Prima facie grounds for proceeding bar threshold dismissal of a cheque dishonour complaint under Section 203 CrPC.

A complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 should not be dismissed at the preliminary stage under Section 203 CrPC where the complaint and supporting materials, such as the cheque, return memo and statutory notice, disclose prima facie grounds to proceed. At the Sections 202 and 203 stage, the Magistrate is confined to seeing whether sufficient ground exists for proceeding and cannot weigh evidence, resolve disputed questions of fact, or assess the accused's liability as if at trial. Disputed issues relating to the accused's role and other ingredients of liability must be decided in trial. On this footing, threshold dismissal was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 could be dismissed at the preliminary stage under Section 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for want of sufficient ground for proceeding.

Analysis: The complaint was accompanied by the cheque, return memo and statutory notice, which constituted the basic materials relevant for consideration at the stage of Sections 202 and 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. At that stage, the Magistrate was required only to see whether there was sufficient ground for proceeding and not to weigh the evidence or foreclose the prosecution by assessing disputed factual questions. The nature of the accused's role and other ingredients relating to liability were matters for trial. Since the complaint disclosed prima facie materials, dismissal at the threshold was not sustainable.

Conclusion: The complaint could not be dismissed under Section 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 at the preliminary stage, and the order of dismissal was unsustainable in favour of the complainant.

Ratio Decidendi: A Magistrate may dismiss a complaint under Section 203 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 only when no sufficient ground for proceeding is disclosed; at the threshold stage, the Court must confine itself to prima facie materials and cannot decide disputed factual issues or assess probabilities as if conducting a trial.

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