Point of Law: Section 186 of IPC reads as obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions.

JUDGMENT :

SATYEN VAIDYA, J.

1. By way of instant petition, the petitioners have prayed for quashing of Complaint No. 53/3 of 2019, titled as State of H.P. vs. Raj Kumar Singla and Others pending before the learned Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kasauli, District Solan, H.P.

2. It is contended on behalf of the petitioners that from the bare reading of the complaint no offence is made out against the petitioners. They have been summoned for offences under Section 186 and 189 of the IPC, whereas none of the ingredients, even for prima facie establishment of such offences, are available on record. It is further submitted that the complaint is otherwise not maintainable for noncompliance of provisions of Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short “the Code”). Another objection raised to the maintainability of complaint is noncompliance of provisions of Section 155 of the Code.

3. Respondent/State has opposed the prayer on the ground that the petitioners had obstructed H.C. Virender Kumar from discharging his official duties and he was also threatened of being injured by the petitioners. The filing of complaint against the petitioners is justified. On such grounds, the dismissal of the petition has been prayed.

4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have also gone through the records carefully.

5. Section 195 of the Code bars taking of cognizance for offence under Section 186 of the IPC except on the complaint of concerned public servant or some of other public servant to whom he is administratively subordinate. In the case in hand, the complaint has been filed by the State through Sub Inspector Nirmal Dass, Incharge of Police Station Kasauli, District Solan, H.P. The police official H.C. Virender Kumar was administratively subordinate to Sub Inspector Nirmal Dass, therefore, it cannot be said to be a case of noncompliance of Section 195 of the Code.

6. Objection with respect to non-compliance of Section 155 of the Code also deserves to be rejected for the reasons that no investigation is carried out by the police officials for investigating the allegations of commission of offence under Section 189 of the IPC. There is no legal bar that the Magistrate cannot take cognizance for offence under Section 189 of the IPC on a complaint and as per the provisions of the Code the complainant always need not be the victim himself.

7. Further, in order to analyse whether the learned Magistrate had sufficient material before him for summoning the petitioners for offence under Sections 186 and 189 of the IPC, it will be necessary to refer to the contents of complaint and to test such contents at the touchstone of ingredients necessary to constitute above noted offence.

8. It is revealed from the complaint filed before the learned Magistrate that on 20.03.2019 H.C. Virender Kumar, No. 13, of police station Kasauli received information about some dispute at Hotel R. Medan, Kasauli. He reached the hotel, where some customers had raised dispute with the petitioners and another person in the capacity of owners and manager of the hotel respectively. With the intervention of the police officials, the matter was amicably settled between the disputing parties. Notwithstanding the settlement of dispute, petitioners and their manager allegedly misbehaved with H.C. Virender Kumar, No. 13. Despite repeated requests of the police official, the petitioners and their manager did not agree. H.C. Virender Kumar was allegedly threatened by petitioner No. 2 by alleging that “they would see who called them at police station, none of them will come to police station.” They also threatened H.C. Virender Kumar that by using their political clout, petitioners would get the head constable transferred.

9. Section 186 of the IPC reads as under:

“186. Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions - Whoever voluntarily obstructs any public servant in the discharge of his public functions, shall be punished with imprisonment of either des