Section 195 CrPC bar not attracted to post-withdrawal tampering with court records; criminal prosecution could proceed.

Section 195 CrPC bars cognizance only for offences committed in relation to a pending judicial proceeding or to documents while in the custody of the court. Where a civil suit had been unconditionally withdrawn and the record had already been sent to the record office, later acts of replacing documents, preparing a bogus decree, and using forged stamps were outside custodia legis and did not directly affect administration of justice in a live proceeding. The statutory bar therefore did not apply, cognizance on the police charge-sheet was not barred, and the criminal prosecution was allowed to proceed.

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Issues: Whether the bar under Section 195 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 applied to alleged tampering and forgery in the record of a civil suit after the suit had been unconditionally withdrawn, so as to require a court complaint before cognizance could be taken.

Analysis: The proceedings in the civil suit had concluded upon unconditional withdrawal, and the disputed acts of replacing documents, preparing a bogus decree and using forged stamps were all subsequent to the conclusion of those proceedings. Once the suit stood withdrawn and the record had been sent to the record office, the documents could not be treated as remaining in custodia legis for the purpose of Section 195. The alleged offences therefore did not directly affect administration of justice in the pending judicial proceeding. The Court also applied the principle that the statutory bar is attracted only where the offence is committed in relation to a document while it is in the custody of the Court or in circumstances covered by the provision.

Conclusion: Section 195 was not attracted, and cognizance on the police charge-sheet was not barred; the challenge to the criminal proceedings failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeal was found to be without merit, and the criminal prosecution was permitted to proceed.

Ratio Decidendi: The bar under Section 195 applies only to offences committed in relation to a pending judicial proceeding or to documents while in the custody of the Court, and does not extend to post-withdrawal tampering with court records that no longer form part of a live proceeding.

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