IMPORTANT POINT
Discretion u/s 482 CrPC should not be exercised in a perfunctory manner.

Judgment :-

H.L. Dattu, J.

1) This is a petition for special leave to appeal under Article 136 of the Constitution from the judgment and order passed by the High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Bench at Gwalior, in M.Cr.C. No.2216 of 2006, dated 2.11.2006. We grant special leave and dispose of this appeal.

2) By the judgment and the order impugned, High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has quashed the complaint as also the summons issued to the accused persons (Respondents Nos. 2 and 3) by the Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Gohad, District Bhind.

3) The trial arose out of a private complaint filed by the complainant against the accused persons for offences under Section 420, 467, 471, 323, 506B and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3(2)(5) of the Scheduled Caste Scheduled Tribes Prohibition of Atrocities Act (herein after called the "S.C.S.T. Act"). The learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Gohad, has taken cognizance and has issued summons against the accused persons.

4) In order to appreciate the stance of the complaint, it is necessary to understand the backdrop of the complaint. On 25.4.2006, the appellant made a complaint, inter-alia alleging that his sons, namely, Devendra Pratap and Munendra Pratap produced petroleum products from polythene, and they demonstrated their invention at different levels by participating in various Science Competitions and also received recognition and reward from various organisations. On 5.12.2005, accused Sanjay Singh and Jayendra Singh requested the complainants sons to hand over the photos of the Model for production of Petrol from Polythene to them, so that they can get it published in newspapers. The complainants sons conceded to their request, but to their surprise, accused Sanjay Singh and Jayendra Singh got the invention published in their own name and affixed their own photographs, for taking direct or indirect benefits, by committing forgery. It is further alleged in the complaint, that, the newspaper reporters, Shyam Vajpai and Karan Singh of "Dainik Swadesh" and "Nav Bharat", respectively, conspired with the accused and published the news on the basis of forged documents, without inquiring whether the same are genuine or not.

5) It is further stated, that, when the complainants sons asked the accused for return of the photos of the model, the accused persons abused and used names like CHAMRA etc. and also threatened to kill them. The appellant filed complaint with regard to cheating before the Senior Police Officers and also before the other Government agencies, but that did not yield any result. It is further stated that on the request made by them under Right to Information Act, 2005, from the concerned authorities they have been informed that the accused Sanjay Singh and Jayendra Singh did not make any model and did not participate in any competition and it was also revealed that, the accused persons have received prize money of Rs.10,000/- from the State Government on the basis of false information. Therefore, it is alleged in the complaint that the accused persons in criminal conspiracy with each other cheated the complainant and his sons.

6) The Learned Judicial Magistrate after taking cognizance of the complaint against accused Sanjay Singh, Jayendra Singh and Rajendra Singh, Shyam Vajpai and Karan Singh (Respondents Nos. 2 and 3) under IPC and S.C.S.T Act, has issued summons through arrest warrants. Aggrieved by the order so passed, respondents nos. 2 and 3 had approached the High Court by filing a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

7) It was argued before the High Court by the Learned Counsel for the respondents No. 2 & 3 that the allegations made by the complainant in the complaint filed, do not disclose a cognizable offence, justifying any investigation nor does it disclose any offence either under the provisions of I.P.C. or S.C.S.T Act and, therefore, the learned Magistrate was not correct in taking co