TMI Blog2010 (7) TMI 954X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... non for taking cognizance by a Magistrate in a case exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions is the question which arises for consideration in this appeal filed against order dated 18.4.2007 passed by the learned Single Judge of Patna High Court in Criminal Miscellaneous Petition No.1778 of 2007 whereby he remitted the case to Chief Judicial Magistrate, Saran with the direction to make further inquiry and pass appropriate order in the light of proviso to Section 202(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.). 3. The appellant s son, Ajay Kumar Singh is said to have been killed by respondent Nos.1 to 4 on 1/2.1.1997. The appellant lodged First Information Report on the same day at Police Station, Isuapur. After conducting investigation, the police submitted final form on 3.9.1998 with the finding that they had no clue about the culprits. Thereupon, the appellant filed a protest petition accusing the police of not conducting the investigation properly due to political pressure and prayed that the accused persons be summoned and punished. By an order dated 3.9.2002, the learned Judicial Magistrate accepted the final form submitted by the police but, at the same time, direc ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ent in Birendra K. Singh v. State of Bihar (2000) 8 SCC 498 in support of his submission that proviso to Section 202(2) Cr.P.C. is mandatory. 6. We have considered the respective submissions. By its very nomenclature, Cr.P.C. is a compendium of law relating to criminal procedure. The provisions contained therein are required to be interpreted keeping in view the well recognized rule of construction that procedural prescriptions are meant for doing substantial justice. If violation of the procedural provision does not result in denial of fair hearing or causes prejudice to the parties, the same has to be treated as directory notwithstanding the use of word `shall . Chapter XIV of Cr.P.C. enumerates conditions for initiation of proceedings. Under Section 190, which forms part of the scheme of that chapter, a Magistrate can take cognizance of any offence either on receiving a complaint of facts which constitute an offence or a police report of such facts or upon receipt of information from any person other than a police officer or upon his own knowledge, that such an offence has been committed. Chapters XV and XVI contain various procedural provisions which are required to be follo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... th: Provided that if it appears to the Magistrate that the offence complained of is triable exclusively by the Court of Session, he shall call upon the complainant to produce all his witnesses and examine them on oath. (3) If an investigation under sub-section (1) is made by a person not being a police officer, he shall have for that investigation all the powers conferred by this Code on an officer in charge of a police station except the power to arrest without warrant. 203. Dismissal of complaint.- If, after considering the statements on oath (if any) of the complainant and of the witnesses and the result of the inquiry or investigation (if any) under Section 202, the Magistrate is of opinion that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding, he shall dismiss the complaint, and in every such case he shall record his reasons for so doing. 204. Issue of process.- (1) If in the opinion of a Magistrate taking cognizance of an offence there is sufficient ground for proceeding, and the case appears to be- (a) a summons-case, he shall issue his summons for the attendance of the accused, or (b) a warrant-case, he may issue a warrant, or, if he thinks fit, a summons, for ca ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere, in a case instituted otherwise than on a police report, it appears to the Magistrate issuing process under section 204 that the offence is triable exclusively by the Court of Session, the Magistrate shall without delay furnish to the accused, free of cost, a copy of each of the following:- (i) the statements recorded under section 200 or section 202, or all persons examined by the Magistrate; (ii) the statements and confessions, if any, recorded under section 161 or section 164; (iii) any documents produced before the Magistrate on which the prosecution proposes to rely: Provided that if the Magistrate is satisfied that any such document is voluminous, he shall, instead of furnishing the accused with a copy thereof, direct that he will only be allowed to inspect it either personally or through pleader in Court. 209. Commitment of case to Court of Session when offence is triable exclusively by it.-When in a case instituted on a police report or otherwise, the accused appears or is brought before the Magistrate and it appears to the Magistrate that the offence is triable exclusively by the Court of Session, he shall- (a) commit, after complying with the provisions ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ering the statements made by the complainant and the witnesses on oath and the result of the inquiry or investigation, if any, made under Section 202(1), he is satisfied that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding. The exercise of this power is hedged with the condition that the Magistrate should record brief reasons for dismissing the complaint. Section 204, which talks of issue of process lays down that if the Magistrate taking cognizance of an offence is of the view that there is sufficient ground for proceeding then he may issue summons for attendance of the accused in a summons-case. If it is a warrant-case, then the Magistrate can issue warrant for causing attendance of accused. Section 207 casts a duty on the Magistrate to supply to the accused, copies of the police report, the first information report recorded under Section 154, the statements recorded under Section 161(3), the confessions and statements, if any, recorded under Section 164 and any other document or relevant extract thereof, which is forwarded to the Magistrate along with police report. Section 208 provides for supply of copies of statement and documents to accused in the cases triable by the Court of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 618, Vadilal Panchal v. Duttatraya Dulaji Ghadigaonkar (1961) 1 SCR 1, Chandra Deo Singh v. Prokash Chandra Bose (1964) 1 SCR 639, Nirmaljit Singh Hoon v. State of West Bengal (1973) 3 SCC 753, Kewal Krishan v. Suraj Bhan (1980) Supp SCC 499, Mohinder Singh v. Gulwant Singh (1992) 2 SCC 213 and Chief Enforcement Officer v. Videocon International Ltd. (2008) 2 SCC 492. 9. In Chandra Deo Singh v. Prokash Chandra Bose (supra), it was held that where there was prima facie evidence, the Magistrate was bound to issue process and even though the person charged of an offence in the complaint might have a defence, the matter has to be left to be decided by an appropriate forum at an appropriate stage. It was further held that the issue of process can be refused only when the Magistrate finds that the evidence led by the complainant is self contradictory or intrinsically untrustworthy. 10. In Kewal Krishan v. Suraj Bhan (supra), this Court examined the scheme of Sections 200 to 204 and held: At the stage of Sections 203 and 204 of the Criminal Procedure Code in a case exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions, all that the Magistrate has to do is to see whether on a cursory peru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the witnesses cited by the complainant is, by itself, not sufficient to denude the concerned Magistrate of the jurisdiction to pass an order for taking cognizance and issue of process provided he is satisfied that prima facie case is made out for doing so. Here it is significant to note that the word all appearing in proviso to Section 202(2) is qualified by the word `his . This implies that the complainant is not bound to examine all the witnesses named in the complaint or whose names are disclosed in response to the order passed by the Magistrate. In other words, only those witnesses are required to be examined whom the complainant considers material to make out a prima facie case for issue of process. The choice being of the complainant, he may choose not to examine other witnesses. Consequence of such non-examination is to be considered at the trial and not at the stage of issuing process when the Magistrate is not required to enter into detailed discussions on the merits or demerits of the case, that is to say whether or not the allegations contained in the complaint, if proved, would ultimately end in conviction of the accused. He is only to see whether there exists suff ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y of the Magistrate while making an inquiry to elicit all facts not merely with a view to protect the interests of an absent accused person, but also with a view to bring to book a person or persons against whom grave allegations are made. Shah, J. then referred to the ratio of the judgment in Kewal Krishan v. Suraj Bhan (supra) and observed: In this view of the matter it is apparent that the High Court erred in holding that there was breach of the mandatory provisions of the proviso to Section 202(2) of the Code and the order of committal is vitiated and, therefore, requires to be set aside. The High Court failed to consider the proviso to Section 200, particularly proviso (a) to the said section and also the fact that inquiry under Section 202 is discretionary for deciding whether to issue process (under Section 204) or to dismiss the complaint (under Section 203). Under Section 200, on receipt of the complaint, the Magistrate can take cognizance and issue process to the accused. If the case is exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, he is required to commit the case to the Court of Session. Shah, J. also referred to the judgment of the Full Bench of Kerala High Co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ments referred to in the third category mentioned in clause (iii) are not important.] The first category delineated in clause (i) of Section 208 consists of statements recorded under Section 200 or Section 202, of all persons examined by the Magistrate . (emphasis supplied) It is now important to note that the words if any have been used in the second category of documents which is delineated in clause (ii) of Section 208, but those words are absent while delineating the first category. In my view those two words have been thoughtfully avoided by Parliament in clause (i). If a Magistrate is to comply with the aforesaid requirements in Section 208 of the Code (which he cannot obviate if the language used in the sub-section is of any indication) what is the manner in which he can do it in a case where he failed to examine the witnesses before issuing process to the accused? The mere fact that the word or is employed in clause (i) of Section 208 is not to be understood as an indication that the Magistrate is given the freedom to dispense with the inquiry if he has already examined the complainant under Section 200. A case can be visualised in which the complainant is the only ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uld not, by itself, vitiate the proceedings. If no objection is taken at the earlier stage regarding such omission the court can consider how far such omission would have led to a miscarriage of justice, when such objection is taken at a later stage. A decision on such belated objection can be taken by bearing in mind the principles adumbrated in Section 465 of the Code. (emphasis supplied) 14. Although, Shah, J. and Thomas, J. appear to have expressed divergent views on the interpretation of proviso to Section 202(2) but there is no discord between them that non examination of all the witnesses by the complainant would not vitiate the proceedings. With a view to clarify legal position on the subject, we deem it proper to observe that even though in terms of the proviso to Section 202(2), the Magistrate is required to direct the complainant to produce all his witnesses and examine them on oath, failure or inability of the complainant or omission on his part to examine one or some of the witnesses cited in the complaint or whose names are furnished in compliance of the direction issued by the Magistrate, will not preclude the latter from taking cognizance and issuing process ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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