Fraud must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved before any order can be treated as vitiated.

An order or proceeding can be treated as vitiated by fraud only if fraud is specifically pleaded and strictly proved by material showing deliberate deceit, wilful misrepresentation, or concealment intended to mislead the court and secure an undue advantage. Mere criticism of the prosecution case, reliance on inconsistencies, or repetition of statements from earlier proceedings is insufficient. On the pleadings and material, the application failed to lay a proper factual foundation for fraud, so the allegation that the charge-framing order was obtained by fraud was unsustainable. The High Court erred in setting aside the earlier order without adequate material.

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Issues: Whether the High Court was justified in allowing an application to declare the charge-framing order null and void on the ground that it was procured by fraud, and whether the pleadings and material disclosed a legally sustainable case of fraud.

Analysis: Fraud must be specifically pleaded and strictly proved, and it denotes deliberate deceit or wilful misrepresentation intended to mislead the court and secure an undue advantage. Mere criticism of the prosecution case, reliance on perceived inconsistencies, or reproduction of statements from earlier proceedings does not by itself establish fraud. The application did not lay a proper factual foundation showing that the State had intentionally misled the court; the averments were found to be insufficient in law to support the allegation that the charge-framing order was obtained by fraud. The High Court, therefore, erred in treating the matter as one of fraud and in setting aside the earlier order without adequate material.

Conclusion: The application for declaring the charge-framing order as vitiated by fraud was not maintainable on the pleadings and material, and the finding of fraud was unsustainable; the decision was in favour of the appellant.

Ratio Decidendi: An order or proceeding can be treated as vitiated by fraud only when fraud is specifically pleaded and strictly proved by material showing deliberate deception or concealment intended to mislead the court; bare assertions, argumentative submissions, or inconsistencies in prior proceedings are insufficient.

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