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TMI Blog2007 (9) TMI 712X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... unsel for the parties, it is necessary at this stage to state the facts giving rise to the filing of this appeal. Accordingly, the facts in a nutshell are stated below: 4. The appellant had entered into wedlock with the respondent No. 2 on 25th January, 2000. The respondent Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 are the mother-in-law, brother-in-law, maternal father-in-law and the father-in-law of the appellant respectively. The appellant left her matrimonial home on 25th May, 2001 with her father and brother. In the FIR, the appellant alleged that during her stay in her matrimonial home, she was subjected to harassment and cruelty by all the respondents as they were dissatisfied with the articles that the appellant had brought as stridhan. The respondents also forced her to bring ₹ 5 lacs more in dowry from her father which she could not bring from her parents nor could her parents afford to pay such a huge amount. The respondents also did not allow the appellant to take back her ornaments and other articles, which were gifted to her as stridhan when she left her matrimonial home. On 31st July, 2001, the husband, namely, respondent No. 2 filed a petition before the Family Court praying for a d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tendent of Police for quashing the FIR even before the same could be filed before the concerned Magistrate. Before we do that, we may first consider how and when the High Court, in its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code, would be justified in quashing an FIR. It is at this stage appropriate to refer Section 482 of the Code itself which runs as under: 482. Saving of inherent powers of High Court - Nothing in this Code shall be deemed to limit or affect the inherent powers of the High Court to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Code, or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice. A bare look at this provision would show that while exercising such inherent powers, the High Court must be satisfied that either: (i) An order passed under the Code would be rendered ineffective; or (ii) The process of any court would be abused; or (iii) The ends of justice would not be secured. In State of West Bengal v. Swapan Kumar Guha 1982CriLJ819 Chandrachud, C.J. [as His Lordship then was] had observed that if the FIR did not disclose the commission of a cognizable offence, the court would be ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ourt will normally not interfere with the investigation into the offence and will generally allow the investigation into the offence to be completed for collecting materials for proving the offence. In Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar and Anr. 1985CriLJ817 , this Court at page 395 observed as follows: It is well settled by a long course of decisions of this Court that for the purpose of exercising its power under Section 482 Cr PC to quash a FIR or a complaint the High Court would have to proceed entirely on the basis of the allegations made in the complaint or the documents accompanying the same per se. It has no jurisdiction to examine the correctness or otherwise of the allegations. [Emphasis supplied] In Madhavrao Jiwaji Rao Scindia and Ors. v. Sambhajirao Chandrojirao Angre and Ors. 1988CriLJ853 , this Court has reiterated the same principle and laid down that when a prosecution at the initial stage is asked to be quashed, the test to be applied by the court is as to whether the uncontroverted allegations as made prima facie establish the offence. Again in the case of State of Bihar v. Murad Ali Khan and Ors. 1989CriLJ1005 , Venkatachaliah, C.J. [as His Lordship then was] ha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y of the provisions of the Code or the concerned Act (under which a criminal proceeding is instituted) to the institution and continuance of the proceedings and/or where there is a specific provision in the Code or the concerned Act, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party. (7) Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with malafide and/or where the proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge. 7. Keeping the aforesaid principles in mind and considering the decisions as referred to hereinearlier, let us now apply them in the facts of the present case. But before we do that, it would be apt for us to consider the findings arrived at by the High Court for quashing the FIR which are as under: (i) The complainant-wife left the marital house with her father and brother on 25th May, 2001. The Divorce Petition was filed by the husband on the ground of mental cruelty on 31st July, 2001. It was only on 31st December, 2001 that the FIR for offences under Sections 498A and 406 of IPC was lodged by the complainant-wife; (ii) A regi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... amily members were, during this period, making all possible efforts to enter into a settlement so that the respondent No. 2-husband would take her back to the matrimonial home. If any complaint was made during this period, there was every possibility of not entering into any settlement with the respondent No. 2-husband. It is pertinent to note that the complaint was filed only when all efforts to return to the matrimonial home had failed and the respondent No. 2-husband had filed a divorce petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. That apart, in our view, filing of a divorce petition in a Civil Court cannot be a ground to quash criminal proceedings under Section 482 of the Code as it is well settled that criminal and civil proceedings are separate and independent and the pendency of a civil proceeding cannot bring to an end a criminal proceeding even if they arise out of the same set of facts. Such being the position, we are, therefore, of the view that the High Court while exercising its powers under Section 482 of the Code has gone beyond the allegations made in the FIR and has acted in excess of its jurisdiction and, therefore, the High Court was not justified i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... B.P.Singh, J. in M.C. Abraham's case (supra) with which we are also in full agreement and which is as follows: Then the question is, what is the position, when the Magistrate is dealing with a report submitted by the police, under Section 173, that no case is made out for sending up an accused for trial, which report, as we have already indicated, is called, in the area in question, as a final report'? Even in those cases, if the Magistrate agrees with the said report, he may accept the final report and close the proceedings. But there may be instances when the Magistrate may take the view, on a consideration of the final report, that the opinion formed by the police is not based on a full and complete investigation, in which case, in our opinion, the Magistrate will have ample jurisdiction to give directions to the police, under Section 156(3), to make a further investigation. That is, if the Magistrate feels, after considering the final report, that the investigation is unsatisfactory, or incomplete, or that there is scope for further investigation, it will be open to the Magistrate to decline to accept the final report and direct the police to make further investigatio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... IR or a criminal proceeding cannot be sustained. It was impermissible for the High Court to entertain the report of the investigating agency before the same could be forwarded and filed before the concerned Magistrate in compliance with Section 173(2) of the Code. In Union of India v. Prakash P. Hinduja and Anr. 2003CriLJ3117 , this Court in para 20 observed as follows: Thus the legal position is absolutely clear and also settled by judicial authorities that the court would not interfere with the investigation or during the course of investigation which would mean from the time of the lodging of the First Information Report till the submission of the report by the officer-in-charge of the police station in court under Section 173(2) Code, this field being exclusively reserved for the investigating agency. Therefore, in view of our discussions made herein above, while exercising power under Section 482 of the Code, it is not open to the High Court to rely on the report of the investigating agency nor can it direct the report to be submitted before it as the law is very clear that the report of the investigating agency may be accepted by the Magistrate or the Magistrate may reject ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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