Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has held that a character certificate cannot be denied merely because a criminal case is pending against the applicant.A division bench comprising Justice Prakash Padia and Justice Vivek Saran allowed the petition filed by one Bharat Lal Gupta and said that the pendency of a criminal case under Sections 323 (simple hurt), 504 (intentional insult meant to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could not be a ground to reject an application for issuance of a character certificate.The petitioner’s application for a character certificate was rejected by district magistrate of Jalaun on the ground that a criminal case was pending against him.The petitioner approached the high court seeking quashing of the order and a direction that his application be considered afresh.The petitioner relied on the high court’s judgement in Anil Kumar vs State of UP, in which a character certificate had been declined due to the pendency of a case under Sections 323, 504 and 506 IPC.The court, in its order dated July 28, said that the pendency of the case could not have furnished a ground for refusal; the court quashed the impugned order and directed the district magistrate to issue a certificate in the format mentioned in the judgement relied upon.
