and not at the stage of cognisance. This aspect is important and will be subsequently referred to when we examine the decision of this Court in K. Veeraswami v. Union of India and Others13, and the observations therein which have been referred to on several occasions in other judgments. 17. Section 204 of the Code does not mandate the Magistrate to explicitly state the reasons for issue of summons and this is not a prerequisite for deciding the validity of the summons. Nevertheless, the requirement of the Code is that the summons is issued when it appears to the Magistrate that there is sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. Summons is issued to the person against whom the legal proceedings have commenced. Wilful disobedience is 12 (2012) 5 SCC 424. 13 (1991) 3 SCC 655. Crl. Appeal @ SLP (Crl.) No. 1074 of 2017 & Ors. Page 14 of 38liable to be punished under Section 174 of the Indian Penal Code, 186014. As a sequitur, keeping in mind both the language of Section 204 of