Bansal Milk Chilling Centre v. Rana Milk Food Private Ltd. 2025 INSC 899 - S. 200 CrPC - Amendment Of Complaint
Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 - Section 200 - Whether a criminal court has power to order amendment of a complaint filed under Section 200 CrPC? - It is fallacious to contend that in no circumstance can amendments to complaints be allowed after cognizance is taken (Para 11)- Referred to S.R. Sukumar v. S. Sunaad Raghuram: If the amendment sought to be made relates to a simple infirmity which is curable by means of a formal amendment and by allowing such amendment, no prejudice could be caused to the other side, notwithstanding the fact that there is no enabling provision in the Code for entertaining such amendment, the court may permit such an amendment to be made. On the contrary, if the amendment sought to be made in the complaint does not relate either to a curable infirmity or the same cannot be corrected by a formal amendment or if there is likelihood of prejudice to the other side, then the court shall not allow such amendment in the complaint. (Para 8) Amendments/alterations are not alien to the Code of Criminal Procedure. (Para 15) The test of ‘prejudice to the accused’ is the cardinal factor that needs to be borne in mind. (Para 16)
Case Info
Coram: Justice B.V. Nagarathna.Justice K.V. Viswanathan
Judgment Date: 25th July, 2025
Caselaws and Citations Referred
- S.R. Sukumar v. S. Sunaad Raghuram(2015) 9 SCC 609
- U.P. Pollution Control Board v. Modi Distillery and Others(1987) 3 SCC 684
- Kunapareddy alias Nookala Shanka Balaji v. Kunapareddy Swarna Kumari and Another(2016) 11 SCC 774
- Munish Kumar Gupta v. Mittal Trading Company2024 SCC OnLine 1732
Statutes/Laws Referred
- Section 138, Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
- Section 142, Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
- Section 200, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.)
- Section 216, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.)
- Section 217, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.)
- Section 482, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.)
- Section 2(d), Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Cr.P.C.)
- Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
- Section 2(1)(h), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
- Section 239, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
- Section 240, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023
#SupremeCourt holds that there is no bar to allow amendments to complaints after cognizance is taken. The test of ‘prejudice to the accused’ is the cardinal factor that needs to be borne in mind. https://t.co/BmV9xEbbBl pic.twitter.com/shoBVTlrBr
— CiteCase 🇮🇳 (@CiteCase) July 25, 2025
