Magistrate Cannot Order Police to Name Accused in Charge Sheet; Should Directly Issue Summons: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court recently ruled that if a court intends to add a person as an accused in a case, it cannot direct the police to include their name in the charge sheet. Instead, if sufficient grounds exist, the court should issue a summons to the proposed accused, even if their name is not mentioned in the charge sheet.
3/20/20251 min read
A bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra heard a case where the petitioner’s name was included in the charge sheet on the orders of the Magistrate. Subsequently, the petitioner was summoned as an accused, a decision that was later upheld by the Chhattisgarh High Court.
Before the Supreme Court, the petitioner argued that the High Court had erred in affirming the Magistrate’s direction, as there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C.) that allows a Magistrate to order the inclusion of a person’s name in the charge sheet.
The Supreme Court agreed with the petitioner’s contention, clarifying that the Magistrate should not have directed the police to include the name in the charge sheet. Instead, the proper course of action was for the Magistrate to take cognizance of the offense and directly issue a summons to the accused. The Court emphasized that while a Magistrate has the authority to disagree with the police’s final report and take cognizance of an offense against persons not named in the charge sheet, the correct procedure is to issue summons rather than instructing the police to amend the charge sheet.
Ultimately, the Court concluded that, although the Magistrate’s approach was procedurally flawed, the final outcome—summoning the petitioner as an accused—was legally valid. Since the result remained unchanged, the Supreme Court found no reason to interfere with the High Court’s order.