https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=286705 Section 256 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applies only after summons has been served, the accused has appeared, and the complainant then defaults on the hearing date. Where the matter is still at the stage of service of process and service is incomplete, the complaint cannot be dismissed for non-prosecution under Section 256 and the accused cannot be acquitted on that basis. In such a situation, the court may consider Section 204(4) if steps for service are not taken, but not Section 256. As service had not been completed and the accused had not appeared, the dismissal and acquittal were unsustainable and were set aside, with the complaint restored and remanded. en-us Fri, 23 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0530 Thu, 12 Mar 2020 07:15:13 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=286705 Section 256 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applies only after summons has been served, the accused has appeared, and the complainant then defaults on the hearing date. Where the matter is still at the stage of service of process and service is incomplete, the complaint cannot be dismissed for non-prosecution under Section 256 and the accused cannot be acquitted on that basis. In such a situation, the court may consider Section 204(4) if steps for service are not taken, but not Section 256. As service had not been completed and the accused had not appeared, the dismissal and acquittal were unsustainable and were set aside, with the complaint restored and remanded. Case-Laws Indian Laws Fri, 23 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=286705