P. D. KUDAL, J. - (1.) THIS petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, is directed against the order of the learned Addl. Sessions Judge No. 1, Alwar dated 8/5/1979.
(2.) THE police had submitted four challans before the Judicial Magistrate No. 1, Alwar. As the challans were not accompanied with copies of the documents to be supplied to the accused, the Magistrate returned these challans to the police. THE State feeling aggrieved against the order of the learned Magistrate preferred a revision petition before the learned Addl. Sessions Judge, Alwar. THE learned Additional Sessions Judge observed that in pursuance of Police Rule 8. 17 read with Section 173 (7) and Section 207, Cr. P. C. the police should have filed copies of the relevant documents along with the challan. When this petition came up for arguments for admission, the learned Public Prosecutor requested that as an important point of law is involved, this may be decided. Section 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, provides that nothing contained in this Code shall, in the absence of a specific provision to the contrary, affect any special or local law for the time being in force, or any special jurisdiction or power conferred, or any special form of procedure prescribed, by any other law for the time being in force. As a result of this, the Police Act and the Rajasthan Police Rules, 1965, have not been in any way affected by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Rule 6. 18 of the Rajasthan Police Rules, 1965 provides that statement recorded by an investigating officer under Section 161, Code of Criminal Procedure shall not form part of the case diary prescribed by section 172 but shall be recorded separately and attached to the case diary, the necessary number of copies Being made by the carbon copying process on case diary continuation sheets (Form 6,52.) The number of statements attached to a particular case diary, and the number of pages in each statement, shall be noted in the case diary. An investigating officer after examining a person orally or recording a statement under Section 161, Code of Criminal Procedure, shall make a brief note of the fact in his case diary. Rule 8. 17 provides that after forwarding a report u/s. 173, Code of Criminal Procedure, the officer incharge of the police station shall, before commencement of the enquiry or trial, furnish or cause to be furnished to the accused, free of cost, a copy of the report forwarded under sub-section (i) of Section 173, Criminal Procedure Code and of the first information report recorded u/s. 154, Criminal Procedure Code and of all other documents or relevant extracts ,thereof, on which the prosecution proposes to rely, including the statement and confessions, if any, recorded u/s. 161, Criminal Procedure Code and the statements recorded under sub-section 3 of section 161, Code of Criminal Procedure of all the persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witness. Section 173 (5) provides that when such report is in respect of a case to which section 170 applies, the police officer shall forward to the Magistrate along with the report- (a) all documents or relevant extracts thereof on which the prosecution proposes to rely other than those already sent to the Magistrate during the investigation; (b) the statements recorded under Section 161 of all the persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses. Sub-section (7) of Section 173 further provides that where the police officer investigating the case finds it convenient so to do, he may furnish to the accused copies of all or any of the documents referred to in sub-section (5 ).
(3.) SECTION 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1972, provides that - "207. Supply to the accused of copy of police report and other documents In any case where the proceeding has been instituted on a police report, the Magistrate shall without delay furnish to the accused, free of cost, a copy of each of the following: - (i) the police report : (ii) the first information report recorded under section 154; (iii) the statements recorded under sub-section (3) of section 161 of all persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses, excluding therefrom any part in regard to which a request for such exclusion has been made by the police officer under sub-section (6) of SECTION 173 ; (iv) the confessions and statements, if any, recorded under SECTION 164; (v) any other document or relevant extract thereof forwarded to the Magistrate with the police report under sub-section (5) of SECTION 173; Provided that the Magistrate may, after pernsing any such part of a statement as is referred to in clause (iii) and considering the reasons given by the police officer for the request, direct that a copy of that part of the statement or of such portion thereof as the Magistrate thinks proper, shall be furnished to the accused: Provided further that if the Magistrate is satisfied that any document referred to in clause (v) is voluminous, he shall, instead of furnishing the accused with a copy thereof, direct that he will be allowed to inspect it either personally or through pleader in Court. " The object of service of copies of police papers is to give the accused a notice of charges he has to meat and to enable him to prepare his defence Gur-bachan Singh vs. State of Punjab (l), Narayan Rao vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2) and Noor Khan vs. State of Rajasthan (3) have been relied upon. The duty to serve copies of papers was cast upon the police under sec. 173 (4) of the old Code of Criminal Procedure. Under sec. 173 (5) of the new Code, the police has to forward all the papers to the Magistrate. This section casts a duty upon the Magistrate to serve copies of the police papers upon the accused. The duty cast on the Magistrate under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to supply copies of the documents to the accused is mandatory. The provisions of the Rajasthan Police Rules, 1965 cannot over-ride the mandatory provisions of this Code. As a matter of fact, the provisions of Sections 173 (5) and (7), Section 207, Cr. P. C. and the Rajasthan Police Rules 6, 18 and 8,17 should be given a harmonious construction. The investigating agency should try to supply all copies to the accused as envisaged under Rule 8. 17 read with Section 173 (5) and (7) of the Coda of Criminal Procedure. But, in case, the police fails to supply the necessary copies, a duty has been cast upon the Magistrate to supply such copies to the accused in view of the mandatory provisions of Section 207, Cr. PC. Before parting with this petition, it may be stated that the Magistrate erred in law in returning the challans. Rule 6. 54 of the Rajasthan Police Rules, 1965 provides for submission of incomplete charge-sheets. If the charge-sheet which was submitted before the Magistrate was incomplete in the sense that necessary copies had not been furnished, the Magistrate was well within his jurisdiction to have ordered the police to supply the necessary copies; but the Magistrate should not have returned the charge-sheet only on the ground that the necessary copies have not been supplied. As the Magistrate has already returned the charge-sheet to the police, no useful purpose would be served by admitting this petition under Section 482, Cr. P. C. ;