SC Slams FIR on 71-Year-Old Woman Over 1971 Sale Deed, Issues Bailable Warrants Against Advocate

The Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N Kotiswar Singh stayed Mishra’s arrest in connection with an FIR lodged in 2023 by Advocate Daduram Shukla, alleging forgery of a 1971 land sale deed in Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh.

The Bench simultaneously issued a bailable warrant against Shukla for Rs 10,000, directing him to appear before the Court and show cause why exemplary costs should not be imposed on him for allegedly abusing the legal process.

The Court expressed its disapproval of the Allahabad High Court’s decision to deny anticipatory bail to Mishra. “It is quite unfortunate that the Allahabad High Court has illogically turned down the prayer for grant of anticipatory bail to the petitioner who is a 71-year-old woman, and when she is neither seller nor purchaser nor a witness or beneficiary of the sale deed dated August 21, 1971,” the Bench remarked.

The Bench also criticized the “casual manner” in which the high court had disposed of the matter, observing that such an approach “warrants introspection.” The Court refrained from further comment at this stage but underscored the need for scrutiny of procedural lapses.

In its order dated September 17, the Court directed the SHO of the Kotwali Nagar police station in Gonda to produce the original records that led to the registration of the FIR. The Bench observed that the proceedings prima facie appeared to be an "abuse of the law" and instructed the police to show cause why they should not be quashed. No counter affidavit from the State was required, as the court demanded inspection of original documents directly.

The matter has been posted for further hearing on October 8. The Supreme Court had earlier, on June 25, agreed to consider Mishra’s plea for anticipatory bail, issuing notice to Shukla. The bench noted that Mishra had appeared before the investigating officer on May 26, 2025, to record her statement under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.

The Bench also noted that Shukla had been evading service of notice, directing the Lucknow Commissioner of Police to ensure his presence through non-bailable warrants if necessary.

The case against Mishra, registered under Kotwali Nagar police station, includes allegations of cheating and forgery. On May 27, 2025, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had canceled her anticipatory bail, claiming she had failed to appear before the investigating officer on the stipulated date and misused the liberty granted to her. Mishra explained that her absence on May 19 was due to illness, but she had appeared on May 26 to record her statement.

According to the FIR, the allegation concerns a purportedly forged sale deed executed on August 20, 1971, with its mutation rejected on September 7, 2020. It was further alleged that Mishra is the mother-in-law of the main accused, Brijesh Kumar Awasthi, who is purportedly a gang member involved in fabricating several such sale deeds.