The Supreme Court has clarified that the parameters for invocation of Sections 156(3) and 200 CrPC operate in distinct fields and that a second application under Section 156(3) CrPC after an earlier dismissal and a closure report, particularly when the High Court had granted liberty only to file a private complaint under Section 200 CrPC, is impermissible and amounts to an attempt to review the earlier order.
In Criminal Appeal No. 2193 of 2026 (arising out of SLP (Crl.) No. 18828 of 2025), a bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh allowed the appeal filed by Mohan Karthik & Ors. and set aside the impugned order dated 07.10.2025 passed by the Madras High Court as well as the order of the learned Magistrate dated 23.08.2024 which had directed registration of an FIR.
The short issue before the Court was whether the learned Magistrate has the jurisdiction to invoke Section 156(3) of the CrPC for the second time, in spite of the earlier order dated 10.08.2022 whereby the learned Magistrate dismissed the initial application filed by the respondent-complainant under Section 156(3) CrPC as well as the subsequent closure report filed by the police pursuant to the direction given by the High Court to conduct a preliminary inquiry.
The Supreme Court observed that though arguments were made by the learned Senior Counsel for the State that there is no bar under law in doing so, the second round of resorting to Section 156(3) CrPC is nothing but an attempt to review the earlier order passed by the High Court. The Court noted that the liberty given by the High Court to the respondent-complainant was only for the purpose of invoking Section 200 CrPC. The filing of a second application under Section 156(3) CrPC instead of a private complaint under Section 200 CrPC was described as possibly an oversight. The Court emphasised that the parameters for invocation of both the aforesaid sections are quite different.
In such view of the matter, the Supreme Court set aside the impugned order dated 07.10.2025 passed by the High Court and the order of the learned Magistrate dated 23.08.2024 which directed the registration of an FIR. The Court gave a specific direction to the concerned Magistrate to treat the application filed by the respondent-complainant invoking Section 156(3) CrPC as a private complaint under Section 200 CrPC and thereafter proceed in accordance with law.
The appeal stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.
Case Title: Mohan Karthik & Ors. Versus State of Tamil Nadu & Anr.
Citation: 2026 INSC 447
Coram: Justices M.M. Sundresh and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh
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