In Re: Mohanlal B. Bajaj - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
the case discussed the validity of the dismissal of the complaint as a civil matter, without holding an enquiry into it - 'a' filed a complaint against 'b' for cheating in regard to a radio which he contented was sold to him by b for a sum of rs1, 000 - upon receipt of the complaint, the magistrate issued notices to both sides and then dismissed the complaint holding that it was purely a civil matter- it was held that, the finding of the magistrate, that it was a civil matter implied that no offence appeared to have been committed, but as he did not directed any preliminary enquiry into the matter by police, there was no basis for the finding and therefore, the order could not be sustained - 1. this is en application for revision from an order dismissing a complaint which has been riled by the applicant for cheating or criminal misappropriation in regard to a radio which the applicant contended was sold to him by the accused opponent for a sum of rs. 1000/-. upon receipt of the complaint the learned magistrate appears to have issued notices to the two sides and then dismissed the complaint holding that it was purely a civil matter.2. now, the finding that it was purely a civil matter necessarily implies that no offence appears to have been committed; but inasmuch as the learned magistrate did not take any evidence nor did he direct any preliminary inquiry into the matter by the police it is difficult to understand upon what this finding that there 'was no crime involved, is based.the complainant alleged that there was a sale to him of a wireless set. if it was sold to the complainant then when subsequently the accused did away with it or as a matter of fact even if he denied having sold the wireless set it might be that there was criminal misappropriation. on. the other hand if the accused entered into a contract to sell the wireless set to the complainant but subsequently did not do so the circumstances might show that the accused 'ab initio' had intention to cheat and the complainant was cheated.it may of course ultimately be found that the accused did not cheat the complainant; but the learned magistrate did not order any preliminary inquiry to be held nor did he examine any witnesses. in these circumstances it is impossible to pay that it had been shown that there was no offence committed.3. i, therefore, set aside the order dismissingthe complaint and direct the learned magistrateto proceed further in accordance with the law.revision application allowed.