Summoning Accused In A Criminal Matter Is A Serious Business, Should Not Be Done Mechanically: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently observed that the summoning of an accused in a criminal matter is a serious business and the same has to be done only after de application of mind by the court concerned. Therefore, the order of summoning an accused in a criminal complaint should not be a mechanical exercise but such an order should reflect that the Magistrate has applied his mind to the facts of the case and the applicable law, whereafter the Magistrate has to record his satisfaction as to whether any offence is made out and if so, which of the offences is made out from the contents of the complaint and the material available before him. The observation was made in plea moved by telecom giant Airtel, challenging an order of Additional Sessions Judge, Pulwama, which had set aside Magistrate's order dismissing a complaint lodged against the company for offences under Sections 406, 418, 420, 109 and 120-B RPC stating that there is no sufficient ground for proceeding against the company. "There can be no dispute to the legal proposition that pursuing of civil remedy will not bar criminal proceedings and that the criminal proceedings cannot be quashed merely because civil remedy is also available to a complainant but then when a dispute arising in a case is purely of a civil nature and it has been given a criminal colour just to wreak vengeance upon the accused and to coerce him to settle a purely civil dispute, the court has to scuttle any such attempt on the part of the complainant."