279. Procedure in false cases. [§ 12, Act V, 1861].
(a)Whenever a case reported to the police is found after investigation to be maliciously false, the investigating officer shall, if evidence is available for prosecution of the complainant under section 182 or 211, Indian Penal Code, submit to the Magistrate, through the Circle Inspector, a formal complaint, attached to his final report, to enable the Magistrate to take cognizance of the case under section 190, Code of Criminal Procedure [under proviso (aa) to section 200 of that Code, the Magistrate need not examine the complainant]. The investigating officer shall at the same time furnish the Court officer with a brief of the case.(b)Prosecutions against complainants in false cases shall be instituted only when the charge made are deliberately and maliciously false and not when they are merely exaggerated.(c)The Circle Inspector shall, after satisfying himself that the complaint is well-founded and that all possible enquiries have been made to collect the requisite evidence, forward the complaint to the Magistrate.(d)If a complaint case referred to the police for investigation is found to be maliciously false, the investigating officer shall submit, together with the final report, a report to the Magistrate through the Circle Inspector giving the grounds on which the case is held to be false and recommending as to whether the complainant should be prosecuted.
