 (forged document or electronic record) of the Indian Penal Code.
Since the property in question was in Dehradun, the case was transferred there. The trial court began hearing the case in 2014. According to the complainant’s petition in the apex court, in the six-year period between June 2014 and October 2020, the trial court adjourned the case at least 78 times. The court is yet to frame charges against the accused, the complainant alleged.
The petitioner had also approached the Uttarakhand high court last year, requesting the court to give directions to speed up the trial process, but his plea was dismissed following which he filed a petition in the Supreme Court earlier this year.
While hearing Krishna's plea, the apex court said it was required to issue directions to the lower court as it “failed to move even an inch in the last seven years, including to frame charges, as may be necessary, despite 78 adjournments in the case. Accordingly, the trial court must proceed in the matter without any further delay.”
After the last hearing of the apex court in the case, the three accused, who have been out on bail for the last decade, had surrendered. The court extended their bail and said the trial court can cancel it if they do not cooperate in the progress of the trial or take unnecessary adjournments.