To Discharge, Or Not To Discharge: That Is The Question

The recent order by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Amit Sibal v. Arvind Kejriwal¹, has again brought to the forefront, the short but extremely important question as to : Whether the magistrate, in a 'summons case based on a complaint' has the power to drop proceedings and discharge an accused, or not ?

The question assumes great practical significance insofar as many criminal cases such as defamation, dishonour of cheques, amongst other cases of relatively private character are triable as summons cases (based on private complaints, as opposed to investigation and charge-sheet by the police²).

To set the context right for the discussion, it would be apposite to recapitulate that, earlier in 2014, in Arvind Kejriwal and others versus Amit Sibal & Anr³ (in a case alleging defamation by Delhi Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal) a Single Judge of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi had ruled that the 'Magistrate has the power to hear the accused at the time of explanation