Legal Provisions of Section 257 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.), India.
Withdrawal of complaint:
The section provides for the withdrawal of the complaint with the consent of the Court any time before the final order is passed. The section refers to withdrawal of complaint only in summons cases.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The section requires that the complainant should make a request for the withdrawal of the complaint satisfying the Court that there are valid grounds for the withdrawal of the complaint. The Magistrate at his discretion may allow withdrawal of the complaint and thereafter order acquittal of the accused.
The withdrawal of a complaint by the complainant suo motu under this section and withdrawal by him with the consent of the accused by compromising under Section 320 (compounding of offences) are two different things and need to be differentiated. The distinction between withdrawal of a complaint and compounding of an offence is noted below:
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(1) A complaint may be withdrawn under Section 257 in respect of all offences which are triable as summons case, but right to compound extends to only certain specific offences mentioned in Section 320 of the Code.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(2) In case of withdrawal of a complaint, permission of the Court is necessary in all cases, but under Section 320, there are several offences which are compoundable even without the permission of the Court.
(3) The withdrawal of a complaint does not ipso facto result into the acquittal of the accused unless Court passes an order of acquittal. But compounding under Section 320 by itself results into acquittal of the accused.
(4) The right to withdraw the complaint under Section 257 extends only to summons cases but the right to compound an offence extends to both, summons as well as warrant cases which are specified in Section 320 of the Code.
(5) Compounding necessarily implies consent of the accused, but no such consent is necessary for the withdrawal of the complaint by the complainant under Section 257.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In Vyathapadi Vankat Laxmi v. State of Andhra Pradesh, the wife lodged a report against her husband in police station. The Police took cognizance of the offence and filed charge-sheet against the accused (husband) before the Magistrate. Held, that the wife was not entitled to withdraw the case against her husband as she was not a complainant in this case.