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PART F -- DISMISSAL OF CASES IN DEFAULT
1. ***[Omitted.]
2. Reasons for dismissal in default should be recorded.-- **[Cases should not be dismissed in default hastily]. Before a case is dismissed by reason of the absence of complainant, the Magistrates should carefully consider---
(a) whether such an order is legal; and
(b) whether it is justified by the circumstances.
Reasons should always be recorded for such a dismissal.
3. Instructions to be observed in re dismissal of complaints, etc., by reason of the absence of the complainant.--In application for revision of orders dismissing complaints or cases instituted on complaint, by reason of the absence of the complainant, it is frequently urged--
(a) that the complainant was not called;
(b) that the case was dismissed very early in the day; or
(c) that the Magistrates being on tour, the complainant had no, or insufficient, notice of the place of sitting.
(ii) The Magistrates' records often furnish no definite information on any of these points. The following instructions are accordingly issued for guidance to subordinate Courts:-
(a) Magistrate should not dismiss complaints or cases instituted on complaint without giving complainants full opportunity for appearance. Ordinarily, if a complainant is absent when his case is first called on, his case should be called on again later, and the time of dismissal should always be noted on the record.
(b) When the Magistrate is on tour, complaints or cases instituted on complaint should not be dismissed unless the complainant has had due notice of the place of hearing.
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[(c) In carrying out these instructions Magistrates should bear in mind that if the summons has been issued on complaint and the complaint has been dismissed on account of the absence of the complainant, the accused must be acquitted under section 247 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and that a complaint cannot be dismissed on account of the absence of the complainant when the offence of which the accused is charged is either cognizable or non-compoundable.]
(d) Section 247 of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not apply when the entire evidence in a case has been concluded and the case has been adjourned only for judgment without the attendance of the complainant having been specially directed.
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