Smriti Achuthan v. State
In the High Court of Madras
Crl. M.P. 15476-15477/2023
Before Justice C.V. Karthikeyan
Decided on November 01, 2023

Relevancy of the case: Petition for discharging the petitioner’s name in a case involving cheating and fraud

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 120, 408, 420)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 482)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner is the fifth accused in a criminal case pending in the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court. She has filed a petition to quash the case against her.
• The police did not add her name as an accused in the initial complaints or the subsequent complaints. She also obtained anticipatory bail from the court in 2011.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel pointed out that the accused’s name was not in the initial complaints, and the petitioner was granted anticipatory bail. Moreover, there isn’t sufficient material to frame charges against the petitioner.

Opinion of the Bench

• The petitioner should have first approached the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court to apply for discharge application.

Final Decision

• The court closed the petition and directed the Magistrate to postpone the framing of charges until the petitioner files the discharge application and it is subsequently decided.

Prachi Chakravarty, an undergraduate student at University Law College, Bangalore University, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2024.