Section 138 complaints may shift from summary trial to summons trial, but not to warrant trial under the special procedure.

Section 143(1) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 creates a special procedure for Section 138 complaints and overrides the general procedure under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The second proviso allows the Magistrate, for recorded reasons, to depart from summary trial and proceed in the manner provided by the Code, but that discretion is confined to summons procedure because a Section 138 offence is not a warrant case. The Magistrate therefore cannot convert such a complaint into a warrant-triable case; the permissible shift is only from summary trial to summons trial.

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Issues: Whether, in a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, the Magistrate exercising power under the second proviso to Section 143(1) can convert the matter into a warrant case instead of proceeding as a summons case.

Analysis: Section 143(1) creates a special procedure for offences under Section 138 and, by its non obstante clause, overrides the general procedure in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The second proviso permits departure from summary trial only where the Magistrate records reasons and proceeds to hear or rehear the case in the manner provided by the Code. Since an offence under Section 138 is punishable with imprisonment up to two years, it is not a warrant case within the definition of the Code. The power under the second proviso therefore extends only to adopting summons procedure, not warrant procedure. The directions in J.V. Baharuni reinforce that the Magistrate's discretion is confined to summary trial or summons trial, and conversion into a warrant case would undermine the expeditious scheme of Chapter XVII of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

Conclusion: The Magistrate cannot convert a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 into a warrant triable case under the second proviso to Section 143(1). The power is confined only to converting the matter into a summons triable case.

Final Conclusion: The reference is answered in the negative, and the legal position is settled that proceedings under Section 138 can be shifted only from summary trial to summons trial, not to warrant trial.

Ratio Decidendi: The special procedure under Section 143(1) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, read with its second proviso, overrides the general classification under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and permits deviation only to summons procedure, not to warrant procedure.

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