Section 195 bar on forgery applies only after a document is produced in court; earlier forgery still allows private complaint.

Section 195(1)(b)(ii) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 bars cognizance only for offences committed in respect of a document while it is in court custody or after it has been produced or given in evidence. A forgery completed before the document reaches court is not covered merely because the document is later filed in proceedings, so private complaint remains maintainable. The provision was construed narrowly in light of Section 195 and Section 340 to protect judicial proceedings without unfairly extinguishing the aggrieved person's remedy.

---

---

Issues: Whether the bar under Section 195(1)(b)(ii) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 applies to a forgery committed before the document was produced or given in evidence in court.

Analysis: The expression in Section 195(1)(b)(ii) was construed in the setting of the scheme of Section 195, Section 340, and the procedure for complaints affecting the administration of justice. The provision was held to be aimed at offences committed while the document is in court custody, since the Court's control under Section 340 is intended to protect the purity of judicial proceedings. A forged document prepared before its production in court does not, by that fact alone, become an offence committed in respect of a document produced or given in evidence in a proceeding in court. The Court rejected a broad construction that would bar private prosecution in every case once the document is later filed in court, as that would unduly restrict the remedy of the aggrieved person and produce impracticable results.

Conclusion: The bar under Section 195(1)(b)(ii) applies only where the offence is committed after the document has been produced or given in evidence in court; where the forgery is complete before such production, private complaint remains maintainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Section 195(1)(b)(ii) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 bars cognizance only of offences committed in respect of a document during its custody of the court, not of forgery completed before the document was produced or given in evidence.

---