Legal Provisions of Section 169 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.), India.
Release of accused when evidence is insufficient:
This section relates to cases in which it is found that there is no sufficient evidence for forwarding the accused to a Magistrate, and consequently no person is sent up for trial. This section is applicable while the case is still under investigation of the police. It cannot be applied to a case where the accused has appeared before the Magistrate.
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Where the officer-in-charge of a police station has released the accused in absence of sufficient evidence against him, and on his executing a bond to appear before the Magistrate when required, the Magistrate can still direct the police to make further investigation.
In Kallu v. Shahid Ali, a case decided by the High Court of Allahabad, the police after investigating a case under Section 307, IPC submitted a final report to the Magistrate and destroyed the pistol and cartridges recovered from the spot. The Magistrate accepted the report rejecting the protest application by the complainant. The High Court set aside the acceptance of the final report and directed the Magistrate to proceed with the case adopting the procedure of a complaint case; treating the protest application as complaint.