Plea for transfer of case should not be entertained on mere apprehension of a hyper sensitive person; SC

The SC on Oct 16, 2020 {Umesh Kumar Sharma vs. State of Uttarakhand & Ors.} held that transfer power under section 406 of the Code is to be invoked sparingly. It was held that only when fair justice is in peril, a plea for transfer might be considered. It was held that the court however will have to be fully satisfied that impartial trial is not possible. It was held that equally important is to verify that the apprehension of not getting a level playing field, is based on some credible material and not just conjectures and surmises.

It was further observed by the SC Bench, comprising of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, that the petitioner is not pointing any fingers towards the courts and his apprehension is based only on the action taken by the State. It was held that the transfer of trials from one state to another would inevitably reflect on the credibility of the State’s judiciary and but for compelling factors and clear situation of deprivation of fair justice, the transfer power should not be invoked. It was held that this case is not perceived to be one of those exceptional categories.  

The present petitions before the SC was filed under Section 406 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short “the CrPC”) read with Order XXXIX of the Supreme Court Rules seeking transfer of three criminal cases pending before different courts in Dehradun to competent courts in Delhi or some other courts outside the State of Uttarakhand.

The SC held that while assurance of a fair trial needs to be respected, the plea for transfer of case should not be entertained on mere apprehension of a hyper sensitive person. It was held that the petitioner has failed to demonstrate that because of what he endured in 2018, it is not possible for the courts in the state to dispense justice objectively and without any bias.

The Transfer Petitions were dismissed by the SC.