Magistrates have no power to review/recall final order: HC

Soumyadip Mullick, MP, 17 Nov 2024, Kolkata: In a case where the trial court reopened a criminal case after having passed the final order, the Calcutta High Court observed that Magistrates don’t have the inherent power to review or recall their final order. 

In this case, the trial court after dropping proceedings against the petitioners in a criminal case, issued summons to the petitioners in the same case after treating the opposite party’s Naraji petition as a complaint. 

The High Court bench of Justice Suvra Ghosh, taking into account Supreme Court judgements, observed that under Section 362 of CrPC, the Chief Judicial Magistrate had no legal sanction to re-open proceedings and treat the Naraji petition as a complaint case. 

The bench set aside the trial court order allowing the prayer of the opposite party. 

Section 362 of CrPC states a court cannot alter or review a judgment or final order, except to correct a clerical or arithmetical error. 

The Bench of Justice Ghosh observed that the grievances of the opposite party relating to dropping of the proceedings against the petitioners without considering their Naraji petition could be redressed by a superior forum and “not by the Magistrate who passed the order since the same amounts to reviewing/recalling the order passed by him earlier which is not enjoined in law”. 

In the case, the opposite party had filed an application under 156 (3) CrPC which was registered as an FIR. A case under various Sections of IPC was initiated against the petitioners. 

The investigating officer (IO) submitted a Final Report for Mistake of Fact (FRMF) after completing the probe. The opposite party, dissatisfied, filed a Naraji petition against the final report and the magistrate ordered for investigation. 

A second FMRF was submitted by IO. While further probe was pending, petitioners had filed an application in High Court under 482 CrPC for dropping proceedings of the case. The application was dismissed for default. 

The opposite party filed a second Naraji petition challenging the second probe report too. But, the CJM dropped the proceedings against the petitioner. 

The opposite party filed an application to consider its second Naraji petition. The trial court allowed the prayer. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/situation-under-control-malicious-efforts-being-made-to-spread-rumours-police-on-murshidabad-587237?infinitescroll=1