Holding

A magistrate must give notice to the informant and an opportunity to be heard at the time of considering a police report under Section 173(2) when deciding not to take cognizance or to drop the proceeding, though he may independently take cognizance even if the report says no case.

Summary

The appellant, Chittaranjan Mirdha, filed a complaint leading to a police FIR and subsequent chargesheet implicating several accused. The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate took cognizance of the offences and issued warrants, but the appellant later sought further investigation and challenged the magistrate’s handling of the police report. The Calcutta High Court quashed the magistrate’s cognizance, directing that the informant be given notice and an opportunity to be heard before any decision to drop the case. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that a magistrate, upon receiving a report under Section 173(2) of the CrPC, may take cognizance even if the report concludes no case, but must give notice to the informant and a hearing when deciding not to take cognizance or to drop proceedings. The Court affirmed the High Court’s procedural safeguards and dismissed the appeal.

Issues considered

Whether a magistrate must give notice to the informant and an opportunity to be heard before deciding to take cognizance or to drop proceedings on a police report under Section 173(2).
Whether a magistrate can take cognizance of an offence despite a police report stating that no case is made out against the accused.
Whether the High Court’s order quashing the magistrate’s cognizance was legally justified.

Legislation cited

Arms Act, 1959s. 25, s. 27
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 156(3), s. 169, s. 173(2), s. 190(1)(b), s. 200, s. 202, s. 319
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 120B, s. 302, s. 34

Subjects

Section 173notice to informantcognizance of offencemagistrate's powersCriminal Procedure Coderight to be heardFIRappeal

Judgment

(2009] 8 S.C.R. 412

A CHITTARANJAN MIRDHA
·-
v.
DULAL GHOSH AND ANR.
(Criminal Appeal No. 964 of 2009)
MAY 8, 2009
B
[DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT AND HARJIT SINGH BEDI, JJ.]

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - ss. 173(2) and
..
190(1 )(b) - Report of police officer on completion of
c investigation - Report forwarded to Magistrate - Functions
and obligation of the Magistrate - Requirement of notice to
informant - Held: Upon receipt of a police report under
s.173(2), a Magistrate is entitled to take cognizance of an
offence under s.190(1)(b), even if the police report is to the
D effect that no case is made out against the accused - The
informant is not prejudicially affected when the Magistrate
decides to take cognizance and to proceed with the case -
But where the Magistrate decides that sufficient ground does
not subsist for proceeding further and drops the proceeding
E or takes the view that there is material for proceeding against
some and there are insufficient grounds in respect of others,
the informant would certainly be prejudiced as the First
Information Report lodged becomes wholly or partially
• •
ineffective - Though s.173 in terms does not refer to any
notice to be given to raise any protest to the report submitted
F
by the police, the Magistrate has to give notice to the informant
and provide an opportunity to be heard at the time of
consideration of the report - If the informant is not aware as
to when the matter is to be considered, he cannot be faulted,
even if protest petition in reply to the notice issued by the
G ,
police has been filed belatedly - But the right is conferred on ~

the informant and none else.

Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police and Another
AIR 1985 SC 1285; Mis. India Sarat Pvt. Ltd. v. State of
H 412
CHITIARANJAN MIRDHA v. DULAL GHOSH AND 413
ANR.

kamataka and another AIR (1989) SC 885 and Gangadhar A
Janardan Mhatre v. State of Maharashtra and Ors. 2004 (7)
sec 768, relied on.
Abhinandan Jha and Another v. Dinesh Mishra AIR
(1968) SC 117, referred to. B
Case Law Reference:
•· AIR 1985 SC 1285 relied on Para 11
AIR (1968) SC 117 referred to Para 13
c
Al~ 1989 SC 885 relied on Para 14
2004 (7) sec 768 relied on Para 18
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
, No. 964 of 2009. D

From the Judgment & Order dated 14.2.2007 of the High
Court of Calcutta in C.R.R. No. 1062 of 2006.
Rukhsana Choudhury for the Appellant.
Salal Bhattacharya, Deba Prasad Nath, Y. Bansal, Rauf E·
Rahim, Tara Chandra Sharma and Neelam Sharma for the
Respondents.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. 1. Leave granted. F

2. Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment of a learned
Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court quashing the
cognizance taken by learned Addi. District and Sessions
Judge, 4th Court Alipore in Canning PS case No. 160 relating G
to offences punishable under Section 302/34/1208 of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 (in short the 'IPC') read with Section 25 and
27 of the Arms Act, 1959 (in short the 'Arms Act') pending trial
before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate District South
24 Parganas. H
414 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 8 S.C.R.

• ~

A 3. Background facts in a nutshell are as follows:

A complaint was lodged by the appellant with the Inspector
in charge of Canning police station alleging that on 25.12.2000
at about 12 noon when his son Dipak Mirdha was in a saloon
under the name and style "Sundaram" at Canning bus stand,
B
he suddenly sustained a gunshot injury on his person. Upon
hearing the sound of such gunshot and the chaos which
resulted thereby, the third son of ttie complainant rushed to the •
spot. With the help of others the victim was shifted to Canning
Hospital where he was declared dead. There was previous
c enmity between the victim and one Azimuddin Laskar of Basanti
Police Station and Kartick Bose of Canning Police Station over
the decoration of Canning Dock Ferry Ghat. In 1999, one Anil
Thakur was murdered by some antisocial elements near
Canning Hospital. Arnab Roy, Pradhan of Dighirpar Gram _,
D Panchayat, falsely implicated the complainant's son being the •
victim, in connection with that murder

On the basis of such complaint, Canning P .S. case
No.160 dated 25.12.2000 was started. After completion of
E investigation, the Investigating Authority submitted chargesheet
No. 141 dated 2.9.07.2001 implicating Animesh Halder@
Kuche, Rajesh Dhali, Selim Gayan, Rafique Dhali and Rajab
Ali @ Doktar as accused persons. On the basis of such
chargesheet, the Learned Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial
F Magistrate, Alipore, by order dated 31.08.2001 took
cognizance of offences under sections 302/34/120B of the
Indian Penal Code read with Section 25/27 of the Arms Act
and directed issuance of warrants of arrest against the
absconding accused persons.
G After about 27 months i.e ..on 27.2.03 the defacto
• t
complainant i.e. the present appellant filed an application before
the Ld. Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate praying for
direction upon the DIG, CID, West Bengal to cause further
investigation in terms of Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal
H Procedure Code, 1973 (in short the ·code') .
CHITIARANJAN MIRDHA v. DULAL GHOSH AND 415
ANR. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]
Learned Sub-Divisional Juci1c1ai Magistrate, Alipore, by A
order dated 27.2.2003, in response to such prayer directed the
DIG, CID, West Bengal, to investigate the aforesaid case under
Section
v
173(8) of the Code.

The learned court by order dated 9.6.2005 directed B
issuance of warrant of arrest was issued against the respondent
no.1 .

• Being aggrieved by the said order dated 27.2.003 and
order dated 9.6.2005, the respondent no.1 moved a revisional
application being Criminal Motion No. 484 of 2005 before the c
Learned Sessions Judge, Alipore. Learned 4th Court of
-1
Additional. Sessions Judge, Alipore, who by order dated
13.3.2006 rejected the application on the ground that there was
no scope to reopen the matter in view of an earlier application

- •
filed by one Arnab Roy, against the said dated 27'..2.2003 and
disposal of the said application being Criminal Motion No. 100/
03 by order dated 21.1.2004.
D

4. Learned counsel for the respondent no.1 referring to the
backdrop of the present case submitted that admittedly after
E
completion of investigation of the case under reference police
authority submitted chargesheet for the offences which include
a serious offence under section 302 of Indian Penal Code. The
.. " Learned Court on receipt of the said chargesheet took
cognizance of the offences. It could be that the FIR named
F
accused persons were left out in the chargesheet, whereas few
others were implicated.

5. It cannot be denied that in such a situation it was the
duty on the part of the learned Court to issue notice upon the
de-facto complainant and give him an opportunity of hearing. G
; _. The learned Court ought to have given the de-facto complainant
a chance to have his say over the result of investigation.
Curiously enough that was not done. The learned Court in
response to a subsequent prayer made by the de-facto
complainant directed further investigation and that too, by an H
416 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 8 S.C.R.

A officer, not below the rank of a Inspector to-be selected by the
,..
DIG, CID, West Bengal.

6. A petition under Section 482 of the Code was filed
before the Calcutta High Court questioning the correctness of
the order passed. The High Court observed that the order of
B
taking cognizance deserved to be set aside. Learned
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate was directed to consider
the relevant materials as well as the charge sheet No. 141 of ~
29.7.2001.

c 7. It was directed that while taking note of the matter for
fresh consideration a notice was required to be sent to the de
facto complainant and giving de facto complainant an
..
I

opportunity of hearing which was to be done before the order

D
was passed.

8. In response to the prayer made by the investigating
officer for discharge of the pending of the FIR of the accused
persons, it was also held that the Court was to take into
• -
consideration all that happened in the case and to pass
appropriate orders.
E
9. !n support of the appeal, learned counsel for the
appellant submitted that the course adopted cannot be
maintained in law. ,, ..

F 10. Learned counsel for the respondent No. 1, on the other
hand, supported the judgment of the High Court.

11. There is no provision in the Code to file a protest
petition by the informant who lodged the first information report.
But this has been the practice. Absence of a provision in the
G Code relating to filing of a protest petition has been considered.
This Court in Bhagwant Singh v. Commissioner of Police and
;.
'
Another (AIR 1985 SC 1285), stressed on the desirability of
intimation being given to the informant when a report made
under Section 173 (2) is under consideration. The Court held
H as follows:
CHITIARANJAN MIRDHA v. DULAL GHOSH AND 417
ANR. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]
" .... There can, therefore, be no doubt that when, on A
a consideration of the report made by the officer in charge
of a police station under Sub-Section (2)(i) of Section 173,
ihe Magistrate is not inclined to-take cognizance of the
offence and issue process, the informant must be given
an opportunity of being heard so that he can make his B
submission to persuade the Magistrate to take cognizance
of the offence and issue process. We are accordingly of
the view that in a case where the Magistrate to whom a
report is forwarded under Sub-section (2)(i) of Section 173
decides not to take cognizance of the offence and to drop c
the proceeding or takes the view that there is no sufficient
ground for proceeding against some of the persons
mentioned in the First Information Report, the Magistrate
must give notice to the informant and provide him an
opportunity to be heard at the time of consideration of the D
II .
repo rt ...

12. Therefore, there is no shadow of doubt that the
informant is entitled to a notice and an opportunity to be heard
at the time of consideration of the report. This Court further held
that the position is different so far as an injured person or a E
relative of the deceased, who is not an informant, is concerned.
They are not entitled to any notice. This Court felt that the
question relating to issue of notice and grant of opportunity as
afore-described was of general importance and directed that
copies of the judgment be sent to the High Courts in all the F
States so that the High Courts in their turn may circulate the
same among the Magistrates within their respective
jurisdictions.

13. In Abhinandan Jha and Another v. Dinesh Mishra (AIR G
1968 SC 117), this Court while considering the provisions of
Sections 156(3), 169, 178 and 190 of the Code held that there
is no power, expressly or impliedly conferred, under the Code,
on a Magistrate to call upon the police to submit a charge sheet,
when they have sent a report under Section 169 of _the Code, H
418 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 8 S.C.R.

)r.
A that there is no case made out for sending up an accused for
trial. The functions of the Magistrate and the police are entirely
different, and the Magistrate cannot impinge .upon the
jurisdiction -0f the police, by compelling them to change their
opinion so as to accord with his view. However, he is not
B deprived of the power to proceed with the matter. There is no
obligation on the Magistrate to accept the report if he does not
agree with the opinion formed by the police. The power to take
cognizance notwithstanding formation of the opinion by the ,.
.....
police which is the final stage in the investigation has been
c provided for in Section 190(1)(c).
14. When a report forwarded by the police to the
Magistrate under Section 173(2)(i) is placed before him several
situations arise. The report may conclude that an offence
appears to have been committed by a particular person or
D persons and in such a case, the Magistrate may either (1)
accept the report and take cognizance of the offence and issue
,
-
process, or (2) may disagree with the report and drop the
proceeding, or (3) may direct further investigation under
Section 156(3) and require the police to make a further report.
E The report may on the other hand state that according to the
police, no offence appears to have been committed. When such
a report is placed before the Magistrate, he has again the option
of adopting one of the three courses open i.e., (1) he may • .
accept the report and drop the proceeding; or (2) he may
F disagree with the report and take the view that there is sufficient
ground for further proceeding, take cognizance of the offence
and issue process; or (3) he may direct further investigation to
be made by the police under Section 156(3). The position is,
therefore, now well-settled that upon receipt of a police report
G under Section 173(2) a Magistrate is entitled to take cognizance ·
of an offence under Section 190(1)(b) of the Code even if the .._ ~

police report is to the effect that no case is made out against
the accused. The Magistrate can take into account the
statements of the witnesses examined by the police during the
H investigation and take cognizance of the offence complained
CHITTARANJAN MIRDHA v. DULAL GHOSH AND 419
ANR. [DR. ARIJIT PASAYAT, J.]
'4
of and order the issue of process to the accused. Section A
.190(1)(b) does not lay down that a Magistrate can take
9ognizance of an offence only if the Investigating Officer gives
~n 9pinion that the investigation has made out a case against
the ii!CGllSe~. The Magistrate can ignore the conclusion arrived
c:it py the Investigating Officer and independently apply his mind B
to the facts emerging from the investigation and take
cogniz;ance of the CC!Se, if he thinks fit, exercise of his powers
~ under Section 190(1)(b) gnd dirElct the issue of process to the
accused. The Magistrate is not bound in such a situation to
follow the proceqljre laid down in Sections 200 and 202 of the c
Code for taking cognizance of a case under Section 190(1 )(a)
though it is open to him to act under Section 200 or Section
202 also. [See Mis. India Saraf Pvt. Ltd. v: State of Kamataka
... and another (AIR 1989 SC 885)]. The iilformant is not

- prejudicially affected when the Magistrate decides to take
cognizance and to proceed with the case. But where the
Magistrate decides that sufficient ground does not subsist for
D

proceeding further and drops the proceeding or takes the view
that there is material for proceeding against some and there
are insufficient grounds in respect of others, the informant would
E
certainly be prejudiced as the First Information Report lodged
becomes wholly or partially ineffective. Therefore, this Court
indicated in Bhagwan{ Singh's case (supra) that where the
.... Magistrate decides not to take cognizance and to drop the

- "'
- proceeding or takes a view that there is no sufficient ground
for proceeding against some of the persons mentioned in the
First Information Report, notice to the informant and grant of
F

opportunity of being heard in the matter becomes mandatory.
As indicated above, there is no provision in the Code for issue
of a notice in that regard.
~
• -4
15. We may add here that the expressions ·charge-sheet'
or "final report' are not used in the Code, but it is understood
in Police Manuals of several States containing the Rules and
the Regulations to be a report by the police filed under Section
170 of the Code, described as a "charge-sheet". In case of
H
420 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 8 S.C.R.

.
A reports sent under Section 169, i.e., where there is no "
sufficiency of evidence to justify forwarding of a case to a
Magistrate, it is termed variously i.e., referred charge, final
report or summary. Section 173 in terms does not refer to any
notice to be given to raise any protest to the report submitted
B by the police. Though the notice issued under some of the
Police Manuals states it to be a notice under Section 173 of
the Code, though there is nothing in Section 173 specifically
providing for such a notice.
16. As decided by this Court in Bhagwant Singh's case
c (supra), the Magistrate has to give the notice to the informant
and provide an opportunity to be heard at the time of
consideration of the report. It was noted as follows:-
".... the Magistrate must give notice to the informant
D and provide him an opportunity to be heard at the time of
consideration of the report ... "
17. Therefore, the stress is on the issue of notice by the
Magistrate at the time of consideration of the report. If the
informant is not aware as to when the matter is to be
E considered, obviously, he cannot be faulted, even if protest
petition in reply to the notice issued by the police has been filed
belatedly. But as indicated in Bhagwant Singh's case (supra)
the right is conferred on the informant and none else. 7

18. The aforesaid position was highlighted by this Court ...
F
in Gangadhar Janardan Mhatre v. State of Maharashtra and
Ors. (2004 (7) sec 768).
19. It is not explained as to how the order of the High Court
is prejudicial to the appellant. The High Court has directed all
G procedural safeguards to be followed. It has also referred to
applicability of Section 319 of the Code in appropriate cases. ~ 4

20. That being so we find no merit in this appeal which is
dismissed.
H B.B.B. Appeal dismissed.