Section 195 bar on forgery is limited to documents in court custody; prior forgery can still be privately prosecuted.

The statutory bar on cognizance under Section 195(1)(b)(ii) CrPC is confined to offences with a direct nexus to court proceedings and to documents while in custodia legis. Forgery committed before a document is produced in court does not attract that bar merely because the document is later filed in judicial proceedings, and a private complaint is therefore not barred on that ground. The provision was construed strictly because it limits the magistrate's general power under Section 190, and the deletion of words referring to a party to the proceeding did not alter this restrictive interpretation.

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

Analysis: The provision restricting cognizance was construed strictly because it curtails the general power of a magistrate under Section 190 and the ordinary right to set criminal law in motion. The interrelation between Sections 195 and 340 showed that the statutory bar is confined to offences that have a reasonable nexus with proceedings in court and are committed in relation to a document while it is in custodia legis. A forgery committed outside court, before production of the document in judicial proceedings, does not become an offence affecting the administration of justice merely because the forged document was later produced in court. The deletion of the words referring to a party to the proceeding in the new Code was held not to alter that restrictive construction.

Conclusion: The bar in Section 195(1)(b)(ii) does not apply where the forgery was committed before the document was produced in court, and prosecution on a private complaint is not barred on that ground.

Ratio Decidendi: The statutory prohibition against cognizance under Section 195(1)(b)(ii) is limited to offences having a direct nexus with proceedings in court and committed in relation to a document while it is in court custody; forgery committed beforehand falls outside the bar.

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