In Biju v. PK Ayyappan [2025: KER:43956], the Kerala High Court has affirmed that when a police case and a private complaint case concerning the same incident are before a Magistrate, both cases must be tried together.
The Mandate under the BNSS
The High Court held that under Section 233(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), the Magistrate is under a mandatory obligation to conduct a joint trial.
This procedure applies whenever a police report has been filed and a private complaint is subsequently lodged in respect of the same offense.
The Interpretation of “Same Offence”
Citing its earlier decision in Joseph Freeman Motha (Dr.) & Another v. Sudha Vijayan & Another [2020 (5) KHC 169], the Court clarified a crucial point as its interpretation.
The term “offence” in this context does not mean the exact same statutory crime. Instead, it must be understood as the incident, occurrence, or transaction from which the criminal case or allegations arise. Therefore, even if the police case and the private complaint allege different specific crimes, a joint trial is required if they originate from the same set of facts.
The Reason for a Joint Trial
The purpose of this provision is to prevent conflicting decisions from different judicial proceedings on the same incident. A joint trial avoids the possibility of divergent findings, which could cause undue embarrassment to the judicial system itself.
