Law: Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898)

Section: 259

(a) Criminal Procedure Code (V of 1898), S. 259-Absence of complainant following complainant's death-No substituted complainant necessary where offence cognizable and non-compoundable---Substituted complainant may be allowed where offence is non-cogniz able though non-compoundable and Magistrate does not, in his discre tion, discharge accused-Penal Code (XLV of 1860) Ss. 292 & 477.

Section 259 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 gives the Magistrate a discretion to discharge the accused in the absence of the complainant, provided the offence may be lawfully compounded or is not a cognizable, offence. The complaint lodged by the deceased purported to be in respect of two offences, namely, one under section 392 and the other under section 477 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The offence under section 392, P. P. C. is cognisable and not compoundable and, therefore, the complaint could not abate and the accused could not have been discharged by the trial Magistrate under section 259 simply due to the absence of the complainant. It was, therefore, not necessary to have a substituted complainant in respect of this offence.