Supreme Court Show Cause Notice To Korba SP For Not Complying With Direction To Produce Accused
The Supreme Court has criticized the State of Chhattisgarh for failing to comply with its direction to produce a man acquitted in a criminal matter, terming the lapse a “blatant and deliberate violation” of its orders.
A bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R Mahadevan issued a show cause notice to the Superintendent of Police, Korba, to explain why action should not be taken for failure to comply with the Court's directions to bring in effect the presence of Respondent No.2 before the Court on April 20, 2026.
The matter stems from a Special Leave Petition challenging a High Court judgment which had acquitted the Respondent No.2 in connection with an alleged offence of rape under Section 376 IPC and provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. During earlier proceedings, the Supreme Court had directed the State to produce Respondent No. 2 in person before the Court.
On March 23, 2026, the Court specifically ordered that the matter be listed on April 15, 2026, with a clear direction for the personal appearance of Respondent No. 2.
However, due to the unavailability of the Bench on April 15 owing to the Constitution Bench sittings in the Sabarimala Reference case, the matter was adjourned. The State had informed the Court registry that the concerned respondent had been produced on that date and subsequently sought exemption from appearance on April 20.
When the matter was called on for hearing on April 20, the Court expressed anguish over the casual behaviour of the State for not complying with its direction to produce Respondent No.2 before the Court, and thus issued a show cause notice to the Korba SP.
“…we are informed that the respondent no.2 is not present in Court. We take strong exception to such conduct of the State of Chhattisgarh. The direction was given to the State and today, the State is saying that on the last date, i.e., on 15.04.2026, the respondent no.2 was produced under the orders of the Superintendent of Police, Korba, by the Deputy Superintendent of police, Korba. We find that the Superintendent of Police, Korba, is required to show cause as to why the Court may not pass appropriate orders against him for such blatant and deliberate violation of the direction of this Court to produce the respondent no.2 today.”, the court said.
Thus, the Court directed the personal presence of the Korba SP, alongside securing the presence of the Respondent No.2, on April 24 at 10:30 AM. The SP was directed to come up with her/his show cause to explain the circumstances for non-compliance.
Cause Title: CHATT KUNWAR SARTHI VERSUS STATE OF CHHATTISGARH & ANR.
Appearance:
For Petitioner(s) :Mr. C N Sreekumar, Sr. Adv. Ms. Rohini Prasad, AOR Ms. Ashika Ranjan, Adv. Ms. Samridhi Srivastava, Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Mr. Avdhesh Kumar Singh, A.A.G. Ms. Sugandha Jain, Adv. Mr. Prabodh Kumar, AOR Mr. Karn Singh Parmar, Adv. Mr. Pratyush, Adv.