Criminal complaint challenge under Section 482 CrPC remitted for fresh High Court decision after non-merits order

A challenge to a summoning order in a criminal complaint under Sections 500 and 501 read with Section 34 IPC was taken under Section 482 CrPC. The High Court did not decide the petition on merits; instead, it allowed the accused to raise the same objections before the Magistrate at the stage of notice under Section 251 CrPC and directed a speaking order. Because the petition remained undecided on maintainability and other issues, the Supreme Court set aside that order and remitted the matter to the High Court for a fresh decision on the Section 482 petition.

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Issues: Whether the High Court's order permitting the accused to raise objections at the stage of notice and directing the Magistrate to consider them without deciding the petition on merits was sustainable, and whether the matter should be remitted to the High Court for decision on the petition under Section 482.

Analysis: The complaint was under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for offences under Sections 500 and 501 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the challenge before the High Court was to the summoning order through a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The High Court did not decide that petition on merits but permitted the accused to raise the same pleas before the Magistrate at the stage of notice under Section 251 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and directed a speaking order. Since the order under challenge was not a merits-based adjudication of the petition under Section 482, and the parties' contentions on maintainability and other issues remained open, the proper course was to set aside the High Court's order and remit the matter for a fresh decision.

Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and the matter was remitted to the High Court for decision on the petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

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