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The argument before us on behalf of the appellants has proceeded on the footing that in para 5 of the second complaint Saroj Ranjan Sarkar had alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy with one another and other persons unknown, to dishonestly and fraudulently forge certain documents and in pursuance thereof either forged or caused to be forged those documents and used them as genuine. This allegation, it is argued attracted cl. (2) of s. 196A inasmuch as the object of the conspiracy was to commit non-cognizable offences under ss. 467 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code; therefore, it was necessary to obtain, by order in writing, the consent of the State Government or of the Chief Presidency Magistrate to the initiation of the proceedings and such consent not having been obtained, the issue of processes by the Chief Presidency Magistrate violated the provisions of s. 196A of the Code of Criminal procedure. The special Bench repelled this argument on the following grounds. It pointed out the distinction between the offence of criminal conspiracy as defined in s. 120A and punishable by s. 120B and the offence of abetment by conspiracy as defined in the clause, secondly, in s. 107 of the Indian Penal Code. It then pointed out that the Chief Presidency Magistrate did not take cognizance of the offence of criminal conspiracy to commit forgery which would be punishable under s. 120B read with s. 467 of the Indian Penal Code, but he took cognizance of the offence of abetment of forgery punishable under s. 467 read with s. 109 of the Indian Penal Code and for this offence no sanction under s. 196A of the Code of Criminal Procedure was necessary. The special Bench further expressed the view that the primary offences which the second complaint disclosed where the offence of forgery, of using forged documents as genuine, and of abetment of the said offences and as cognizance of these offences did not require sanction or prior consent of the authorities mentioned in s. 196A, the order of the Chief Presidency Magistrate could not be said to have violated the provisions of that section.

109. After setting out the facts which have been given above and after referring to the three documents which were alleged to have been forged it was stated that the deed of agreement was engrossed on a stamp paper purchased in the name of P.D. Himmatsinghka & Co., a firm of solicitors, instead of in the name of the parties; that the resolution of January 16, 1948, which purported to bear the signature of the deceased was in fact not signed by him; that during the lifetime of Nalini Ranjan Sarkar and after a considerable period after his death the appellant, P. N. Taluqdar, never alleged that he had been appointed the Managing Director of N. R. Sarkar & Co. Ltd., nor did even appear from any resolution of the Board of N. R. Sarkar & Co., that he was appointed the Managing Director until September, 1953. Certain other allegations which need not be set out at this stage were also made in this complaint for the purpose of showing that the appellants had been guilty of forgery and for using forged documents and for conspiracy. The matter was heard by the Chief Presidency Magistrate Mr. N. C. Chakraborty who after examining all the witnesses who were produced before him dismissed the complaint by an order dated August 6, 1954. The learned Chief Presidency Magistrate examined the handwriting expert and after taking all the facts into consideration he held: