The Allahabad High Court ruled on Friday that a judicial magistrate cannot take cognisance of an offence twice in the same case or reopen an earlier order through a protest petition. The decision was issued by the Lucknow bench and applies to the handling of police chargesheets.
The ruling concerns a 2025 FIR registered at Nawabganj police station that names Akhilesh Singh, Shekhar Singh and Alpana Singh as accused. Police filed a chargesheet against Akhilesh and Shekhar, and a final report in favour of Alpana. On 17 November 2025 the magistrate took cognisance, summoning Akhilesh under sections 115(2), 351(2), 352, 324(2) and 109(1) and Shekhar under sections 115(2), 351(2) and 352.
A protest petition was later filed against Alpana’s final report. When the magistrate considered it on 22 May, he summoned Alpana and added new sections against Shekhar. The high court quashed that order, noting that Shekhar had already been taken cognisance of on 17 November. The court held that a magistrate may not review or modify an earlier cognisance order through a protest petition, nor add or delete offence sections at that stage.
The court emphasized that any additional offence must be addressed during the framing of charges, not after cognisance has been taken. Consequently it set aside the May 22 order and directed the trial court to proceed in accordance with law.
