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Crl.O.P.(MD)No.1997 of 2026

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

DATED : 03.02.2026

CORAM:

THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE L.VICTORIA GOWRI

Crl.O.P.(MD)No.1997 of 2026

Nanjil N.Gopinath ... Petitioner

Vs.

Ponnambalam ... Respondent

PRAYER : Petition filed under Section 528 of BNSS, 2023 to direct the

Judicial Magistrate No.I, Kuzhithurai, to accept the surrender of the petitioner

and recall the warrant and to consider it on the same day for the non bailable

warrant issued against the petitioner on 01.07.2022 in STC No.765/2022.

For Petitioner : Mr.P.Sonu

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Crl.O.P.(MD)No.1997 of 2026

ORDER

PROLOGUE

The criminal process is not merely a mechanism for securing convictions,

but a constitutional instrument for balancing the competing imperatives of

societal order, victim justice, and individual liberty. While the presence of an

accused before the trial Court is indispensable for the orderly progress of

criminal proceedings, coercive processes such as Non-Bailable Warrants are

not intended to operate as punitive tools, divorced from the realities of human

conduct and procedural contingencies.

2. Equally, the inherent jurisdiction of this Court under Section 528 of

the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (corresponding to Section 482

CrPC) is extraordinary in nature and cannot be permitted to supplant or short-

circuit the statutory remedies expressly provided before the trial Courts. An

overzealous invocation of such jurisdiction in matters relating to recall of

warrants would not only erode the authority of trial Courts but would also

impede the expeditious disposal of criminal cases, thereby frustrating the

mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

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Crl.O.P.(MD)No.1997 of 2026

3. It is in the above constitutional and statutory backdrop that the present

Criminal Original Petition, seeking a direction relating to recall of a Non-

Bailable Warrant, falls for consideration.

GIST OF THE CASES & RELIEF SOUGHT

4. Gist of the Case:

A private complaint in STC No.765 of 2022 has been registered against

the petitioner for the offence under Section 142 of the Negotiable instruments

Act, 1887 before the learned Judicial Magistrate No.I, Kuzhithurai.

5. Relief Sought:

To recall the warrant issued against the petitioner by setting aside

warrant dated 01.07.2022, issued by the learned Judicial Magistrate No.I,

Kuzhithurai in STC No.765 of 2022.

6. Grounds urged by the petitioner:

The petitioner was not aware of the pending aforesaid case. Only later,

the petitioner came to know about the warrant issued against him.

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Crl.O.P.(MD)No.1997 of 2026

Submissions:

7. The learned counsels for the petitioner relying upon the judgment of

this Court in Crl.O.P.No.6472 of 2025 dated 07.03.2025, Crl.O.P.No.4514 of

2016 dated 02.03.2016 and similar orders, submitted that, this Court has

appreciated similar cases and had allowed the same by directing the petitioner

to appear before the learned trial Court and file a petition under section 70(2) of

Cr.P.C,1973/ 72(2) of BNSS,2023, to recall NBW already issued against him

and on filing the same the trial court has further been directed to consider the

same on its own merits in accordance with law on the same day, making it clear

that the disposal of the case in that manner by this Court do not amount to

consider the recall petition favourably. Citing the same, the learned counsel for

the petitioner sought for a similar order seeking disposition of the case in a

similar manner.

8. Since no adverse order is proposed to be passed against the

respondent, notice to him is dispensed with.

9. This Court cannot invoke section 482/528 Cr.P.C/BNSS in warrant

recall matters and the petitioner’s remedy lies with the trial Court and on

rejection by the Trial Court, before revision jurisdiction either before the

4/