Default dismissal in a smuggling complaint was improper where evidence was on record, and revisional correction was upheld.

Where evidence had already been recorded in a smuggling-related complaint, the Magistrate should not have dismissed the case for default merely because the prosecution was absent; the recorded material required the matter to proceed according to law. The revisional court was entitled under Section 399 CrPC to interfere with an illegal or incorrect subordinate order, including where the revisional applicant was a successor officer in the same office. The order restoring the complaint for further trial was therefore upheld, and the challenge to that revisional order failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the revisional court was justified in setting aside the Magistrate's order dismissing the complaint for default and remanding the case for trial despite the prosecution's non-appearance and the existence of evidence on record.

Analysis: The complaint related to alleged smuggling of gold bars with foreign marks, and evidence of two witnesses had already been recorded. The order of dismissal for default was held to be improper because revisional jurisdiction under Section 399 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 empowers interference with an illegal or incorrect subordinate court order, even when the revisional applicant is a succeeding officer holding the same office. The Court also noted that in prosecutions of this kind, the Magistrate ought to have considered proceeding in accordance with law on the basis of the material already recorded rather than terminating the case merely because the prosecution was negligent in appearance.

Conclusion: The revisional order restoring the case for further trial was upheld, and the petition challenging that order failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A complaint in a prosecution for smuggling-related economic offences should not be dismissed for default where material evidence is already on record; revisional jurisdiction may be exercised to correct such an improper termination of proceedings.

---