1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR Criminal Revision Application No.187 of 2006, Criminal Application No.2428 of 2006, And Criminal Application No.2429 of 2006. Criminal Revision Application No.187 of 2006 1. Sau. Sangita w/o Ashok Borawar, Aged about 29 years, Occ. Household, R/o Bramhanwada (Thadi), Tahsil - Chandur Bazar, District - Amravati. 2. Ashok s/o Kisanrao Borawar, Aged about 36 years, R/o Bramhanwada (Thadi), Tahsil - Chandur Bazar, District - Amravati. 3. Mahadeo Parose, Aged about 26 years, R/o Dahegaon (Purna), Tahsil - Chandur Bazar, District - Amravati. 4. Janardhan s/o Bapurao Nanhe, ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 16:14:09 ::: 2 Aged about 40 years, R/o Dhanora (Purna), Tahsil - Chandur Bazar, District - Amravati. 5. Sanjay s/o Bapurao Nanhe, Aged about 30 years, R/o Dhanora (Purna), Tahsil - Chandur Bazar, District - Amravati. 6. Sudhakar s/o Shamrao Nanhe, Aged about 43 years, R/o Padam Saurabh Colony, Shegaon Road, Amravati. 7. Prabhakar s/o Shamrao Nanhe, Aged about 37 years, R/o Padam Saurabh Colony, Shegaon Road, Amravati. 8. Sou. Sunita w/o Sudhakar Nanhe, Aged about 33 years, R/o Padam Saurabh Colony, Shegaon Road, Amravati. 9. Sou. Vaishali w/o Prabhakar Nanhe, Aged about 30 years, ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 16:14:09 ::: 3 R/o Padam Saurabh Colony, Shegaon Road, Amravati. ... Applicants Versus 1. Sou. Surekha w/o Nandu Borawar, Aged about 27 years, R/o Rohana, Police Station Pulgaon, Tahsil - Arvi, District - Wardha. 2. The State of Maharashtra. ... Non-Applicants Criminal Application No.2428 of 2006 1. Namdeo s/o Bapurao Nanhe, Aged about 48 years. 2. Sou. Parvati w/o Namdeo Nanhe, Aged about 41 years. 3. Ratankumar s/o Namdeo Nanhe, Aged about 19 years. 4. Archana d/o Namdeo Nanhe, Aged about 24 years. All R/o Khairi (Donoda), Tahsil - Achalpur, District - Amravati. ... Applicants ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 16:14:09 ::: 4 Versus 1. Sou. Surekha w/o Nandu Borawar, Aged about 27 years, R/o Rohana, P.S. Pulgaon, Tahsil - Arvi, District - Wardha. 2. The State of Maharashtra. ... Non-Applicants Criminal Application No.2429 of 2006 1. Nandu s/o Narayan Borawar, Aged about 29 years. 2. Narayan s/o Namdeo Borawar, Aged about 59 years. 3. Sou. Kamal w/o Narayan Borawar, Aged about 55 years. All R/o Jawardi, Post - Paratwada, Tahsil - Achalpur, District - Amravati. ... Applicants Versus 1. Sou. Surekha w/o Nandu Borawar, Aged about 27 years, R/o Rohana, P.S. Pulgaon, Tahsil - Arvi, District - Wardha. ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 16:14:09 ::: 5 2. The State of Maharashtra. ... Non-Applicants -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shri V.M. Deshpande, Advocate for Applicants. Shri J.Y. Ghurde, Advocate for Non-Applicant No.1. Smt. I.L. Bodade, APP for Non-Applicant No.2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coram : R.M. Borde, J.
rd
Dated : 3 August, 2010
Oral Judgment :
1. The order passed by the learned 2nd Ad hoc Additional Sessions
Judge, Wardha, in Criminal Revision No.21 of 2006 as well as in companion
revisions, being Criminal Revision No.42 of 2006 and Criminal Revision
No.34 of 2006, is subjected to challenge in these matters. The Revisional
Court, while dismissing the criminal revisions tendered by the accused,
proceeded to allow the revision tendered by the respondent/complainant and
further directed issuance of process against the original accused Nos.8 to 16
for offences punishable under Sections 494 and 109 read with Section
34 of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Trial Magistrate, while dealing
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with the complaint tendered by the respondent/complainant, had earlier
directed issuance of process against original accused Nos.1 to 7 in view of
the order passed on 2-2-2006. The Revisional Court has confirmed the
order passed by the learned Magistrate and in addition thereto, was pleased
to summon the remaining accused arrayed in the complaint.
2.
Criminal Revision No.187 of 2006 is presented by the original
accused Nos.8 to 16 raising exception to the order passed by the Revisional
Court, whereas both the criminal applications, being Criminal Application
No.2428 of 2006 and 2429 of 2006, are presented by the rest of the accused
calling in question the order passed by the learned Magistrate directing
issuance of process against them.
3. The complainant in the complaint tendered by her alleges that the
marriage of the complainant with accused No.1 Nandu was solemnized
on 7-5-1999. However, on account of matrimonial disputes, they started
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residing separate since 1-7-1999. It is alleged that accused No.1 Nandu
entered into wedlock with accused No.2 Archana on 26-3-2001. The
complainant thus alleges that accused Nos.1 and 2 have committed an
offence punishable under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code, as they
entered into wedlock while the marriage of the complainant with accused
No.1 Nandu was still subsisting. It is further alleged that the other accused
named in the complaint have aided and abetted commission of offence by
accused Nos.1 and 2.
4. On receipt of the complaint, the learned Magistrate was pleased
to record the verification statement of the complainant and issue order
directing police to investigate the matter and submit report in accordance
with the provisions of Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The
learned Magistrate had also taken into account the documentary evidence
placed on record by the complainant, which indicates that an issue was born
out of the second wedlock. Thus it is clear that the learned Magistrate was
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satisfied that accused No.1 is residing with accused No.2 and an issue was
born to them out of matrimonial relations. The police officials, on
completion of the enquiry, submitted report on 21-6-2005 along with the
papers of enquiry to the learned Magistrate. The police reported the learned
Magistrate that there is no evidence available to substantiate the case put up
by the complainant in the complaint. On consideration of the report
tendered by the police and on perusal of the papers of investigation, the
learned Magistrate did not concur with the police and directed issuance of
process against accused Nos.1 to 7, calling upon them to answer the charge
levelled by the complainant in respect of commission of offences punishable
under Sections 494 and 109 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
5. The order passed by the learned Magistrate on 2-2-2006 was
subjected to challenge before the Revisional Court in three different revision
applications tendered by the accused, so also the complainant challenged
the order passed by the learned Magistrate on the ground of refusal by the
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learned Magistrate to take cognizance of the offence allegedly committed by
accused Nos.8 to 16. The Revisional Court, on consideration of the revision
applications tendered before it, has rendered decision as referred to in the
above paragraphs and the said order passed by the Revisional Court is
subject-matter of challenge in these matters.
6.
I have heard the arguments advanced by the learned counsel
appearing for the parties and perused the orders passed by the learned
Magistrate as well as the Revisional Court. With the assistance of the
learned counsel appearing for the parties, I have also gone through the
record of the case.
7. The learned counsel appearing for the applicants in all these
matters has vehemently contended that in fact there is no material placed on
record by the complainant to proceed against the accused. It is contended
that the material gathered by the police, if considered, so also the allegations
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levelled by the complainant in the complaint, if taken at their face value, do
not make out any case against the accused. It is also contended that the
discretion exercised by the learned Magistrate in directing issuance of
process is arbitrary, as the same is based on either no evidence or on the
material, which is wholly irrelevant. The learned counsel for the applicants
contends that the statements of the witnesses cited by the complainant in the
complaint recorded by the police do not make out any case against the
accused. He pointed out that the complainant has made a reference to the
names of five witnesses and amongst those witnesses, he has invited my
attention to the statements recorded by the police in respect of witnesses
Onkarrao Pachare, Bhanudas Nanhe, Subhash Wankhede and Kisanrao
Solanke, contending that those very witnesses cited by the complainant do
not support the case of the complainant. It is also contended that there is no
evidence in respect of solemnization of marriage at Tirthkshetra Hanuman
Mandir, Amravati. It is thus contended that the material collected by the
police is not sufficient to proceed against the accused, so also on bare
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perusal of the complaint, no case can be said to have been made out against
the accused.
8. Another ground of attack by the learned counsel for the
applicants is non-consideration of the report of the police and failure by the
learned Magistrate to record reasons for her disagreement with the report of
the police while passing the impugned order. It is contended by the learned
counsel for the applicants that although the police have reported that there is
no material available to implicate the accused in the crime, the learned
Magistrate has chosen not to rely upon the police report and proceeded to
direct issuance of process against accused Nos.1 to 7. The learned counsel
for the applicants contended that in such circumstances, it was obligatory for
the learned Magistrate to record reasons for her disagreement with the police
report or at least she should have made a reference to the police report in the
order. It is contended that on perusal of the order passed by the learned
Magistrate, it shows non-application of mind by the learned Magistrate to
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the record of the case and as such the impugned orders passed by the learned
Magistrate as well as the Revisional Court need to be quashed and set aside.
9. The learned counsel appearing for the applicants has placed
reliance on the judgment in the matter of Suhas Balkrishna Desai and others
v. Chandrakant Ramchandra Parab and others, reported in 2001(1) Mh.L.J.
328, and contended that it was incumbent upon the learned Magistrate to
record reasons in respect of her disagreement with the police report. He
contends that the absence of reasons shows non-application of mind by the
learned Magistrate. It is to be noted that the matter before the Court was one
arising out of an enquiry under Section 156(3) of the Code. In the facts and
circumstances of that case, the Court proceeded to observe that it was
desirable for the learned Magistrate to record reasons. The scope of enquiry
under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is different than the
one under Section 156(3) of the Code. Even otherwise, there cannot be any
mandate requiring the learned Magistrate to record reasons in respect of his
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disagreement with the police report. It is only in the cases where the learned
Magistrate proceeds to dismiss the complaint by taking recourse to Section
203 of the Code, he is required to record reasons. The reliance placed on the
aforesaid reported decision is misplaced.
Same is the case with the decision rendered in the matter of
Vidya Kuldip Raj Kohil v. State of Maharashtra and another, reported in
2002(2) Mh.L.J. 830, wherein the learned Single Judge has recorded that the
order passed by the learned Magistrate not only suffers from non-application
of mind, but the same appears to have been passed with extraneous
considerations. In the facts and circumstances of that case, the Court felt
need on the part of the learned Magistrate to record reasons in respect of his
disagreement.
10. The learned counsel appearing for the respondent/complainant
while supporting the order passed by the Revisional Court, contended that
there is sufficient material brought on record requiring the learned Trial
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Magistrate to take cognizance of the offence. It is contended that the very
purpose of enquiry under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is
to provide aid to the Magistrate in arriving at a decision as to whether the
case is one which may lead to full-length trial. The scope of enquiry under
Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is quite restricted and it is
always open for the Magistrate to apply his mind to the record of the case
and to adopt a different view. It is not incumbent upon the Magistrate to
accept the report of the police nor law mandates recording of reasons by the
Magistrate in the event of his exhibition of disagreement with the report
tendered by the police. It is sufficient in the facts and circumstances of the
case that reasonable inference could be drawn on perusal of order of
magistrate as regards application of mind to the record by the Magistrate. It
is contended that the learned Magistrate has applied her mind to the record
of the case and has proceeded to issue order summoning accused Nos.1 to 7.
It is contended that reasonableness or sufficiency of the reasons recorded by
the learned Magistrate cannot be a matter of challenge before the Revisional
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Court or the High Court. The learned counsel for the
respondent/complainant contends that it is not open for the superior Courts
to probe in the reasons recorded by the learned Magistrate and to arrive at a
different conclusion. At the stage of issuance of process, the accused have
no role to play and the adequacy of the material available with the
Magistrate for taking cognizance or reasonableness of the reasons recorded
by the Magistrate while summoning the accused cannot be a matter of
scrutiny by the higher Courts, at the instance of the accused.
11. Law prescribes different modes, which are available with the
Magistrate, in respect of proceeding further in the matter on receipt of a
complaint. A Magistrate can order investigation under Section 156(3) of the
Code of Criminal Procedure at a pre-cognizance stage, that is to say, before
taking cognizance under Section 190 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
and where a Magistrate decides to take cognizance under the provisions of
Chapter XIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, he is not entitled in law to
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order investigation under Section 156(3) of the Code, though in cases not
falling within the proviso to Section 202 of the Code, he can order an
investigation by the police which would be in the nature of an enquiry as
contemplated by Section 202 of the Code. Where a Magistrate chooses to
take cognizance, he can adopt any of the following alternatives : (a) he can
peruse the complaint and if satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for
proceeding he can straightaway issue process to the accused but before he
does so he must comply with the requirements of Section 200 of the Code
and record the evidence of the complainant or his witness, (b) the Magistrate
can postpone the issue of process and direct an enquiry by himself, or (c) the
Magistrate can postpone the issue of process and direct an enquiry by any
other person or an investigation by the police. In case the Magistrate after
considering the statement of the complainant and the witnesses or as a result
of the investigation and the enquiry ordered is not satisfied that there are
sufficient grounds for proceeding he can dismiss the complaint. Where a
Magistrate orders investigation by the police before taking cognizance under
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Section 156(3) of the Code and receives the report thereupon he can act on
the report and discharge the accused or straightaway issue process against
the accused or apply his mind to the complaint filed before him and take
action under Section 190 of the Code, as described above.
12. This raises a question as to whether taking cognizance by the
Magistrate is within the contemplation of Section 190 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. As has been analyzed in the decisions rendered by the
Apex Court in several matters, when the Magistrate, on receipt of a
complaint, orders investigation by police taking recourse to Section 156(3)
of the Code in respect of cognizable offences, he does so at a
pre-cognizance stage. The Magistrate, however, on receipt of the complaint
and after applying his mind, can either straightway proceed to record the
verification statement of the complainant and direct issuance of process or
may postpone the issuance of process and direct either investigation by
police or ask the complainant to produce his evidence before him. When the
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Magistrate acts in accordance with the provisions of Section 202 of the
Code, he issues the directions on taking cognizance of the complaint. The
order passed by the Magistrate under Section 202 of the Code either
requiring the complainant to place his evidence before the Court or direct
investigation and report by police is the order at a pre-cognizance stage. It
is appropriate to refer to the decision rendered by the Apex Court in this
regard. In the matter of Devarapalli Lakshminarayana Reddy and others v.
Narayana Reddy and others, reported in AIR 1976 SC 1672, the Apex Court
has observed in para 14 as under :
“14. This raises the incidental question: What is meant by
“taking cognizance of an offence” by the Magistrate within the
contemplation of Section 190? This expression has not been
defined in the Code. But from the scheme of the Code, the
content and marginal heading of Section 190 and the caption of
Chapter XIV under which Sections 190 to 199 occur, it is clear
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19that a case can be said to be instituted in a Court only when the
Court takes cognizance of the offences alleged therein. The ways
in which such cognizance can be taken are set out in clauses (a),
(b) and (c) of Section 190(1). Whether the Magistrate has or has
not taken cognizance of the offence will depend on the
circumstances of the particular case including the mode in which
the case is sought to be instituted, and the nature of the
preliminary action, if any, taken by the Magistrate. Broadly
speaking, when on receiving a complaint, the Magistrate applies
his mind for the purposes of proceeding under Section 200 and
the succeeding sections in Chapter XV of the Code of 1973, he is
said to have taken cognizance of the offence within the meaning
of Section 190(1)(a). If, instead of proceeding under Chapter
XV, he, has in the judicial exercise of his discretion, taken action
of some other kind, such as issuing a search warrant for the
purpose of investigation, or ordering investigation by the police
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20under Section 156(3), he cannot be said to have taken
cognizance of any offence.”
13. So far as the scope of Section 202 of the Code is concerned,
various High Courts in catena of decisions have examined the significance
of Section 202 of the Code and the Apex Court, while dealing with the
matter of Mohinder Singh v. Mohinder Pal and others, reported in AIR 1992
SC 1894, has observed in para 11 of the judgment as under :
“The scope of enquiry under S. 202 is extremely restricted only
to finding out the truth or otherwise of the allegations made in
the complaint in order to determine whether process should be
issued or not under S. 204 of the Code or whether the complaint
should be dismissed by resorting to S. 203 of the Code on the
footing that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding on the
basis of the statements of the complainant and of his witnesses, if
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21any. But the enquiry at that stage does not partake the character
of a full dress trial which can only take place after process is
issued under S. 204 of the Code calling upon the proposed
accused to answer the accusation made against him for adjuding
the guilt or otherwise of the said accused person. Further, the
question whether the evidence is adequate for supporting the
conviction can be determined only at the trial and not at the
stage of the enquiry contemplated under S. 202 of the Code. To
say in other words, during the course of the enquiry under S. 202
of the Code, the Enquiry Officer has to satisfy himself simply on
the evidence adduced by the prosecution whether prima facie
case has been made out so as to put the proposed accused on
regular trial and that no detailed enquiry is called for during the
course of such enquiry. Vide Vadilal Panchal v. Dattatraya
Dulaji Ghadigaonkar, (1961) 1 SCR 1 : (AIR 1960 SC 1113) and
Pramatha Nath Talukdar v. Saroj Ranjan, 1962 Supp (2) SCR
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22297 : (AIR 1962 SC 876).”
14. Taking resume of the judgments cited above, it would be quite
clear that the scope of enquiry while taking recourse to Sections 156(3) and
202 of the Code is different and the Magistrate is invested with the power to
deal with both the situations differently. As has been made clear in the
catena of decisions, the scope of enquiry under Section 202 of the Code is
only to ascertain the truth or falsehood made in the complaint on the basis of
the material placed by the complainant before the Court for limited purpose
of finding out whether a prima facie case for issue of process has been made
out. The Magistrate is required to form an opinion without adverting to any
probable defence the accused may have.
15. Turning to the facts of the instant case, though it is contended that
the material placed on record is insufficient to take cognizance of the
offence, this Court while exercising powers under Section 482 of the Code
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has to scrutinize the material bearing in mind the limitations in respect of
causing interference and also the desirability to probe into the material
placed on record at the initial stage of issuance of process. It cannot be
controverted that the accused has no role to play in an enquiry at the stage of
issuance of process. It is matter between the complainant and the Court. So
far as the sufficiency of the material for proceeding with the matter is
concerned, it is for the Magistrate to scrutinize the record and reach the
conclusion. The sufficiency or otherwise of the material placed on record
before the Magistrate while the Magistrate issues order for proceeding with
the complaint and directs issuance of process cannot be a matter of in-depth
scrutiny at the hands of the higher Courts. What is required to be seen is
that on perusal of the complaint and on the basis of the material placed on
record, prima facie without adverting to the probable defence that may be
available to the accused, whether a case is made out for proceeding further.
In the instant matter, although it has been pointed out that the witnesses cited
in the complaint by the complainant do not wholly support her case, the fact
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remains that the complaint itself contains the allegations, which constitute an
offence. On perusal of the record of the Trial Court, it transpires that the
police during the course of investigation have recorded the statements of the
witnesses related to the complainant and they have stated above the factum
of second marriage of accused no.1 with accused No.2. Apart from these
aspects, there are few affidavits filed on record before the Magistrate by
certain witnesses, who have made the grievance in respect of investigation in
the matter. The complaint is made by at least three witnesses, who states
that the police have not recorded the statements according to their versions
and the statements of the witnesses have been recorded so as to shield the
offenders. Taking into consideration all the material, in all probabilities, the
Magistrate decided to proceed against a few accused. As stated above, there
cannot be any in-depth scrutiny of the material collected by the Investigation
Officer, which led the Magistrate to form her opinion in respect of
desirability to proceed further in the matter.
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16. A reference can be made to the judgment of the Apex Court in
the matter of Smt. Nagawwa v. Veeranna Shivlingappa Konjalgi and others,
reported in (1976) 3 SCC 736, wherein the scope of enquiry under
Section 202 of the Code has been considered by the Apex Court. The
relevant observations made in paragraphs 3 and 4 read as under :
“3.
In Chandra Deo Singh v. Prakash Chandra Bose this
Court had after fully considering the matter observed as follows :
The courts have also pointed out in these cases that
what the magistrate has to see is whether there is evidence in
support of the allegations of the complainant and not whether the
evidence is sufficient to warrant a conviction. The learned
Judges in some of these cases have been at pains to observe that
an enquiry under Section 202 is not to be likened to a trial which
can only take place after process is issued, and that there can be
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26only one trial. No doubt, as stated in sub-section (1) of Section
202 itself, the object of the enquiry is to ascertain the truth or
falsehood of the complaint, but the magistrate making the
enquiry has to do this only with reference to the intrinsic quality
of the statements made before him at the enquiry which would
naturally mean the complaint itself, the statement on oath made
by the complainant and the statements made before him by
persons examined at the instance of the complainant.
Indicating the scope, ambit of Section 202 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure this Court in Vaddilal Panchal v. Dattatraya
Dulaji Ghadigaonker observed as follows :
Section 202 says that the magistrate may, if he thinks
fit, for reasons to be recorded in writing, postpone the issue of
process for compelling the attendance of the person complained
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against and direct an inquiry for the purpose of ascertaining the
truth or falsehood of the complaint, in other words, the scope of
an inquiry under the section is limited to finding out the truth or
falsehood of the complaint in order to determine the question of
the issue of process. The inquiry is for the purpose of
ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the complaint; that is, for
ascertaining whether there is evidence in support of the
complaint so as to justify the issue of process and commencement
of proceedings against the person concerned. The section does
not say that a regular trial for adjudging the guilt or otherwise of
the person complained against should take place at that stage;
for the person complained against can be legally called upon to
answer the accusation made against him only when a process
has issued and he is put on trial.”
4. It would thus be clear from the two decisions of this
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Court that the scope of the inquiry under Section 202 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure is extremely limited – limited only to the
ascertainment of the truth or falsehood of the allegations made in
the complaint – (I) on the materials placed by the complainant
before the court; (ii) for the limited purpose of finding out
whether a prima face case for issue of process has been made
out; and (iii) for deciding the question purely from the point of
view of the complainant without at all adverting to any defence
that the accused may have. In fact it is well settled that in
proceedings under Section 202 the accused has got absolutely no
locus standi and is not entitled to be heard on the question
whether the process should be issued against him or not.
The Apex Court has further laid down the principles in respect of causing
interference by the higher Courts in the matter calling in question orders in
respect of issuance of process. Those are quoted in para 5 of the judgment,
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which read as under :
“(1) where the allegations made in the complaint or the
statements of the witnesses recorded in support of the same taken
at their face value make out absolutely no case against the
accused or the complaint does not disclose the essential
ingredients of an offence which is alleged against the accused;
(2) where the allegations made in the complaint are
patently absurd and inherently improbable so that no prudent
person can ever reach a conclusion that there is sufficient
ground for proceeding against the accused;
3. where the discretion exercised by the magistrate in
issuing process is capricious and arbitrary having been based
either on no evidence or on materials which are wholly
irrelevant or inadmissible; and
4. where the complaint suffers from fundamental legal
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30defects, such as, want of sanction, or absence of a complaint by
legally competent authority and the like.”
17. It is contended by the learned counsel for the applicants that the
material collected by the police and perused by the learned Magistrate as
well as the allegations contained in the complaint taken at their face value
are not sufficient to proceed against the accused. However, as stated above,
I am of the opinion that this is not a case wherein there is absolutely no
material to proceed against the accused. The sufficiency or otherwise of the
material cannot be a matter of enquiry by the Trial Court. In the same
judgment (Smt. Nagawwa v. Veeranna Shivlingappa Konjalgi and others),
referred to above, the Apex Court has observed, “Whether the reasons were
good or bad, sufficient or insufficient, is not a matter which could have been
examined by the High Court in revision”. The principle enunciated by the
Apex Court in the aforesaid judgment equally applies to the decision
rendered by the Revisional Court in these matters. The Revisional Court has
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exceeded its jurisdiction in causing interference in the order passed by the
Magistrate by directing issuance of process against accused Nos.8 to 16.
The Magistrate on consideration of the material has formed an opinion that
there is sufficient material to proceed against accused Nos.1 to 7 only. It
was not open for the Revisional Court to probe further and record a contrary
opinion. The order passed by the Revisional Court is in excess of
jurisdiction vested in him. The order passed by the Revisional Court,
therefore, needs to be quashed and set aside.
18. For the reasons set out above, Criminal Revision No.187 of 2006
presented by accused Nos.8 to 16 stands allowed and the order passed by the
Revisional Court on 22-6-2006 is quashed and set aside. Rule is made
absolute accordingly.
Criminal Applications Nos.2428 and 2429 of 2006 stand
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dismissed. Rule is discharged in the concerned criminal applications.
Judge.
pdl
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