The informant must be given an opportunity to be heard before a Magistrate accepts a closure report, ensuring procedural fairness.

ORDER :

1. Both the applications have taken up together for passing a common order as the issues, involved in both the Revisional applications, are same and identical.

2. A letter of complaint was filed by the opposite party no. 2 on behalf of himself and other investors before the Special Additional Commissioner of Police, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Detective Department, Lalbazar, Kolkata on 27th July, 2015 with an allegation that he along with 16 other investors have invested their hard earn money to the company, namely, IFB Finance Limited in the year 1996 on fixed deposited scheme. Even after maturity, the said Finance Company neither returned the principal amount nor interest accrued therein. As such, they suffered monetary loss to a great extent resulted in registration of a First Information Report being Shakespeare Sarani Police Station Case No. 287 dated 14th August, 2015 under Sections 420/406/120B/506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against three accused persons, namely: (i) Bijon Nag, Chairman and Managing Director of IFB Finance Limited, (ii) Soumendra Kumar Biswas, (petitioner herein), Executive Managing Director and (iii) N. Punnyaswami, Managing Director of IFB Finance Limited and initiated investigation.

3. After culmination of investigation, the Investigating Officer filed Closure Report being No. 18/2017 under Sections 420/406/120B/506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 before the Learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Calcutta thereby declaring the case to be civil in nature on 30.04.2017.

4. On receipt of the said Closure Report, the Learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate issued notice upon the opposite party no. 2 on 2nd May, 2017 in view of the judgment passed in the case of Bhagwant Singh Vs. Commissioner of Police, AIR 1985 SC 1285.

5. On the date of hearing i.e. on 1st June, 2017, the opposite party no. 2 did not appear. Accordingly, the Learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate was pleased to accept the Closure Report and dropped the proceedings initiated against the petitioner/accused.

6. Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the order dated 1st June, 2017, the opposite party no. 2 filed a Criminal Revisional application under Sections 401/482 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 being CRR 646 of 2018.

7. In course of hearing of the said Criminal Revisional application, the Co-Ordinate Bench of this Court vide order dated 3rd March, 2022 has sought for a report from the Inspector General, Presidency Range and holding Additional Charge of DIG, CID, West Bengal.

8. Upon receiving such report and hearing the parties, the Co-Ordinate Bench of this Court was pleased to dispose of the Criminal Revisional application on 28th April, 2022 and was also pleased to give liberty to the opposite party no. 2/de-facto complainant to file an application under Section 173(8) of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 by May 6, 2022.

9. This Hon’ble Court was further pleased to send the original report filed by the I.G., CID, West Bengal in a closed envelope to the Learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate for consideration at the time of disposal of an application filed u/s 173(8) of the Cr.P.C.

10. It was further directed that the opposite party no. 2 would file adequate copies of such application under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 before the Learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Calcutta, which shall be filed by 6th of May,