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1904 Supreme(Cal) 88
CALCUTTA HIGH COURT
Raghubir Singh - Appellant
Versus
Jogeshwar Tewary - Respondent
Rev. No. 305 of 1904
Decided On : 26-04-1904
Headnote:
Sanction - Criminal Prosecution - Sections 195, 476 CrPC - The court held that the Sessions Judge should have given the petitioner an opportunity to be heard before granting sanction to prosecute, as the Deputy Magistrate had earlier refused sanction, and the petitioner may have been able to convince the Sessions Judge that the Deputy Magistrate's order was correct.
Fact of the Case:
The Deputy Magistrate had refused to grant sanction to prosecute the petitioner. The other side then applied to the Sessions Judge for sanction to prosecute the petitioner, and the Sessions Judge granted the sanction without giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard.
Finding of the Court:
The court set aside the order sanctioning the prosecution of the petitioner and directed the Sessions Judge to reconsider the application after giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard.
Issues: Whether the Sessions Judge should have given the petitioner an opportunity to be heard before granting sanction to prosecute.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the Sessions Judge should have given the petitioner an opportunity to be heard, as the Deputy Magistrate had earlier refused sanction, and the petitioner may have been able to convince the Sessions Judge that the Deputy Magistrate's order was correct.
Final Decision: The court set aside the order sanctioning the prosecution of the petitioner and directed the Sessions Judge to reconsider the application after giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard.
JUDGMENT
1. We think that this rule must be made absolute. The Deputy Magistrate who tried the case having refused sanction to prosecute the present Petitioner, the Sessions Judge in the exercise of sound discretion should have called upon the Petitioner to show cause before granting sanction to his prosecution. It is quite possible that if the Sessions Judge had heard the Petitioner, the latter might have been able to convince him that the order of the Deputy Magistrate was a right one under the circumstances. We set aside the order sanctioning the prosecution of the Petitioner and direct the Sessions Judge to reconsider the application which was made by the other side after giving the Petitioner an opportunity of being heard.
