The Rajasthan High Court has issued a significant ruling clarifying the absence of a ‘criminal writ petition’ under the Indian Constitution. The court determined that writ petitions involving criminal matters should not be categorized separately as ‘criminal writ petitions’. Instead, they should be filed under the general category of writ petitions. This decision was delivered by a bench composed of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Maneesh Sharma.
Clarification on Writ Petitions
The court highlighted that the Constitution does not recognize the term ‘criminal writ petition’. It pointed out that while writ petitions can address issues pertaining to criminal matters, these should not be registered under a distinct category of ‘criminal writ petition’. “A writ petition can be filed for raising the issues which may also relate to a criminal matter but the same would not be treated as a ‘Criminal Writ Petition’ and the same can only be registered as a writ petition alone,” the court stated in its observation.
Registry Guidelines
The bench further instructed the court registry to cease the practice of registering cases as ‘criminal writ petitions’. The directive emphasized that the classification and placement of cases are the court’s exclusive prerogatives. As a result, the registry has been ordered to align with this directive, ensuring that no future cases are entered under the erroneous category.
Case Background and Ruling
The ruling was delivered during the proceedings of a petition initially filed in 2018. The court expressed dissatisfaction over the prolonged delay in addressing the petition, which had been indefinitely adjourned without adequate explanation. To rectify the situation, the bench instructed that the petition be reclassified as a civil writ petition, thereby correcting the earlier misclassification.
The order mandated, “Office is directed to treat the present ‘D.B. Criminal Writ Petition’ to ‘D.B. Civil Writ Petition’. For the purpose of statistics, the present D.B. Criminal Writ Petition is disposed of.”
Legal Representation
In this case, Advocate Mithlesh Kumar represented the petitioners, while Government Advocate-cum-Additional Advocate General Rajesh Choudhary appeared on behalf of the State of Rajasthan.
