2018 (10) TMI 173

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....ndent alleging offences punishable under Sections 132 and 135 of the Customs Act, 1962 with reference to certain acts of commission or omission relating to the period of August, 1994.   2. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, by the impugned order, had restricted the opportunity for the petitioner to examine only such witnesses at the stage of proceedings post framing of charge as had been examined earlier at the stage of pre-charge evidence, thereby upholding the contention of the respondent against the prayer for two additional witnesses including one Rajvir Singh Juneja to be examined.   3. While resisting the prayer in the present petition, the respondent has placed reliance on decision of a learned single Judge of this Co....

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....instituted otherwise than on a police report, the accused appears or is brought before a Magistrate, the Magistrate shall proceed to hear the prosecution and take all such evidence as may be produced in support of the prosecution. xxx 245. When accused shall be discharged.- (1) If, upon taking all the evidence referred to in section 244, the Magistrate considers, for reasons to be recorded, that no case against the accused has been made out which, if unrebutted, would warrant his conviction, the Magistrate shall discharge him. xxx 246. Procedure where accused is not discharged.- (1) If, when such evidence has been taken, or at any previous stage of the case, the Magistrate is of opinion that there is ground for presuming that the a....

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....of pre-charge evidence and it is only thereafter that the trial court Magistrate takes a call as to whether the accused is entitled to be discharged or, conversely, as to whether charge is made out for he to be put to trial thereupon, in terms of further provisions contained in Section 246. Sub-section (1) of Section 246, however, shows that the decision on the issue as to whether charge has been made out or not can be arrived at by the Magistrate not necessarily after the entire evidence intended to be produced by the prosecution has come on record. It may do so "at any previous stage of the case" as well. The provision contained in sub- section (6) of Section 246 further clarifies that the law does not insist on the entire evidence to be ....