IMPORTANT POINT
Where having taken cognizance of an offence in respect of an accused in a complaint case, in a separate police investigation such a person is again made an accused, then the Magistrate may inquire into or try together the complaint case and the case arising out of the police report as if both cases were instituted on a police report.

JUDGMENT

Altamas Kabir, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is directed against the judgment and order passed by the Allahabad High Court on 14th December, 2007, disposing of the Appellant’s application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. (Crl.M.A.No.29076 of 2007) with certain directions which were in keeping with the orders of the learned Magistrate impugned in the said petition.

3. On 1st July, 1996, the Appellant herein lod ged a First Information Report at Nanauta Police Station in the District of Saharanpur, U.P., in regard to offences alleged to have been committed by Yashpal, Pramod, Dharma, Kalu and Kanwar, all residents of Village Bhojpur under Nanauta Police Station, under Sections 147, 323 and 302 I.P.C. The said five accused were alleged to have committed the murder of Bhartu, the father of the Appellant. According to the Appellant, the Investigating Officer began to conduct the investigation in a manner which was geared to favouring the accused. The Appellant, accordingly, filed a Writ Petition (Crl.) No.1166 of 1997, together with Gyan Singh, before the Allahabad High Court and prayed for the investigation to be entrusted to an independent agency.

4. While the aforesaid writ petition was pending before the High Court, the Investigating Officer submitted a charge-sheet against one Phool Singh and Vishwas on 23rd April, 1997, despite the fact that they had not been named by the Appellant in the First Information Report lodged by him. Subsequently, another charge-sheet was filed by the Investigating Officer on 1st August, 1997, in which Gyan Singh, who was one of the petitioners in Writ Petition (Criminal) No.1166 of 1997, was named as an accused.

5. The writ petition came up for hearing before the High Court on 8th September, 1997, and was disposed of by the High Court which came to the conclusion that the investigation was improper, but, since charge-sheet had already been filed, the relief sought for by the Appellant for investigation by a different agency had become infructuous. The writ petition was, accordingly, disposed of by observing that the Appellant could seek other remedial measures available to him, including filing of a protest petition. Thereafter, on 3rd February, 1998, the Appellant filed a protest petition before the Judicial Magistrate, Deoband, District Saharanpur, and the same was treated as a complaint and statements were recorded by the learned Magistrate under Sections 200 and 202 Cr.P.C. On 5th September, 1998, the learned Magistrate issued summons to all the five accused who were named in the complaint and whose names also appeared in the First Information Report lodged by the Appellant.

6. It is against the said order of the learned Magistrate issuing summons that an application was filed by the five accused under Section 482 Cr.P.C. in Criminal Misc. Application No.857 of 1999, challenging the said order which was, however, dismissed by the High Court on 15th May, 2002. The High Court upheld the order passed by the learned Magistrate on 5th September, 1998, but directed that both the cases, one on the basis of the charge-sheet filed by the police and the other on the basis of the complaint filed by the Appellant, would run simultaneously.

7. After their application had been disposed of by the High Court on 16th May, 2002, the accused persons made an application before the learned Sessions Judge on 11th April, 2004, praying that the two cases be tried separately, since, in the meantime, both the cases had been committed to the Court of Sessions for trial. After their cases were committed to the Court of Sessions, only one sessions trial, being S.T.No.772 of 2003, was commenced. The learned Sessions Judge framed charges against the accused named in both the cases, i.e., the charge-sheet submitted by the police and the complaint filed by the Appellant. As a result, all those persons, against whom the police had submitted a charge- sheet, were the witnesses named by the Appellant in his First Infor