Tanishk v. State of Uttarakhand

SL. No. Date Office Notes, reports, orders or proceedings or directions and Registrar's order with Signatures COURT'S OR JUDGE'S ORDERS

UKHC010128292026 WPCRL/1422/2026

Tanishk --Petitioner Versus State Of Uttarakhand --Respondent Hon'ble Alok Mahra, J.

Ms. Prabha Naithani, learned counsel for the petitioners.

¶2Mr. Rakesh Joshi, learned A.G.A. along with Mr. Pramod Tiwari and Mr. Manoj Bhatt, learned Brief Holders for the State.

¶3By means of the present writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioners have invoked the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Court seeking issuance of a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari for quashing the First Information Report/Case Crime No. 452 of 2026 dated 19.06.2026, registered under Sections 115(2), 191(2), 191(3), 351(2) and 352 of the B.N.S., at Police Station Kotwali, Jwalapur, District Haridwar. The petitioners have also prayed for issuance of a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus restraining the respondent authorities from taking any coercive action, including arrest of the petitioners, pursuant to the aforesaid F.I.R.

¶4Learned counsel for the petitioners

would submit that the petitioners are innocent and have been falsely implicated in the present case; that, the impugned F.I.R. has been lodged on false, fabricated and concocted allegations with an oblique motive to harass the petitioners. She would further submit that, even if the allegations contained in the impugned F.I.R. are accepted in their entirety and taken at their face value, the offences alleged are punishable with imprisonment which does not exceed seven years; that, the petitioners undertake to cooperate with the investigation in all respects and shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when required and shall abide by every lawful direction issued during the course of investigation.

¶5Learned counsel for the petitioners, placing reliance upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, (2014) 8 SCC 273 and submits that that the offences alleged in the impugned F.I.R. are punishable with imprisonment which does not exceed seven years. Learned counsel for the petitioners, therefore, prays that the present criminal writ petition be disposed of in terms of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, with a direction to the respondent authorities to comply with the statutory safeguards governing arrest and investigation.

¶6Learned State Counsel opposed the writ petition. However, he does not dispute that the offences alleged in the impugned

F.I.R. are punishable with imprisonment which does not exceed seven years and that the investigation is still in progress.

¶7Having heard learned counsel for the parties and upon perusal of the material available on record, this Court is not inclined to examine the correctness or otherwise of the allegations made in the impugned F.I.R. in exercise of its extraordinary writ jurisdiction at this stage, particularly when the investigation is still in progress. It is, however, not disputed that the offences alleged against the petitioner are punishable with imprisonment which does not exceed seven years.

¶8Without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, the present writ petition is disposed of with a direction that the Investigating Officer shall proceed with the investigation strictly in accordance with law as well as the guidelines and directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar, (2014) 8 SCC 273, before effecting the arrest of the petitioner

¶9It is clarified that in the event the Investigating Officer forms an opinion that arrest of the petitioners are necessary, the statutory requirements prescribed under law shall be complied with in letter and spirit.

¶10Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of accordingly.

(Alok Mahra, J.) 23-07-2026 mamta

MAM TA RANI DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND,

2.5.4.20=6a812005bebfcf46f 244f3e584af1449e430ef900 bf09a6d67ebbd642671329b, postalCode=263001, st=Uttarakhand, serialNumber=5de1751a4f1 d9cabfd54852c9e68911ca8b 66dd26690a191648ab5d8dd 004efti, cn=MAMTA RANI Date: 2026.07.23 18:26:39 +05'30'