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22. According to Section 239 Cr.P.C., if the Court is of the opinion upon considering the police report and documents sent with it under Section 173 Cr.P.C. and making such examination, if any, of the accused, as the Magistrate or Sessions Judge thinks necessary and after giving the prosecution and the accused an opportunity of being heard, the Magistrate or Sessions Judge considers the charge MSM,J against the accused to be groundless, he shall discharge the accused and record his reasons for so doing.

23. The documents referred to in Section 207 Cr.P.C. also must relate to such documents which can be subsequently transferred into evidence at the time of the trial. Hearing of the prosecution and the accused under this Section does not mean the hearing of arguments only, it includes the hearing on the evidence if needed. The word "groundless" would mean the absence of reasonable ground to expect conviction. "Groundless" is equivalent to saying that there is no ground for framing the charges, which depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. Therefore, only when the Magistrate or Sessions Judge comes to conclusion that there are no grounds to frame a charge for specific offence, the Court can discharge the accused for such offence. Even the scope of Section 239 Cr.P.C. is limited. Such power has to be exercised only when the Magistrate or Sessions Judge came to conclusion that it is groundless, based on charge sheet and documents filed under Section 173 Cr.P.C.

25. It is the contention of the petitioner that when the material on record is not sufficient and framing of charge is groundless, the Court cannot proceed, since it would amount to harassment. No doubt, summoning of an accused and framing charges in a criminal case is a serious matter. Criminal law cannot be set into motion as a matter of course. It is not that the complainant has to bring only few witnesses to support his allegations in the complaint to have the criminal law set into motion. The order of the Magistrate or Sessions Judge summoning the accused must reflect that he has applied his mind to the facts of the case and the law applicable thereto. He has to examine the nature of allegations made in the complaint and the evidence both oral and documentary in support thereof and would that be sufficient for the complainant to succeed in bringing charge home to the accused. It is not that the Magistrate or Sessions Judge is a silent spectator at the time of recording of preliminary evidence before summoning of the accused. Magistrate or Sessions Judge has to carefully scrutinise the evidence brought on record and may even himself put questions to the complainant and his witnesses to elicit answers to find out the truthfulness of the allegations or otherwise and then examine if any offence is prima facie committed by all or any of the accused.