In Sakali Devi vs. The State of Bihar & Anr. (2026), Patna High Court's Division Bench of Chief Justice S K Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar passed a 12-page long judgment dated May 12, 2026 dealt with an error in reporting death appellant. The core legal dispute was the erroneous abatement of a criminal appeal based on an incorrect police report stating the appellant, Sakali Devi, had died. The respondent no. 2 was Ashok Kumar Singh, Nikaspur, Tajpur, Distt.- Samastipur.
The application was filed by Sakali Devi to recall the abatement order and restore her appeal, arguing that she was alive. The court ruled to restore the appeal because the report of the appellant's death, which led to the abatement, was factually incorrect. The police officials responsible for the erroneous report admitted their mistake, tendered unconditional apologies, and explained that the error was due to misidentification stemming from incomplete identifying details (lack of husband's name) in the initial inquiry. The court deemed the error to be inadvertent and genuine. The order dated March 13, 2026, which abated Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 377 of 2015, was recalled. The Criminal Appeal was restored to its original file. The unconditional and unqualified apology tendered by the Superintendent of Police and the Station House Officer was accepted.
The March 13, 2026 order reads: "Perused Letter No. 155 dated 11.02.2026 of the Superintendent of Police, Samastipur along with the report of S.H.O., Tajpur Police Station, wherein it is indicated that during the enquiry it came to light that the sole appellant, namely Sakli Devi, is dead. 2. In view of the said letter and having regard to Section 394 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which corresponds to Section 435 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and inasmuch as no near relative has filed any application seeking leave to continue the appeal, the present Criminal Appeal stands abated and is accordingly disposed of." This order was passed due to misrepresentation by the police officials.
The suspension order issued against the Station House Officer, Tajpur, was directed to be revoked. The Criminal Miscellaneous application was disposed of. Sakali Devi had filed a Criminal Miscellaneous application seeking to recall an order dated March 13, 2026, which had abated her Criminal Appeal (DB) No. 377 of 2015. The abatement occurred because the police, specifically the SHO of Tajpur Police Station and the Superintendent of Police, Samastipur, had submitted a report erroneously stating that Sakali Devi was dead, misidentifying her with another person of the same name. Sakali Devi presented evidence that she was alive and well, including official documents and a certificate from the Gram Panchayat Mukhiya. Both the Superintendent of Police and the SHO appeared before the court, tendered unconditional and unqualified apologies, and admitted the error was inadvertent due to the lack of complete parentage details in the initial request for the appellant's status. The Superintendent of Police had suspended the SHO for this lapse.
The High Court accepted their apologies, recalled the abatement order and restored the original criminal appeal, and directed the revocation of the SHO's suspension, acknowledging the mistake as genuine. The court also directed its own Joint Registrar (List) to ensure complete appellant details are provided when seeking status reports in the future.
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