Pre-charge summons of documents is limited by relevance and judicial discretion; refusal may stand absent unreasonable exercise.

Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is an enabling power to summon documents or things only when they are necessary or desirable for investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceedings. At the pre-charge stage, the court need not conduct a roving enquiry or permit production of material as a matter of course; relevance to the issue before the court and the stage of proceedings remain decisive. Interference with the trial court's discretion is justified only if the discretion is exercised in a demonstrably unreasonable or improper manner. On that basis, refusal to summon the documents was treated as a proper exercise of discretion and no interference was warranted.

---

---

Issues: Whether an accused, at the pre-charge stage, can invoke Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to summon documents and whether refusal to summon such documents called for interference.

Analysis: Section 91 is an enabling provision permitting summons for production of documents or things only when they are necessary or desirable for investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding. Its exercise depends on the stage of the proceedings and the court's satisfaction that the material is relevant to the issue before it. At the stage of considering whether there is sufficient ground to proceed or whether the charge is groundless, the court is not required to undertake a roving enquiry or to permit summoning of material as a matter of course. Interference with the trial court's exercise of discretion is justified only where that discretion is exercised in a demonstrably unreasonable or improper manner.

Conclusion: The refusal to summon the documents was held to be a proper exercise of discretion and no interference was warranted.

---