Gujarat High Court
Judgename :B.J.DIVAN, P.N.BHAGWATI, J.M.SHELAT
STATE OF GUJARAT - Appellant
Versus
SHAH LAKHAMSHI AMARSHI - Respondent
CRIMINAL REVISION APPLICATION 130 of 1963
Decided On : 12/24/1965
( 1 ) THESE Revision Applications raise an interesting question namely whether in a case where an investigating officer investigating into a cognizable offence has on completion of the investigation submitted a final report as distinguished from a charge-sheet under sec. 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requesting that A B or C Summary be issued the Magistrate can direct the Investigating Officer to submit a charge-sheet if he disagrees with the recommendation of the police and takes the view that the facts set out in the final report constitute an offence and there is a case for placing the accused on trial. the question is one of some importance since it is likely to arise frequently before Magistrates and that is why the Revision Applications have been referred to a Full Bench by Bakshi and Vakil JJ. before whom they originally came up for hearing. The facts of each revision application are different but it is not necessary to set them out in detail for the purpose of deciding the Revision Applications. It is sufficient to point out that in each case the police investigating the offence a cognizable one took the view on completion of the investigation that there was not sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify putting up of the accused for trial and accordingly submitted a final report to the Magistrate asking for a B Summary to the effect that the case was maliciously false. The Magistrate on a consideration of the final report and other police papers did not agree with the recommendation of the police and declined to grant B Summary. The Magistrate took the view that the facts disclosed in the final report and the police papers constituted an offence and there was a case for putting up the accused on trial and he therefore directed tale police to submit a charge-sheet against the accused. This was the order passed by the Magistrate in each case and the State in the first case and the accused in the second thereupon preferred a Revision Application to the Sessions Court. The learned Sessions Judge in each case held following the decision of the Bombay High Court in State v. Murlidhar (1959) 61 Bom. L. R. 1656 that the Magistrate had power to call for a charge-sheet when he disagreed with the final report submitted by the police asking for A B or C Summary and the order of the Magistrate in each case directing the police to submit a charge-sheet was therefore a valid and legal order. The State in the first case and the accused in the second thereupon moved the High Court in revision and the Revision Applications in the first instance came up for hearing before a single Judge but having regard to the importance of the question involved the learned single Judge referred them to a Division Bench and that is how they ultimately came up before the Division Bench consisting of Bakshi and Vakil JJ. The decision in Murlidhars Case being a decision given by a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court prior to bifurcation Bakshi and Vakil JJ. would have ordinarily followed that decision but they found that there was considerable conflict of opinion amongst various High Courts on this point and there was a Full Bench decision of the Calcutta High Court in A. K. Roy v. State of West Bengal A. I R. 1962 Calcutta 133 where a directly contrary view was taken and they therefore referred the Revision Applications to a Full Bench so that the point may be reconsidered in the light of the Calcutta decision and the law may be authoritatively settled so far as this Court is concerned.
( 2 ) MR. A. D. Desai learned Assistant Government Pleader appearing on behalf of the State in the first Revision Application and Mr. Syed learned advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioners in the second Revision Application pleaded for acceptance of the Calcutta view in A. R. Roys Case (supra) while Mr. Y. S. Mankad learned advocate appearing on behalf of the first opponent (complainant)
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