The Allahabad High Court has held that a character certificate cannot be denied merely because a criminal case is pending against the applicant.
A bench comprising Justice Prakash Padia and Justice Vivek Saran allowed the petition filed by Bharat Lal Gupta, holding that the mere pendency of a criminal case under sections 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC cannot be a ground to reject an application for issuance of a character certificate.
The Jalaun district magistrate rejected the petitioner’s application for a character certificate on the ground that a criminal case under sections 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC was pending against him.
The petitioner moved the high court, seeking to quash the order and requesting a fresh consideration of his application.
The petitioner relied on the high court’s ruling in Anil Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh, in which a character certificate had also been denied solely because a case under the sections was pending.
The court also quashed the district magistrate’s order and directed the authority to issue the certificate in the prescribed format referred to in the earlier judgment.