Published on: 8 August 2023 at 14:08 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Abhinandan Jha V. Dinesh Mishra (1968)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that the investigating officer under the provision of Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 can release the accused from the custody on his executing a bond to appear before the Magistrate, if during the investigation it appears that there is no sufficient evidence or reasonable grounds of suspicion justifying the forwarding of an accused to a Magistrate.
9. From the foregoing sections, occurring in Chapter XIV, it will be seen that very elaborate provisions have been made for securing that an investigation does take place into a reported offence and the investigation is carried out within the limits of the law, without causing any harassment to the accused and is also completed without unnecessary or undue delay.
The point to be noted is that the manner and method of conducting the investigation, are left entirely to the police, and the Magistrate, so far as we can see, has no power under any of these provisions, to interfere with the same.
If, on investigation, it appears to the officer, in-charge of a police station, or to the officer making an investigation, that, there is no sufficient evidence or reasonable grounds of suspicion justifying the forwarding of an accused to a Magistrate, Section 169 says that the officer shall release the accused, if in custody, on his executing a bond to appear before the Magistrate.
Similarly, if, on the other hand, it appears to the officer, in-charge of a police station, or to the officer making the investigation, under Chapter XIV, that there is sufficient evidence or reasonable ground to justify the forwarding of an accused to a Magistrate, such an officer is required, under Section 170, to forward the accused to a Magistrate; or, if the offence is bailable, to take security from him for his appearance before such Magistrate. But, whether a case comes under Section 169, or under Section 170, of the Code, on the completion of the investigation, the police officer has to submit a report to the Magistrate, under Section 173, in the manner indicated therein, containing the various details.
The question as to whether the Magistrate has got power to direct the police to file a charge-sheet, on receipt of a report under Section 173 really depends upon the nature of the jurisdiction exercised by a Magistrate, on receiving a report.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra