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Dilip Kumar vs. Brajraj Shrivastava & Anr. (2023 INSC 670)

Criminal Appeal · 2023 INSC 670Decided 26 Jul 2023
Criminal Appeal No. 561 of 2012
Abhay S. Oka · Sanjay Karol

Background

The first respondent had filed a private criminal complaint against the appellant alleging several offences, naming eight witnesses in support. The Magistrate chose to conduct the pre-summoning inquiry himself under Section 202(1) CrPC but recorded only the complainant's own statement, examining none of the eight named witnesses, and then dismissed the complaint under Section 203 CrPC as apparently mala fide. The High Court set aside this dismissal and sent the complaint back to the Magistrate, holding that a proper inquiry under Section 202(1) had not actually been conducted. The appellant challenged this remand before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's view. It reiterated settled law that once a Magistrate opts to hold the inquiry himself under Section 202(1) CrPC rather than directing a police investigation, he must consider the statements of the complainant and the complainant's witnesses before dismissing the complaint. He cannot dismiss it after examining only the complainant while ignoring specifically named witnesses, without recording reasons for doing so. Since the Magistrate here examined only the complainant and gave no reasons for not examining the other eight witnesses, the inquiry was incomplete, and the case rightly had to go back to the stage of holding a proper inquiry. The Court also clarified that the High Court's other observations (including on the need for prosecution sanction) were only tentative and would not bind the Magistrate's fresh consideration. The appeal was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

A Magistrate who decides to personally inquire into a private complaint before summoning an accused must examine the witnesses specifically named in the complaint (or explain in writing why he is not doing so) before dismissing it, skipping this step makes the dismissal legally unsustainable.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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