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Legal Review and Analysis of Neeraj Gupta vs Pardeep Kumar Bansal & Ors 2026 INSC 660
Magistrate Not Required to Record Evidence Under Section 244 CrPC for Offences Exclusively Triable by Sessions Court – A Legal Analysis
Case Snapshot
Case Name: Neeraj Gupta v. Pardeep Kumar Bansal & Ors.
Citation: 2026 INSC 660
Bench: Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh
Date of Judgment: July 1, 2026
Area of Law: Criminal Procedure, Committal Proceedings, CrPC
Judgment in Brief
The Supreme Court set aside the judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had remanded the matter to the Judicial Magistrate to record evidence under Section 244 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC), in a case involving offences exclusively triable by the Court of Sessions. The Supreme Court held that the High Court had erroneously read the law and confused the procedure for warrant cases triable by Magistrates with the procedure for committal of cases to the Court of Sessions. The Court clarified that under Section 209 CrPC, the Magistrate's role is purely administrative—to commit the case to the Sessions Court after complying with Sections 207 or 208 CrPC. The Magistrate is not required to record evidence under Section 244 CrPC at the pre-committal stage. The Court traced the legislative history, noting that the old committal inquiry under the 1898 Code was abolished to expedite trials, and the Magistrate's role has been significantly constricted. The matter was remanded back to the High Court for fresh consideration on merits.
Relevant Facts
On April 12, 2007, a verbal/physical altercation took place between the appellant-complainant and his father, and the respondents. The father lost consciousness and was declared dead at the hospital.
No FIR was initially registered. The appellant gave complaints to the SSP on April 16 and 19, 2007.
On February 5, 2008, the appellant filed an application under Section 156(3) CrPC before the Judicial Magistrate, which was accepted on February 19, 2008, and proceedings under Section 200 CrPC were initiated.
Evidence was recorded on April 21, 2008, and January 10, 2009, before summoning orders were issued on December 8, 2009.
The case was committed to the Sessions Court on May 3, 2010.
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