Complaint dismissed for non-appearance treated as acquittal, leaving appeal as the proper remedy and barring revision.

Dismissal of a criminal complaint for the complainant's non-appearance is treated as an acquittal by operation of law, even if the order does not expressly say so. Where the governing criminal procedure law provides an appeal against such an acquittal, a revision petition by a party who could have appealed is barred. The stated principle is that termination of the complaint in default attracts the remedial consequences of acquittal, so the proper remedy is appeal rather than revision. Accordingly, the revisional challenge was held not maintainable.

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Issues: Whether dismissal of a complaint for non-appearance of the complainant amounts to an acquittal of the accused, and whether a revision petition is maintainable against such an order when an appeal lies.

Analysis: Section 247 of the J&K Code of Criminal Procedure provides that when the complainant does not appear in a complaint case, the Magistrate shall acquit the accused, unless the hearing is adjourned for a proper reason. On a plain reading, dismissal of the complaint for default carries the legal consequence of acquittal even if the order does not expressly use that expression. The applicable principle is that where the statute provides an appeal against an order of acquittal, revision is barred at the instance of a party who could have appealed. This position is reinforced by the corresponding provision in the criminal procedure code and the settled view that an order terminating the complaint in default is to be treated as an acquittal for remedial purposes.

Conclusion: The dismissal of the complaint amounted to acquittal, and the revision petition against that order was not maintainable. The challenge to the revisional order therefore succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: An order dismissing a complaint for non-appearance of the complainant is an acquittal by operation of law, and where an appeal lies against such acquittal, revision is barred.

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