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HomeIndiaNon-appearance of complainant can't be reason for dismissal of case: HC

Non-appearance of complainant can’t be reason for dismissal of case: HC

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Bengaluru, Oct 16 (PTI) The High Court of Karnataka, while overturning a Magistrate Court order, said cases cannot be dismissed just to be rid of them.

The High Court said merely because the complainant was not present in court on a particular day, the case cannot be dismissed.

“When the presence of the complainant on that day is not necessary, the learned JMFC (Judicial Magistrate First Class) ought not to have dismissed the complaint for non-appearance of the complainant,” Justice P N Desai said in his recent judgement on a criminal appeal.

“Simple to dispose of the cases or get rid of them, the complaint cannot be dismissed when there is no necessity of the presence of the complainant,” said the High Court.

The appeal was filed by Nagaraj from Kalaburgi. He filed a private complaint against Ishwar Kamalapur in a cheque-dishonouring issue. The case was pending before the JMFC court since 2013.

The accused did not appear before the trial court till 2018. On October 17, 2018 when the matter was posted for recording the plea, the JMFC dismissed the complaint for ‘non-appearance of the complainant.’ Nagaraj challenged this before the Sessions Court which allowed the case to continue. This was challenged by the accused before the High Court which allowed his plea. The complainant then filed a criminal appeal before the High Court.

Justice PN Desai, in his judgement, noted that the JMFC had kept the case pending for five years “for want of appearance of respondent/accused but dismissed the complaint when the case was posted for recording plea of the accused for non-appearance of the complainant.” “The court has to see the stage of the case and the previous appearance of the accused and complainant and how many years the complaint is pending, and what is the nature of the case before passing any such dismissal order,” the High Court said.

The court said the complainant’s presence is not essential at the time of recording the plea of the accused.

“It is the duty of the court to record the plea of the accused by putting the substance of accusation against him. The complainant’s presence is not all essential,” it said.

Citing Section 256 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court said, “It is evident that the court has to exercise its discretion judiciously. The proviso clearly indicates that when the court is of the opinion that the personal attendance of the complainant is not necessary, the Magistrate may dispense with attendance of complainant and proceed with the case.” PTI COR KSU NVG NVG

This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

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