Commencement of proceedings before magistrate

INTRODUCTION
Criminal proceedings are initiated by a magistrate taking cognizance of the offence
alleged to have been committed by the accused. After the investigation is over and the
charge-sheet is submitted by the police to a competent magistrate, the next step
required to be taken by him to take cognizance of the offence on the basis of
charge-sheet. Section 190 of the Code set out different ways in which a magistrate can
take cognizance of an offence.

In this project I am going to deal with the proceedings which follow the taking of the
“cognizance” by the Magistrate and which are preparatory to the trial of the case.
Section 200 to 203 would be found useful for weeding out false, frivolous and
vexatious complaints aimed at harassing the accused person.

Everyday experience of the courts shows that many complaints are ill founded,
and it is necessary therefore that they should at the very start be carefully
considered and those which are not on their face convincing should be
subjected to further scrutiny so that only in substantial cases should the court
summon the accused person.

It must be remembered that an order summoning a person to appear in a court of law

to answer a criminal charge entails serious consequences. It has the effect of abridging
the liberty of a citizen which is held so precious and sacred in our Republic. Such an
order must not be passed unless it has behind it the sanction of law. With this end in
view Sections 200 to 203 have been enacted. Their scope is to distinguish unfounded
from genuine cases so as to root them out at the very outset without calling upon the
party complained against.

The wedding-out operation envisaged by section200 to 203 is exclusively applicable

in case where the cognizance is taken on a complaint. For obvious reasons such
special procedure is not needed in cases where cognizance has been taken on a police
report. Section 204 mentions the conditions in which the Magistrate may issue a

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 Commencement of proceedings before magistrate

summons or a warrant for the purpose of securing the attendance of the accused at the
time of trial. Section 205 empowers the Magistrate to dispense with the personal
attendance of the accused in deserving cases. Section 206 requires a Magistrate to
issue a special summons in cases of petty offences so as to enable the accused, if he so
desires, to send the pleading of guilty to the Magistrate and to remit the amount of fine
mentioned in the summons without the necessity of personally appearing before the
Magistrate. Section 207 to 208 provide for the supply to the accused person of copies
of documents like the police report, statement recorded by the police during
investigation etc., so that the accused is enable to know adequately and in time the
alleged charges against him and the evidence the prosecution intends to give against
him at his trial. Section 209 prescribe the procedure to be followed by the Magistrate
when the offence is exclusively triable by a court of session. Section 210 provides for
the procedure to be followed when there is a complaint case and a police investigation
in respect of the same offence.1

Aims and Objective

 The researcher intends to study and analyse about the proceedings before the
magistrate.
 The researcher intends to analyse the laws related to procedural law.
 The researcher aims to study evidence is appreciated in the court of law.

RESEARCH
 Does India need a Uniform Civil QUESTIONS
Code?
 What is the power of the magistrate?
 Whether the existing procedure for proceeding before the magistrate is
appropriate.
 What are the limitations of the judicial magistrate?

TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION
1. INTRODUCTION
2. COMPLAINT TO MAGISTRATE
3. COMMENCEMENT OF PROCEEDINGS
1
R. V. Kelkar, Criminal Procedure 262 (Eastern Book Company, Lucknow, 6 th edn., 2015)

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 Commencement of proceedings before magistrate

4. RELATED CASES
5. CONCLUSION

LIMITATIONS of the study

This project is limited to the subject and issues of the case that is to be reviewed. Various
other cases have been referred to for supporting the arguments stronger. Relevant parts of the
judgement have been extracted. All the works and cases referred in this paper have been
properly cited and are related to the case.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The researcher has consulted following sources to complete the rough proposal:
(i) Ratanlal and Dhirajlal, The Code of Criminal Procedure (Lexis Nexis,
Gurgaon, 19th Enlarged edition, 2013).
(ii) R.V. Kelkar, Criminal Procedure (Eastern Book Company, Lucknow, 5th
Edition 2008).
(iii) CK Thakkar ‘Takwani’ and MC Thakker, Criminal Procedure (Lexis
Nexis, Gurgaon, 4TH Edition, 2015)
(iv) SCC ONLINE
(v) MANUPATRA
(vi) INDIAN KANOON

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