CHUNNILAL Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition under Section 482 Cr. P. C. has been moved with the prayer that proceedings in Crime No. 43 of 1965 (Misc. Case No. 159 of 1965) under Section 409 I. P. C. pending in the Court of Sri Satti Din, Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow be quashed. The petitioner Sri Chunni Lal is involved in a crime punishable under Section 409 I. P. C. The Court of Magistrate received charge-sheet on 16. 4. 1971 and directed the case to be registered. Since then the matter is pending at the stage of Section 207 Cr. P. C. It is extremely painful that a petty case is pending at such a stage for such a long period. Section 173 (5) of Cr. P. C. provides that when a report in respect*of a case to which Section 170 applies is made by Police Officer then the Police Officer shall forward to the Magistrate along with the report: (a) All documents or relevant extracts thereof on which prosecution proposes to rely other than those already sent to the Magistrate during investigation. . . Section 207 (v) says that in any case where proceeding has been instituted on a Police Report, the Magistrate shall without delay furnish to the accused free of cost a copy of all documents or relevant extracts thereof forwarded to him with the Police Report under sub-section (v) of Section 173. Section 238 Cr. P. C. lays down that when in any warrant case instituted on a Police Report the accused appears or is brought before a Magistrate at the commence ment of the trial, the Magistrate shall satisfy himself that he has complied with the pro visions of Section 207. The law on the point is, therefore, abundantly clear. The Police Officer is required to forward copies of all documents to the court concerned on which the prosecution proposes to rely. The Magistrate is required to ensure before the commencement of the trial that copies of all such documents or relevant extracts thereof forwarded to him with the Police Report under sub section (v) of Section 173 are furnished to the accused. The Magistrate has to proceed on the material including the documents which have been forwarded to him by the Police Officer under section 173 (v ). The Magistrate at this stage is not at all required to direct the Police Officer for providing extract of some other material in the form of document etc. for establishing the charge against the accused. As pointed out above he has to proceed on the material forwarded to him by the Police Officer and at this stage the accused is entitled only to receive copies of those documents which have been for warded by the Police Officer to the Magis trate and on which the prosecution proposes to rely for establishing the charge. In the instant case the Magistrate appears to have misguided himself by pressing the Police Officer for furnishing some extra material and some other original documents so that copies thereof may be supplied to the accused and the accused appears to have been in sisting that copies of other documents be also furnished to him and all this has caused so much deplorable delay in the commence ment of the trial. Under these circumstances the petition under Section 482 Cr. P. C. shall be partly allowed and the Magistrate shall be directed to proceed according to law forthwith in the light of discussions above and see that the trial is concluded latest within six months. The Magistrate shall furnish to the accused copy of such documents which have been forwarded to him by the police officer under Sections 173 (v) Cr. P. C. and over which the prosecution proposes to rely. "sufficient opportunity has been given to the prosecution to file some other documents. There is no scope for granting further opportunity to the prosecution for the same and the Magistrate is directed not to afford any further opportunity to the prosecution. The Magistrate may, how ever, at any later stage exercise his inherent jurisdiction in the interest of justice as pro vided under the Act. With these observations the petition is disposed of. Let a copy of this judgment be sent to j the District Judge? Lucknow, within twenty four hours who will see that the directions j given above are strictly complied with by the Magistrate. Let a copy of this order be also supplied to the learned counsel for the accused on payment of usual charges. The stay order shall stand vacated. .