Case Facts:
Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.13243 of 2011 (2) dt.24-07-2012 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Criminal Miscellaneous No.13243 of 2011 ====================================================== Rameshwar Prasad @ Rameshwar Mahto And Anr. .... .... Petitioner/s Versus The State Of Bihar .... .... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHIVAJI PANDEY ORAL ORDER 2 24-07-2012 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and the State. In this case petitioners are challenging the order dated 28th December 2010 by which the court below has refused to discharge the petitioners in connection with Rahui P.S.Case No. 193 of 2009 for the offences [STATUTE] (II), (V), (IX), (XI) of SC/ST Act. From the FIR it appears that the deceased was last seen along with accused persons and later on he was found dead in a very pitiable condition. Police investigated the case and submitted Final Form in favour of petitioners but the court below after due examination of different paragraphs of the case diary found sufficient material to proceed against the petitioners under the aforesaid Sections. Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.13243 of 2011 (2) dt.24-07-2012 Counsel for the petitioners submits that petitioner no.1 is aged 77 years and, as such, he should have been discharged from the case. Age of a person cannot be the ground for discharge. The only factor to be governed is the material collected during investigation. The court has found sufficient material to proceed against the petitioners. In this view of the matte, this Court does not find any merit in this case. It is accordingly dismissed. However petitioners will have the liberty to raise all the points at the appropriate stage of trial. Jay/- (Shivaji Pandey, J)

Applicable IPC Section: 201

Statute Text:
Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code. Causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed, or giving false information touching it to screen the offender, If a capital offence. Whoever, knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed, causes any evidence of the commission of that offence to disappear, with the intention of screening the offender from legal punishment, or with that intention gives any information respecting the offence which he knows or believes to be false; if a capital offence — shall, if the offence which he knows or believes to have been committed is punishable with death, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine; if punishable with imprisonment for life — and if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment which may extend to ten years, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine; if punishable with less than ten years imprisonment — and if the offence is punishable with imprisonment for any term not extending to ten years, shall be punished with imprisonment of the description provided for the offence, for a term which may extend to one-fourth part of the longest term of the imprisonment provided for the offence, or with fine, or with both.