156(3), CrPc: Interlocutory Or Not? Treading A Paradoxical Course

The term "interlocutory order" is a term that has no lack of well-known legal significance and appears to present no complex difficulty. It has been used in various statutes including the Code of Civil Procedure, Letters Patent of the High Courts and other like statutes. The Webster's New World Dictionary defines "interlocutory" as an order other than final decision. The prima facie simplicity however, has led to severe complexities in the interpretation of the same so far as an order under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is concerned. The Apex Court as far back as in 1977 in its ruling in Amarnath v. State of Haryana observed that the term "interlocutory order" in Section 397(2) of the 1973 Code had been used in a restricted sense and not in any broad or artistic sense. It merely denoted orders of a purely interim or temporary nature which do not decide or touch the important rights or the liabilities of the parties. It went on to say that an