If the sought relief is not obtained after the Supreme Court has given notice in a special leave petition, the question arose as to whether the lawsuit, which is initially a civil matter, can utilisesection 156(3) CrPC.
Following a magistrate's decision, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the accused in Usha Chakraborty v. State of West Bengal under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including sections 323, 384, 406, 423, 467, 468, 420, and 120B, as well as section 156(3) CrPC.
According to the accused at the Calcutta High Court, they did not commit any crimes in violation of section 156 (3) CrPC. The appellant's only motivation for commencing the criminal inquiry was their frustration at not receiving the sought redress in the civil claim and throttling the accused.
The high court, however, denied the appeal and noted that the investigating agency had gathered enough evidence to conduct a case-specific probe.
The court was asked to view the matter as an offence only when the full inquiry was finished. The court stated that the investigation's findings would be analysed.
Later, the accused filed an appeal of the High Court’s decision with the Supreme Court . The accused's attorney further affirmed that the lawsuit was initially filed as a civil disagreement.
But the appellant referred to section 156 (3) CrPC when he did not receive the requisite remedy. Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala were on the bench when they reviewed the case and decided to halt further prosecution against the accused.