Vijay Kumar Verma - (1.) BY means of this application under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (in short 'the Cr. P.C.'), the applicant has invoked inherent jurisdiction of this Court to quash the charge-sheet No. 158 of 2008, under Section 3/7 of E. C. Act, dated 14.11.2008 of Case Crime No. 202 of 2008 of P. S. Gangal Hedi, district Saharanpur and to set aside the order dated 9.2.2009, passed by Sri Talevar Singh, the then Judicial Magistrate-III, Court No. 20, Saharanpur in Criminal Case No. 252 of 2009, State v. Ankit.
(2.) BY the impugned order cognizance has been taken by the learned Magistrate against the applicant on the aforesaid charge-sheet and the applicant has been summoned to face the trial under Section 3/7 of E. C. Act. Shorn of unnecessary details, the facts leading to the filing of this application, in brief, are that an F.I.R. was lodged by Sri S. P. Tyagi, Supply Inspector, Saharanpur (O.P. No. 2 herein), on 16.10.2008 at P. S. Gangal Hedi (Saharanpur), where a case under Section 3/7 of E. C. Act was registered at Crime No. 202 of 2008 against the applicant Ankit. The allegations made in the F.I.R., in brief, are that when on 16.10.2008 at about 12.45 p.m., inspection of Manni Da Dhaba, situated at Dehradun Road was made by Supply Inspector, Sri S. P. Tyagi, the accused Ankit s/o Kewal Kishan, r/o Hakikat Nagar, Saharanpur was found using two domestic gas cylinders for commercial purpose at the dhaba. Both the cylinders were seized and given in the supurdagi of M/s. Deep Shikha Gas Agency, Saharanpur. After investigation, charge-sheet (Annexure-5) was submitted against the applicant-accused Ankit under Section 3/7 of E. C. Act, on which cognizance was taken by the learned Magistrate vide impugned order dated 9.2.2009, which has been challenged in this proceeding. I have heard arguments at length of Sri Umesh Chandra Mishra, advocate, appearing for the applicant and A.G.A. for the State.
(3.) THE first and foremost submission made by learned counsel for the applicant was that the impugned order of taking cognizance against the applicant is wholly illegal and invalid, because the said order has been passed on the printed proforma by filling up the blanks and hence this order is liable to be quashed on this ground alone, as the learned Magistrate while taking cognizance on the charge-sheet did not at all apply his mind to the facts of the case and material available in the case diary and on filling up the gaps by Court employee on the printed proforma, the learned Magistrate has initialed the impugned order, which cannot be said to be valid order in the eye of law, because judicial order cannot be passed in the manner in which the impugned order has been prepared and passed by the learned Magistrate in present case. For this submission, my attention was drawn towards certified copy of the impugned order (paper No. 31). On merit, it was submitted by learned counsel for the applicant that domestic gas cylinders, which were found on the Manni Da Dhaba on the alleged date, time and place, were not being used for commercial purpose, as no regulator for using the domestic gas cylinders was found on the dhaba and the said cylinders belong to one Praveen Kumar s/o Deshraj, who had kept them at the dhaba and hence no offence is made out against the applicant.;