The High Court of Karnataka rejected a petition filed by an octogenarian, who had questioned the legality of the provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C), 1973, for abatement of criminal proceedings on the death of the accused.
Referring to some judgments on the laws of abatement in countries like U.S. and Australia, the court said that provision for abatement of the criminal proceedings as they exist in Cr.P.C are “universal and time tested.” Justice Krishna S. Dixit passed the order while dismissing the petition by V. Varadaraju, 89, a resident of Bengaluru.
“The policy of the State as enacted in statutes which provide for the final abatement of appeals on the death of accused are animated with legislative wisdom & logic. It is a matter of pure legislative policy that death of the accused should put an end to criminal proceedings. Therefore, the said provision cannot be voided,” the court observed.
Ends with death
The court also said, “It is a matter of legislative policy that in certain circumstances, the criminal proceeding should abate on the death of the accused. In what circumstances abatement should happen is left to the legislative wisdom gained through the experience of ages. Legal systems in most civilized jurisdictions operate with a premise that personality of an individual begins with birth and ends with death,” the court said.
The petitioner had filed a cheque dishonour complaint against a person and it had ended in dismissal of his complaint against the accused before the trial court. However, petitioner’s appeal against trial court was treated abated by the High Court following the death of respondent-accused. Following this, the petitioner had questioned the legality of abatement provision in the Cr.P.C.
