VADILAL PANCHAL versus DATTATRAYA DULAJI GHADIGAONKER AND ANOTHER

THE SUPREME COURT REPORTS

VADILAL PANCHAL

DATTATRAYA DULAJI GHADIGAONKER AND ANOTHER.

(S. K. DAS, J. L. KAPUR and M. HrnAYATULLAH, JJ.)

. Criminal Procedure-Complaint-Magistrate referring com-plaint to police for report-Plea of self-defence-Magistrale dismis-sing complaint upholding such plea on the basis of police report-Legality-Indian.Evidence Act, I872 (I of I872), s. I05-Code of Criminal Procedure, I898 (Act 5 of I898), ss. 200, 202, 203.

On June 3, I956, riots broke out after public meeting held in Bombay in connection with the re-organisation of the State of Bombay was dispersed on account of the disturbances created. therein. The car in which the appellant was travelling was stopped by the crowd and some of those who surrounded the car caught hold of him by his neck and hair and wanted to drag him out of the car. The appellant then opened fire with his revolver. The respondent's brother, S, who was hit on the chest by one of the shots fired was removed to the hospital but died before medi-cal assistance could be given. The police surgeon who made post-mortem examination expressed the opinion that the shot must have been fired from distance of 2 to 18 inches only. The Coroner's Jury returned verdict that S died of the wound caus-ed by bullet fired by the appellant "under such circumstances as would render the firing to be in the exercise of the right of private defence and as such justified."

The respondent filed complaint in the court of the Presi-dency Magistrate, Bombay, on the allegation that his brother died as result of the firing resorted to by the appellant who thereby committed an offence punishable under s. 302 of the Indian Penal Code and prayed that process might be issued against him. The Magistrate referred the complaint to the police for enquiry and report under s. 202 of the Code of Criminal Pro-cedure and after considering the report said: "From the state-men ts recorded by the Police in this case and from the surround-ing circumstances of the case, I have come to the definite conclu-sion that the report of the Police stating that the shot was fired by the accused in self-defence is true ...... The statement of the police surgeon conclusively supports the conclusion ...... The eye witnesses brought by the complainant are not credible witnesses. It will be harassment to the accused and waste of public time if any process is issued in this case ". The Magistrate, accordingly, dismissed the complaint under s. 203 of the Code of Criminal

May 6.

1960 Procedure. The High Court, in revision, set aside the order of dismissal and directed the Magistrate to issue process against the V•dil•I Panchal appellant and deal with the case in accordance with law, on the v. grounds that this was not case in which it was proper for the Dallatr•y• Dulaji Magistrate to dismiss the complaint under s. 203 of the Code of G/oadiga""A" Criminal Procedure, that proof of the plea of self-defence could Another not be held to have been established from the mere report of the police, a.nd that there was nothing in s. 202 or s. 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure wbich abrogated the rule as to the pre-sumption laid down ins. 105 of the Indian Evidence Act.

Held, that under s. 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the judgment which the ~agistrate has to form must be based on the statements of the complainant and his witnesse~ and the result of the investigation or inquiry, and in arriving at bis hdg-ment he is not fettered in any way except by judicial consi<!ern-tions; provided that there are satisfactory and reliable materials on which he can base his judgment as to whether there is suffici-ent ground for proceeding on the complaint or not, if he has not misdirected himself as to the scope of an enquiry under s. 202 and has applied his mind judicially to the materials before him, it would be erroneous in law to hold that plea based on an exception can never be accepted by him in arriving at his judgment.Held, further, that on the facts of the present case, the order of the Magistrate was correct and that the judgment of the High Court setting aside that order on an erroneous view of the scope of s. 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure must be set aside.

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JuRISDIOTION: Crimi1111;l Appeal No. 117 of 1958.

Appeal by special leave from the judgment and

order dated September 13, 1957, of the Bombay High Court in Criminal Petition Application No. 834 of 1957, arising out of the judgment and order dated April 30, 1957, of the Presidency Magistrate, IV Class, Girgaon, Bombay, in C&Be No. 6/1 & R of 1956 .

H. M. Chokai, Rajni PaUl, B. K. B. Naidu and/. N. Shroff, for the appellant.

Janardan Sharma, for respondent No. I.

Purshottam Trikamdas, H. R. Khanna, D. Gupta and .R.H. Dhebar, for respondent No. 2.

1960; May 6. The Judgment of the Court ·was delivered by

S.C.R. SUPREME COURT REPORTS

S. K. DAS, J.-This is an unfortunate case in which

complaint filed in the Court of the Presidency Magis. vadilal Panchal trate, Bombay, on October 31, 1956, byoneDattatraya . T. ,J Dulaji Ghadigaonkar, respondent herein, has to be fine.. Dattafray• Dulaji lly disposed of in the year 1960 in circumstances which Ghadigaonher we shall state at once. On June 3, 1956, in the evening, "'Another a. public meeting wa.s held a.t pla.ce called Chowpatty s. K. Das J. in Bombay which was to be addressed by the Prime Minister of India. The meeting wa.s called in connex. ion with a.n agitation which was then going on for the reorganisation of the State of Bombay. There was considerable disturbance at the meeting as result ; whereof it had to· be dispersed,. and large crowds of _. · people began to wander about in various localities around . Chowpatty including an area round Charni Road Station. The case of the complaining respon-dent was that at about 8 p. m. his younger brother Sita.ram was crossing Queen's Road near building called Laud Mansion. At that time there was·e; large crowd on the road and members ··of that crowd were stopping vehicles passing by th.at road. One taxi cab -4 which had come from the direction ofthc Opera. House an.d was going towards Churchgate· was already stop-ped. Site.ram was then accompanied by Sashikant Kamtekar and Nand Kumar Va.gal. When these three had crossed the road, they heard the reports of revolver shots and on looking back they found that a. person called .Bhayya was injured by one of the shots and fell down on the footpath. Sita.ram and his friends went to help -Bha.yya.; at this stage, another shot was fired .by one of the occupa.nts of blue car which was near the taxi ca.b referred to ea.rlier. Sita. ram was hit on his chest, and the bullet having entered the chest cavity injured the right ventricle of the heart. Sita.ram was removed to the G. T. Hospital but. died before medical assistance could be given. Dr. H. ~. Metha, Police Surgeon, who made post-mortem examination of the dead body, opined that _j Sita.ram died of shock and haemorrhage as result of the gun shot wound he had received. The doctor further said that the cha.rring round the wound . indi-cated that the shot had been fired from distance of 2 to 18 inches only.1960 The case of the respondent was that V adilal Pan-Vadilal Panchal cha.I, appellant before us, fired the shot from the blue v. , oar. The occupants of the car were K. K. Shah, Dattatraya D11laJi advooate, his son Vine.y, e.nd one Re.tile.I Se.nghvi on .._ Ghadigaonker the be.ck see.t, a.nd the appellant a.nd chauffeur Mohid-6- Another din on the front sea.t. K. K. Sha.h wa.s mentioned in the complaint a.s one of the compla.ine.nt's witnesses. S. K. Das j. wa.s examined a.n ea.id tha.t a. ter t meeting was over, he.and his compe.nions were returning in his ca.r to his house. Because of the trouble, the oar travelled by a. longer route a.nd when it reached Queen's Hoa.d, there were large crowds on that road who were pelt-ing stones, shouting slogans e.nd committing other a.eta of violence; a. public bus wa.s burnt, and a. ta.xi ca.b which wa.s proceeding a.head of K. K. Shah's ca.r wa.s stopped. Some three or four hundred people surroun-ded bis ca.r, pelted stones and shouted "ma.ro " "ma.ro". Some of them attempted to drag out Ra.tile.I Sanghvi who occupied a. corner s.ee.t; some caught hold of the a.ppella.nt by his neck a.ad hair a.nd wanted to dra.g . him out of the ca.r. The appellant then opened fire with his revolver. The rioters then held be.ck, a.nd the wa.y was clear for the car to pa.ss. The oar then drove a.way and after some time K. K. Shah and the a. ppellant went to Gamdevi Police Station where the latter made a. report of what ha.d happened. The a.ppella.nt was sent to Nair Hospital where he was medically treated a.nd allowed to go.

The Coroner of Bombay held a.n inquest into the . death of Sita.ram at which K. K. Shah, Sa.shikant Kamtekar and several other witnesses were examined. The Coroner's Jury returned a. verdict that Sita.ram died of the gunshot wound caused by bullet fired by the appellant " under such circumstances as would render the firing to be in exercise of the right of private defence and as such justified". This verdict was returned on October 16, 1956. Sometime earlier, on July 3, 1956, to be precise, the complaining respon-dent had made a.n enquiry through his advocate from • the Commissioner of Police, Bombay, as to whether the ·appellant had been arrested: the reply received was that the enquiries made by the police did not

reveal any offence having been committed by the appellant and the police proposed to take no action.

Vadilal Panchal _ . Dattatraya Dulaji Ghadigaonker & Another s. K: Das Das J.

Vadilal Panchal On October 31, 1956, the respondent filed his com-_ . plaint. The learned Presidency Magistrate to whom Dattatraya Dulaji the complaint was made referred it to the 8uperinten. Ghadigaonker dent of Police, C. I. D., for enquiry and report. & Another Presumably, he acted under s. 202 of the Code of Crimi-nal Procedure. On November 15, 1956, the Suprinten-s. K: Das Das J. dent, of Police submitted the report of his Inspector in which it was stated:

"From the exhaustive enquiries made immediate-ly after the incident it was disclosed that Shri Vadilal Panchal was justified in resorting to firearms in .J!elf defence of himself and the other occupants of the motor car ".

On January 17, 1957, the learned Magistrate gave the respondent another opportunity to examine his witnesses before the enquiring officer, because by reason of revision application made to the High Court earlier against the order referring the case to the policy for enquiry, the respondent did not pro-duce his witnesses before the enquiring officer. The enquiring officer then examin.ed all the witnesses and submitted his report on March 12, 1957. This time also the enquiring officer said :

The

'' From their statements and other evidence on re®rd, it is clear that Shri Wadilal Panchal opened fire in the exercise of his right of private· defence, which verdict the learned Coroner's Jury also brought after protracted hearing of the Inquest Proceedings. Copies of all statements recorded by me, are attached for reference ".

On April 30, 1957, the learned Presidency Magistrate considered the report of the enquiring officer in great detail with reference to the statements of all the witnesses and said :

"The Police have recorded in detail the state-ments of all witnesses produced by the complainant as well as of 'all the occupants of the car. There is, therefore, material on record showing fully whether the circumstances existed making out the .right of private defence available to the accused. The fact

i96o whether the ca.ee falls within one of exceptions or not ca.n be cRtablished on the evidence of the witneBBes Vadalal Panchal v. produced by the prosecution itself though of course the Da11atraya Dula;• burden of proof lies on the accused. From the state-Ghadogaonker ments, recorded by the Police in this ca.se and from ""Anoth" the surrounding circumstances of the ca.se, I ha.ve come to the definite conclusion tha.t the report of the s. K. Das f. police stating tha.t the shot wa.s fired by the accused in self-defence is true. As I ha.ve st.a.tad tho statement of the police surgeon conclusively supports the conclu-sion. I ha. ve come to the conclusion tha.t the state-mcntR of the four eye witnesses brought by the complainant arc false. These eye witnes9es a.re not crerlible witnesses. It will be harassment to the accus-ed and waste of public time if any process is issued in this case ".

Accordingly, he dismissed the. complaint under s. 203, Code of Criminal Procedure.

Against this order of dismissal the respondent-com-

plainant moved the High Court. The High Court net a.side the order of dismissal and directed the learn- · ed Presidency Magistrate to issue process against the a.ppclla.nt a.nd deal with the case in accordance with law, on a. ground which the High Court expressed in the followmg words:

"Now, in the case before us, causing of the <lea.th

of Sita.ram being indisputable, if it was found a.s tho petitioner a.lieges that it wa.s the shot fired by the res-pondent tha.t ca.used the death of Sita.ram, the accused would hiwe to establish the necessary ingredients of the right of private defence a.a la.id down in section 96 and onwards of the Pena.I Code. We do not find any-thing in a.ny of the sections in Chapter XVI to show that such !l<n exception can be held to he established from the mere report of the police. That, in our view, is contrary to tho provision8"of s. 105 of the Indian Evidence Act which are mandatory provisions. There is nothing in s. 202 or s. 203 of the Criminal Proce-d uro Code which abrogates the rule a.a to the presump-tion la.id down in s. 105 of the Evidence Aot a.nd t,he mode of proof of exception la.id down in imperative language in that section.

In these circumstances and for ·the reasons afore-r96o said, we find that this was not case in which it was v d.1 1 P 1 proper " 1or t ea.rne I M , a.g1strate to d' 1sm1ss , t com-h · ' v. anc . plaint under s. 203, there being no evidence before the Dattatraya Dulaji learned Magistrate as and by way of proof to establish Ghadigaonker the exception of the right of private defericA pleaded & Another by the respondent". .

. The appellant then moved this Court and obtained specie.I leave to appeal from the order of the High Court dated September 13, 1957.

s. K. Lias f.

The short question before us is-was the High Court right in its view that when Magistrate directs an enquiry under s .. 202 of tho Code of Criminal Proce-dure for ascertaining the truth or falsehood of com-plaint and receives report from the enquiring officer supporting plea of self.defence made by the person complained against, it is not open to him to hold that the plea is correct on the basis of the report and the statements of witnesses recorded by the enquiring officer? Must he, as matter of law, issue process in such cas1e and leave the person complained against to establish his plea of self-defence a.t the trial ? · It may be" pointed out here that the High Court itself recognised that it would not be correct to !a.y down proposition in absolute terms that whenever defence under a.ny of the exceptions in the Indian Penal Code is pleaded by the person com plained against, the Magistrate would not be justified in dismissing the com-plaint and must issue process. Said the High Court: "As we have already observed, if there is complaint, which itself discloses a. complete defence under any of the exceptions, it might be case where Magistrate would be justified in dismissing such complaint find-· ing that there was no sufficient ground to proceed with the case."

We are of the view that the High Court was in error in holding in this case th.at a.s matter of law, it was not open to the learned Presidency Magistrate to come to the conclusion that on the materials before him no offenc.e had been ma.de out and there wa.s no sufficient ground for proceeding further ou the com-. plaint.

The relevant sections bee.ring on the q ueation a.re

I96o The Vadilal Pamhal 88. 200, 202 and 203.

v. " S. 200. llla.giatra.to ta.king cognizance of a.n Dattatrnya Dula1i offence on complaint aha.II a.t onco examine the com. Ghadigaoftk" pla.ina.nt a.nd the witnesses present, if a.ny, upon oath, & A•[01]•" a.nd tho substance of the examination aha.II be reduced s. K. Das ;. to writing a.nd aha.II be signed by the complainant a.nd the witneBBea, a.nd also by the Ma.gistra.te :

Provided a.a follows : -

(a.) .............................................................. .

(a.a.) ............................................................ .

(b) where the Magistrate is a. Presidency Magis-trate, such oxa.mina.tion ma.y be on oath or not a.s the Ma.gistra.te in ea.ch case thinks fit, a.nd where the com-plaint is ma.de in writing need not be reduced to writing; but the Magistrate ma.y, if he thinks fit, before. the ma.ttor of the complaint is brought before him, require it to be reduced to writing;

(c) .................. ············ ................................ .

S. 202(1). Any Ma.giatra.te, on receipt of a. com. plaint of a.n offence of which he is authorised to take cognizance, or which ha.a been transferred to him under section 192, may, if he thinks fit., for reasons to be recorded in writing, postpone the issue of process for compelling the attendance of the person complained age.inst, a.nd either inquire into the case himself or, if he is a. Magistrate other that a. Magistrate of the third class, direct a.n inquiry or investigation to be ma.de by a.ny Magistrate subordinate to him, or by a. police. officer, or by such other person a.s he thinks fit, for the purpose of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the complaint:

Provided that ........................ (it is unnecessary to read the proviso).

(2) If a.ny inquiry or investigation under this sec-

tion is ma.de by a. person not being a. M a.giatra.te or a. police.officer, such person she.II exercise a.II the powers conferred by this Code on an officer in charge of a. police-station, except that he aha.II not have power to arrest without warrant.

(2A) Any Magistrate inquiring into a. case under

this section may, if he thinks fit, take evidence of wit-nesses on oath.

Vadilal Panchal v.

(3) This section applies also to the police in the towns of Calcutta and Bombay.

Dattatmya Dulaji Ghadigaonker & Another

S. 203. The Magistrate before whom complaint

is made or to whom it has been transferred, may dis-miss the complaint, if, after considering the statement on oath (if any) of the complainant and the witnesses and the result of the investigation or inquiry (if any) under section 202, there is in his judgment no suffici-ent ground for proceeding. In such cases he shall briefly record his reasons for so doing".

s. K. Das [1]·

The general scheme of the aforesaid sections is quite clear. Section 200 says inter alia what Magistrate taking cognisance of an offence on complaint shall do on receipt of.such complaint. Section 202 says that the Magistrate may, if he thinks fit, for reasons to be recorded in writing, postpone the issue of process for compelling the attendance of the person complained against and direct an inquiry for the purpose of ascer-taining the truth or falsehood of the complaint ; in other words, the scope of an inquiry under the section is limited to finding out the truth or falsehood of the complaint in order to determine the question of the issue of process. The inquiry is for the purpose of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the complaint; that is, for ascertaining whethe_r there is evidence in support of the complaint so as to justify the issue of process and commencement of proceedings against the person concerned. The section does not say that regular trial for adjudging the guilt or otherwise of the person complained against should take place at that stage; for the person complained against can be legally called upon to answer the accusation made against him only when process has issued and he is put on trial. Section 203, be it noted, consists of two parts : the first part indicates what are the materials which the Magistrate must consider, and the second part says that if after considering those materials there is in his judgment no sufficient ground for proceeding, he may dismiss the complaint. Section 204 says that if

in the opinion of the Magistrate there is sufficient

Vadilal Panchal ground for procecdin 0"', he shall take steps for the issue v. of necessary process. Dallafraya n .. ia;i Now, in the case before ns case before ns it is not contended contended that Gh•d•gao"h" tho learned learned Presidency Magistrate failed to consider & .footh" the mn.kria.ls which he mn.kria.ls which he ha.d to consider, before pass-

Now, in the case before ns case before ns it is not contended contended that

Gh•d•gao"h" tho learned learned Presidency Magistrate failed to consider & .footh" the mn.kria.ls which he mn.kria.ls which he ha.d to consider, before pass-ing his order under s. 203 of the Code of Crimino.l S. K. [Jas }. p roce uro. s m .. tter o ,. iact t 1 earno 1 M agis-tra.te fully, fairly and impartially considered these materials. What is conLended on behalf of the res. pondent-complain,.nt is that as matter of law it was not open to the len,rned MagiHtrate to accept the plea of right of self-defence at. stage when all that he had to determine was whether process shollld issue or not against the appdlil.nt,. We aro unable to accept this conteution as correct. Ii is manifestly cloar from the provisions of s. 203 t.hat the judgment which the :\fagistrate has to form must be based on the state-ruClnts of the complainant n.nd his witnesses and the result of the investigation or inquiry. The section it-self makes that clear, and it is not necessary t-0 refer to authorities in support thereof. But the judgment which the Magistrate has to form is whether or not there is Rufficient ground for proceeding. This does not mflan that the Magistrate is bound to accept the result of the inquiry or invP.8tigation or that he must accept any plea t.hat iA set up on behalf of the person complained against. The Magistrate must apply his judicial mind to the materials on which he has to form his judgment. In arriving at his judgment he is not fettered in any way except by judicial considera-tions; he is not bound to accept what the inquiring officer says, nor is he precluded from accepting plea. ha.sod on an exception, provided always there a.re satis-factory and reliable matt>.ria.ls on which he can base his judgment as to whether there is sufficient ground for proceeding on the complaint or not. If the Magis-trate has not misdirected himself as to the scope of an enquiry under s. 202 and has applied his mind judicially to the materials before him, we think that it would be erroneous in law to hold that plea based on an exception can never be accepted by him in

arriving at his judgment. What bearing such plea I96o h_a.s on the case of the complainant and his witnesses, V adilal Panchal to what extent they are falsified by the evidence of v. other witnesses-all these are questions which must Dattat>aya Dulaji be answered with refnence to the facts of each case. Ghadigaonk" · No universal rule can be laid in respect o~ such ques-& Anothn tions.

S. K. Das].

In support o its view the High Court has relied on some of its earlier decisions : Emperor v. Dhondu Bapu ('); Emperor v. Finan(') and Tulsidas v. Billi-moria ('). We do not think that any of the aforesaid decisions lays down any such proposition in absolute terms as is contended for on behalf of the re.~pondent. In Emperor v. Dhondu Bapu (') complaint charging defamation was dismissed by the Magistrate under s. 203 without taking any evidence, on the ground that the accused was protected by s. 499, exception 8. It was held that the order of dismissal was bad. Patkar, J ., sign.ificantly observed :

"If the Magistrate in this case had taken evi-dence on behalf of the prosecution and on behalf of the accused, and passed proper order for discharge, the order of the District Magistrate ordering further enquiry without giving reasons might have stood on different footing. We do not think that, under the circumstances of this case, there are adequate grounds for interfering with the order of the District Magis-trate." -

In Emperor v. Finan (') the accused did not dispute the correctness of the statements made by the com-plainant, hut in justification pleaded the order passed by his superior officer and claimed protection under ss. 76 and 79 of the Indian Penal Code. It is worthy of note that the order of the superior officer was not produced, but that officer very improperly wrote letter to the Magistrate saying that he had given such an order. In these circumstances, the same learned Judge who decided the earlier case observed: "It was, therefore, incumbent on the M~gistrate to investigate the com pie.int and to find out whether

(1) (1927) 29 Bom. L.R. 713, 715._ (2) {1931) 33 Bom. L.R. n82.

(3) (1932) 34 Bom. LR. 910.

1960 the allegation of the accused that he was protected Vad•lal P••<hal by RS. 76 and· 79 of t.he Indian Penal Code was made v. out by legal evidence btifore him."

Datl•"•Y• Dulaji The facts in Tulsidas v. BiUimoria (') were different,

Chadigannka and the question there considered was whether mem-e. Anolha her of the Bar.in India had absolute privilege. That s. K. Das J. decision has very little bearing on the question now before us.

Chadigannka

Our attention has also been drawn to decision of the Labore High Court where the facts were somewhat similar: Guiab Khan, deceased, through Karam Khan v. Gulam Muhammad Khan and Others ('). In that case also the person complained against took the plea of self.defence, which was accepted. In the High Court an objection was taken to the procedure adopted and it was argued that the order of discharge should be set aside. In dealing with that argument Broad-

way, J., said :

"Now Magistrate is timpowered to hold an en-

quiry into complaint of an offence in order to asce1'-tain whether there is sufficient foundation for it to issue process against the person or persons complain-ed against. In the present case the Magistrate clearly acted in the exercise of these powers under s. 202, Criminal Procedure Code. He allowed the complain-ant to produce such evidence in support of bis com-plaint as be wished to produce, and after considera-tion of that evidence came to the conclusion that that evidence was so wholly worthy (unworthy ?) of cred-ence as·to warrant bis taking no further action in the matter."

Therefore, none of the aforesaid decisions lay down

as an absolute proposition that plea of self.defence can in no event be considered by the Magistrate in dealing with complaint under the provisions of ss. 200, 202 and 203 of the Code of Criminal Proce-dure.

On. the facts, there is very little to be said. Learned

Counsel for the State of Bombay supported the order of the learned Magistrate and pointed out that even on the narrow view taken by the High Court, view (1) (1931) :i. Bom. L.R. 910. 910. (1) A.I.R. 19'7 Lah. 30.

(1) (1931) :i. Bom. L.R. 910. 910.

to whioh he did not, however, subscribe, the learned '9[60 ]Magistrate rightly held that there was.no su~cient Vadilal Pa,.chal ground for proceeding; because the ear her version of v. some of the witnesses for the complainant itself show- Dattatraya Dulaji ed that there was riotous mob on the road which Ghadigaonk" attacked cars, burnt public bus, pelted stones, etc., & Anolher which was quite inconsistent with their later version S. K. Das]. that Sitaram and, his companions were quiet y cross-1 ing the road and shot was fired from passing or moving car. There was over-whelming material t.o show that K. K. Shah's car was surrounded by the mob and some of the rioters tried to drag out and attack the appellant. K. K. Shah was one of the witnesses mentioned by the complainant and so also two of the Inspectors of Police. Their evidence . clearly sup-ported the plea of the appellant and in any case, showed that the witnesses examined on behalf of the respondent were totally unworthy of credence as to the circumstances in which the shots were fired. We cannot therefore say that the learned Magistrate was wrong in his . judgment that there was no sufficient ground for proceeding further on the complaint.

We accordingly hold that the High Court set aside the order of the learned Magistrate on an erroneous view of the scope of s. 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. We allow the appeal, set aside the order of the High Court dated September 13, 1957, and restore that . of the learned Presidency Magistrate dated April 30, 1957.

Appeal allowed.