The Supreme Court stayed the arrest of 71-year-old Usha Mishra in a 1971 land forgery case and pulled up the Allahabad HC for denying her bail. The court also issued a Rs 10,000 bailable warrant against the complainant lawyer.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has stepped in to protect a 71-year-old woman, Usha Mishra, who was booked in a forgery case related to a land sale deed dating back to 1971 in Uttar Pradesh. The case was filed at the instance of advocate Daduram Shukla, who had lodged the FIR in 2023.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh strongly criticised the way the Allahabad High Court dealt with the matter and took action against the complainant.
The top court issued a bailable warrant of Rs 10,000 against advocate Shukla to secure his presence and also asked him to explain
“why exemplary cost be not imposed on him for lodging the FIR in 2023 alleging forgery of a sale deed on August 21, 1971.”
The court directed the Lucknow Commissioner of Police to execute the warrant and, at the same time, stayed the arrest of Mishra. It also questioned the manner in which the police registered the case.
The bench said,
“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 the beneficiary of the sale deed dated August 21, 1971.”
Coming down heavily on the casual handling of the case by the high court, the Supreme Court observed that the order rejecting anticipatory bail needed serious reflection.
The bench remarked,
“The casual manner in which the impugned order has been passed warrants introspection. We will not say more than this at this stage.”
The court further said there was no need for a counter affidavit from the State and instead asked for the original records of the case.
The bench ordered,
“The SHO of the police station is directed to produce the original record leading to registration of FIR No…and further show cause as to why such proceedings, prima facie being an abuse of process of law, be not quashed.”
The matter has now been listed for further hearing on October 8.
Earlier, on June 25, 2025, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear Mishra’s plea for anticipatory bail and had issued notice to Shukla.
The bench also noted that Mishra had appeared before the investigating officer on May 26, 2025, where her statement under Section 161 of the CrPC, 1973 was recorded.
The judges also pointed out that Shukla had been evading service of notice, and warned that if he continued to avoid it, then the police must ensure his presence before the Supreme Court even by issuing non-bailable warrants.
The FIR against Mishra was registered at the Kotwali Nagar police station in Gonda district on June 22, 2023, for offences of cheating and forgery.
Later, on May 27, 2025, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had cancelled the anticipatory bail earlier given to her, saying that she had not appeared before the investigating officer on the date fixed and had misused the liberty given by the court.
However, Mishra explained that she was unwell on May 19 and therefore could not appear. She later presented herself before the officer on May 26 and gave her statement.
According to the FIR, the allegation was that a forged sale deed was executed on August 20, 1971. The mutation of that document was later rejected on September 7, 2020.
The FIR further claimed that Mishra was the mother-in-law of the main accused, Brijesh Kumar Awasthi, who was allegedly part of a gang involved in creating such fake land sale deeds.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Forgery Case
