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TMI Blog2016 (4) TMI 1474X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... al matrix of each case, as each case has its unique set of facts. It is clear from the aforementioned case law that the Court should be liberal in allowing any third party, having bonafide connection with the matter, to maintain the appeal with a view to advance substantial justice. However, this power of allowing a third party to maintain an appeal should be exercised with due care and caution. Persons, unconnected with the matter under consideration or having personal grievance against the accused should be checked. A strict vigilance is required to be maintained in this regard. Whether the High Court, in the instant case, has exceeded its jurisdiction while exercising its inherent power under Section 482 of the CrPC? - HELD THAT:- A careful reading of the material placed on record reveals that the learned CJM took cognizance of the offences alleged against the accused-persons after a perusal of case diary, chargesheet and other material placed before the court. The cognizance was taken, as a prima facie case was made out against the accused-persons. It is well settled that at the stage of taking cognizance, the court should not get into the merits of the case made out by the pol ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gned judgment and order dated 08.12.2010 in Crl. Misc. No. 5777 of 2009 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Patna whereby it allowed the said criminal miscellaneous petition filed by the respondent nos.2 to 9 herein, by setting aside the cognizance order dated 10.11.2008 passed by the learned Addl. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Rosera, Bihar in Singhia Police Case No. 37/2008 and quashed the criminal prosecution. 3. Brief facts of the case are stated hereunder to appreciate the rival legal contentions urged on behalf of the parties: The case of the prosecution is that on 29.03.2008, the informant-Mukhtar went to the house of his relative at village-Navdega and stayed there. On 30.03.2008, at about 12.00 noon, his uncle Md. Hasim informed him on telephone that his wife s condition was serious and she was being taken to Singhia for treatment. Mukhtar was asked to reach Singhia. It is alleged by the informant that on reaching Singhia, he neither found his wife nor his uncle. On enquiry from his uncle, he was informed about the death of his wife. Thereafter, he reached his house and saw the dead body of his wife. His uncle disclosed him that his wife-Tamanna Khatoon (since deceased) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Aggrieved by the said order, the appellants herein, who are interested private parties, have filed this appeal urging various grounds. 11. Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, the learned counsel for the appellants contended that the High Court has failed to appreciate that the FIR and the charge sheet establish a prima-facie case against the respondent nos. 2-9. He submitted that when the allegations made against the accused person show a prima-facie case, criminal proceedings ought not to have been quashed by the High Court in exercise of its power under Section 482 of Cr.PC. 12. It was further contended that the High Court has erred in setting aside the cognizance order passed by the learned CJM as the extraordinary or inherent powers do not confer an arbitrary jurisdiction to act according to whim or caprice. He further submitted that the power of quashing criminal proceedings is to be exercised sparingly and with circumspection and that too in rarest of rare cases. 13. It was further contended by the learned counsel that at the stage of taking cognizance of the offence it would not be proper, simply on the basis of material placed before the court by investigating agency, to determine whether ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Md. Halim @ Mangnu, Khalid Gulab, Abu Quaiyum and Md. Amid Hussain for offences under Sections 376, 302 read with Section 34 of the IPC. However, the local police in collusion with the accused-persons dropped the names of three accused persons and also dropped charge under Section 376 of the IPC against them knowingly and intentionally. The course of investigation was diverted in wrong direction to falsely implicate the respondent nos. 2-9. 17. It was further contended by the learned counsel that the instant case is a unique case as the accused-persons are made prosecution witnesses and apart from them another set of tutored witnesses have been introduced in the case, who are not eye witnesses to the incident and have in their deposition under Section 164 of the CrPC, before the Judicial Magistrate deposed that the informant-husband might have killed his wife. The High Court has rightly taken a very serious view of the whole matter and after proper scrutiny of the documents and material placed on record has come to an appropriate finding that the case against the respondent nos.2-9 is merely based on suspicion and therefore, it has rightly quashed the proceedings against them. 18. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndi has been that the person who is aggrieved or affected has the standing before the court, i.e., to say he only has a right to move the court for seeking justice. Later, this Court, with justice-oriented approach, relaxed the strict rule with regard to locus standi , allowing any person from the society not related to the cause of action to approach the court seeking justice for those who could not approach themselves. Now turning our attention towards the criminal trial, which is conducted, largely, by following the procedure laid down in the CrPC. Since, offence is considered to be a wrong committed against the society, the prosecution against the accused person is launched by the State. It is the duty of the State to get the culprit booked for the offence committed by him. The focal point, here, is that if the State fails in this regard and the party having bonafide connection with the cause of action, who is aggrieved by the order of the court cannot be left at the mercy of the State and without any option to approach the appellate court for seeking justice. In this regard, the Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of P.S.R. Sadhanantham s case (supra) has elaborately ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... citizen to ventilate such a matter in the courts. Even the English System, as pointed by the Discussion Paper permits a private citizen to file an indictment. In our view the narrow limits set in vintage English Law, into the concept of person aggrieved and standing needs liberalisation in our democratic situation. In Dabholkar case this Court imparted such a wider meaning. The American Supreme Court relaxed the restrictive attitude towards standing in the famous case of Baker v. Carr. Lord Denning, in the notable case of the Attorney-General of the Gambia v. Pierra Sarr N jie, spoke thus: ... the words person aggrieved are of wide import and should not be subjected to a restrictive interpretation. They do not include, of course, a mere busybody who is interfering in things which do not concern him; Prof. S.A. de Smith takes the same view: All developed legal systems have had to face the problem of adjusting conflicts between two aspects of the public interest the desirability of encouraging individual citizens to participate actively in the enforcement of the law, and the undesirability of encouraging the professional litigant and the meddlesome interloper to invoke the jurisdict ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... against acquittal. It referred to the common law jurisprudence obtaining in England and other countries where a limited right of appeal against acquittal was vested in the State and where the emphasis rested on the need to decide a point of law of general importance in the interests of the general administration and proper development of the criminal law. But simultaneously the Law Commission also noted that if the right to appeal against acquittal was retained and extended to a complainant the law should logically cover also cases not instituted on complaint. It observed: Extreme cases of manifest injustice, where the Government fails to act, and the party aggrieved has a strong feeling that the matter requires further consideration, should not, in our view, be left to the mercy of the Government. To inspire and maintain confidence in the administration of justice, the limited right of appeal with leave given to a private party should be retained, and should embrace cases initiated on private complaint or otherwise at the instance of an aggrieved person. However, when the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 was enacted the statute, as we have seen, confined the right to appeal, in the c ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... entertained by special leave granted by this Court, whether it is the State or a private party that invokes the jurisdiction of this Court, and special leave is not granted as a matter of course but only for good and sufficient reasons, on well-established practice of this Court. In Esher Singh s case (supra), it has been held by this Court that Article 136 of the Constitution of India neither confers on anyone the right to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court nor inhibits anyone from invoking it. The relevant para 29 of the case reads thus: 29. A doubt has been raised in many cases about the competence of a private party as distinguished from the State, to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution against a judgment of acquittal by the High Court. We do not see any substance in the doubt. The appellate power vested in this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution is not to be confused with ordinary appellate power exercised by appellate courts and appellate tribunals under specific statutes. It is a plenary power exercisable outside the purview of ordinary law to meet the pressing demands of justice. (See Durga Shankar Mehta v. Raghuraj Singh ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the State, to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (in short the Constitution ) against a judgment of acquittal by the High Court. We do not see any substance in the doubt. The appellate power vested in this Court under Article 136 of the Constitution is not to be confused with the ordinary appellate power exercised by appellate courts and Appellate Tribunals under specific statutes. It is a plenary power, exercisable outside the purview of ordinary law to meet the pressing demands of justice (see Durga Shankar Mehta v. Thakur Raghuraj Singh). Article 136 of the Constitution neither confers on anyone the right to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court nor inhibits anyone from invoking the Court s jurisdiction. The power is vested in this Court but the right to invoke the Court s jurisdiction is vested in no one. The exercise of the power of this Court is not circumscribed by any limitation as to who may invoke it. Where a judgment of acquittal by the High Court has led to a serious miscarriage of justice, this Court cannot refrain from doing its duty and abstain from interfering on the ground that a private party and not the Sta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... f allowing a third party to maintain an appeal should be exercised with due care and caution. Persons, unconnected with the matter under consideration or having personal grievance against the accused should be checked. A strict vigilance is required to be maintained in this regard. Answer to Point No. 2 26. A careful reading of the material placed on record reveals that the learned CJM took cognizance of the offences alleged against the accused-persons after a perusal of case diary, chargesheet and other material placed before the court. The cognizance was taken, as a prima facie case was made out against the accused-persons. It is well settled that at the stage of taking cognizance, the court should not get into the merits of the case made out by the police, in the chargesheet filed by them, with a view to calculate the success rate of prosecution in that particular case. At this stage, the court s duty is limited to the extent of finding out whether from the material placed before it, offence alleged therein against the accused is made out or not with a view to proceed further with the case. The proposition of law relating to Section 482 of the CrPC has been elaborately dealt wit ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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 mala fide 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. 103. We also give a note of caution to the effect that the power of quashing a criminal proceeding should be exercised very sparingly and with circumspection and that too in the rarest of rare cases; that the court will not be justified in embarking upon an enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness or otherwise of the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint and that the extraordinary or inherent powers do not confer an arbitrary jurisdiction on the court to act according to its whim or caprice. Further, this Court in the case of Rajiv Thapar v. Madan Lal Kapoor [(2013) 3 SCC 330] has laid down certain parameters to be followed by the High Court while exercising its inherent power under Section 482 of the CrPC, in the following manner: 29. The issue being examined in the instant case is the jurisdiction of the High Court under ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e quality? 30.2. Step two: whether the material relied upon by the accused would rule out the assertions contained in the charges levelled against the accused i.e. the material is sufficient to reject and overrule the factual assertions contained in the complaint i.e. the material is such as would persuade a reasonable person to dismiss and condemn the factual basis of the accusations as false? 30.3. Step three: whether the material relied upon by the accused has not been refuted by the prosecution/complainant; and/or the material is such that it cannot be justifiably refuted by the prosecution/complainant? 30.4. Step four: whether proceeding with the trial would result in an abuse of process of the court, and would not serve the ends of justice? 30.5. If the answer to all the steps is in the affirmative, the judicial conscience of the High Court should persuade it to quash such criminal proceedings in exercise of power vested in it under Section 482 CrPC. Such exercise of power, besides doing justice to the accused, would save precious court time, which would otherwise be wasted in holding such a trial (as well as proceedings arising therefrom) specially when it is clear that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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