Magistrate Taking Cognizance Based On Protest Complaint Must Pass Speaking Order & Consider Refer Report: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has ruled that a magistrate taking cognizance based on a protest complaint must consider the refer report filed by the police and pass a speaking order.Referring to the decisions in Parameswaran Nair v. Surendran [2009 (1) KLT 794] and C.R. Chandran v. State of Kerala [ILR 2024 (3) Ker. 245], Justice C. Pratheep Kumar observed:“Therefore, it is evident that while taking cognizance of an offence based on a private complainant, especially one filed as a protest complaint against a refer report filed by the police, the Magistrate shall take into consideration the refer report as well. Further, it should be a speaking order, containing the materials justifying the order taking cognizance, as held by this court in the decisions referred above.”The Court was considering a plea by the accused to quash all further proceedings against him in a case where he was accused of criminal intimidation (Section 506 IPC) based on a protest complaint by the defacto complainant challenging the police's finding in the refer report.According to him, the Magistrate that took cognizance of the offence under Section 506(i) of the Indian Penal Code passed a cryptic order without even referring to the refer report. He challenged the said order before the High Court.The Court noted that the Magistrate, while passing the impugned order, only recorded the complainant's and witness statements while also directing the SHO to produce a CD relating to the refer report. It did not even mention the reasons for taking cognizance or disclose the materials relied upon and did not refer to the refer report. It opined that the order was a cryptic one and ought to be interfered with.The Court set aside the order taking cognizance and remanded back to the Magistrate to pass a reasoned order in accordance with the referred decisions.Case No: Crl.MC No. 2029 of 2021Case Title: Anilkumar v. State of Kerala and Anr.Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 20Counsel for the petitioner: S. Rajeev, K.K. Dheerendrakrishnan, V. Vinay,Anand Kalyanakrishnan, M.S. AneerCounsel for the respondents: Breez M.S. – Sr. Public ProsecutorClick to Read/Download Order

Magistrate Taking Cognizance Based On Protest Complaint Must Pass Speaking Order & Consider Refer Report: Kerala High Court

K. Salma Jennath

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