- In Samantha Christina Delfina Willis & Anr v State Of Karnataka and Ors, the Karnataka High Court held that a POA (power of attorney) holder of an accused cannot maintain a petition either under Article 226 or 227 of the Constitution of India r/w Section 482 of the Cr.P.C.
- A Single Judge Bench comprising of Justice M. Nagaprasanna observed this while dismissing a petition filed by the accused petitioner who is residing in London and had filed this petition seeking to quash a complaint filed by her husband.
- The Court observed that a petition filed by POA holder of the petitioner, without first seeking Court's permission, and without even mentioning in the petition that he is aware of the facts of the case, the writ petition filed under Articles 226 and 227 of the Indian Constitution r/w Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. will not be maintainable, because the accused petitioner cannot be represented by a POA holder.
- The Court even imposed a cost of INR 1,00,000/- on the accused.
- In this case, the accused got married to Syed Ali Hindustani (complainant husband) through a website on June 6, 2021. The former alleged that the husband started torturing her from the 5th dayof their marriage. About a month later, the wife fled to Kolkata to her ancestral home and thereafter flew to London.
- When she returned back in November, 2021, the respondent husband had registered a complaint alleging that she stole all their family jewellery and flew to London.
- The complainant also mentioned that the petitioner induced the husband to transfer an amount of INR 7.5 crores and that the petitioner was not a Muslim but posed herself to be a Muslim.
- The counsel for the petitioner denied the allegations and said that a matrimonial dispute has been given a colour of crime.
- The counsel for the respondent raised question on the writ petition filed by the petitioner u/s 226 and 227 of the Indian Constitution on the ground that a petition cannot be filed by a POA holder.
- The Ld. Court took note of all the arguments presented by the parties and held that on the basis of the judgments rendered by the Constitutional Courts, it can be unmistakably gathered that the POA holder of an accused cannot maintain a petition.
- This will be the case even if the petition is filed under Article 226 or 227 of the Indian Constitution r/w Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. or a Criminal Petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
- Accordingly, the Court dismisses the appeal.
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