200 CrPC - Code of Criminal Procedure

200 CrPC Private Complaint, Procedure set by Karnataka High Court

Procedure to be followed by Magistrate to take cognizance under 200 CrPC, as per the order of Karnataka High Court.

What are the procedures to be followed by Magistrate to take cognizance under Section 200 of Criminal Procedure Code?

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar by order dated 22nd July 2021 set out the following procedure to for taking cognizance under section 200 CrPC.

(i) After the presentation of Complaint, the Magistrate must read the complaint and if he finds on the face of it, the commission of offence or offences is not disclosed, he can reject or dismiss the complaint. But the Magistrate must be slow in rejecting the complaint just on reading it because if the complaint is not properly articulated, rejection of complaint may result in causing injustice to the complainant. It is possible that intelligent drafting may give an impression that an offence has taken place, which may not be true some times. Therefore it is better to examine the complainant and the witnesses if necessary.

(ii) After reading the complaint and examining the witnesses (if they present at their examination are necessary) under section 200 CrPC the Magistrate arrives at the conclusion that there are sufficient grounds to proceed further, he shall take cognizance of the offence and issue process to the accused.

(iii) Even after following the procedure setout in section 200, if the Magistrate is not convinced about the existence of sufficient materials to take cognizance, he may resort to hold an inquiry himself or direct investigation as contemplated under section 202.

(iv) If the Magistrate does not prima facie find materials as to the constitution of any offence after examining the complainant and witnesses (if any), he can dismiss the complaint in accordance with section 203.

(v) Resorting to procedure contemplated under section 202 is not always mandatory, it may be resorted to only in the circumstances stated in section 202. That means, cognizance may be taken or the complaint may be rejected depending upon the situation even after the state of section 200.

vi) It is not necessary that a Magistrate must endorse "cognizance taken" in the order sheet, but what is required is the application of mind and it must be depicted in a brief order. The decision as to the issuing process to the accused itself amounts to cognizance being taken.

vii) Whenever an investigating police officer files a 'B' report, and the complainant wants to contest the 'B' Report, the Magistrate has to follow the same procedure set out above.

Case Details

Cause Title - Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and State of Karnataka

Case No - Crl. P. No. 1422/2021

Date of order - 22.07.2021