Holding

The High Court exceeded its jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC by directing the magistrate on bail and personal appearance matters, and such directions are set aside.

Summary

The case arose from two FIRs relating to a family dispute over a farm house, leading to charge‑sheets against Manoj Narain Agrawal, Shashi Agrawal, Meenaxi Agrawal and others under various IPC sections. The High Court of Uttarakhand dismissed a criminal miscellaneous application under Section 482 CrPC but, while doing so, directed the magistrate to grant bail to the accused on the same day and to exempt them from personal appearance, citing the petitioners' age and health. Manoj and Shashi appealed, contending that such directions exceeded the High Court's inherent jurisdiction under Section 482. The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred: Section 482 does not empower a court to dictate how a magistrate should handle bail applications or personal appearance, matters that are within the magistrate's exclusive domain. Consequently, the directions were set aside and the matter was remitted to the High Court for fresh consideration. The appeals were disposed of, with the Supreme Court emphasizing the limited scope of the inherent power under Section 482.

Issues considered

The scope of the High Court's inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC to direct a magistrate to dispose of bail applications on the same day
Whether the High Court can issue a blanket exemption from personal appearance for accused while exercising power under Section 482

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 169, s. 170, s. 173(8), s. 205, s. 482
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 147, s. 148, s. 149, s. 307, s. 323, s. 324, s. 427, s. 452, s. 504, s. 506

Subjects

Section 482inherent jurisdictionbailpersonal appearancemagistrate's powersquashing criminal proceedingshigh court jurisdictioncriminal procedure

Judgment

(2009] 5 S.C.R. 976 ... ' '

A MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL
II.
SHASHIAGRAWAL

B
(Criminal Appeal No. 725 of 2009

APRIL 15, 2009

[S.B. SINHA AND CYRIAC JOSEPH, JJ.]
~
-
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - s.482 - High Court
dismissed petition under s.482 - While doing so, High Court
c observed that valid grounds existed for granting bail to ~

accused and directed the Magistrate to dispose of bail
applications of the accused the same day they are filed and
also issued a further direction which for all intent and purport
exempted the accused from personal appearance before the
D Magistrate - Directions passed by High Court while exercising ~
jurisdiction under s.482 - Challenge to - Held: High Court
erred in issuing the impugned directions - Penal Code, 1860
- ss. 147, 148, 149, 307, 504 and 506.

FIR was lodged making two principal allegations, viz.,
E (a) overt acts on the part of the accused as a result
whereof the complainant suffered grievous injuries; and
(b) forgery of documents on basis whereof some orders
were obtained by the accused in getting their names
mutated in the revenue record. Consequently the ~ '
F accused were charge-sheeted under ss.147, 148, 149,
307, 504 and 506 IPC. The Magistrate took cognizance of
the said offence and issued summons to the accused.
The accused filed petition under s.482 CrPC for quashing .
of the said criminal proceedings. The High Court declined
G to interfere and dismissed the petition under s.482 CrPC.
However while doing so, the High Court observed that '-( ~

valid grounds existed for granting bail to the accused and
directed the Magistrate to dispose of bail applications of
the accused the same day they are filed and also issued
H 976
) MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 977

a further direction which for all intent and purport A
exempted the accused from personal appearance before
the Magistrate. The said directions are impugned in the
present appeals.

Disposing of the appeals, the Court
B
HELD: 1.1. The jurisdiction of the High Court to
quash criminal proceedings in exercise of its jurisdiction
under s.482 CrPC is limited. It can interfere with an order
of summoning an accused by the Magistrate inter alia in
the event if a finding is arrived at that the accused were c
being prosecuted ma/a fide and/or even if the allegations
contained in the FIR are given face value and taken to be
correct in their entirety, no case has been made out for
taking cognizance of the offence. [Para 26) [992-D-E]
~· D
1.2. It is ordinarily for the Magistrate to consider as
to whether a case for grant of bail has been made out or
not, the High Court, therefore, may not be correct in
observing, "I am quite convinced that valid grounds exist
for granting bail to the petitioners." Similarly, the High
E
Court should not have, for all intent and purport, issued
the direction for grant of exemption from personal
appearance. Such a matter undoubtedly shall be left for
the consideration before the Magistrate. The impugned
~· directions are set aside and the matters are remitted to
the High Court for consideration of the application filed F
before it by the parties afresh on merit. [Para 31) [994-G-
H; 995-A-B]

Kam/apati Trivedi v. State of West Bengal (1980) 2 SCC
91; Ram Lal Narang v. State (Delhi Administration) (1979) 2 G
)',
SCC 322; State of Andra Pradesh v. A.S. Peter(2008) 2 SCC
383; Sri Bhagwan Samardha Sreepada Vallabha Venkata
Vishwanandha Maharaj (1999) 5 SCC 740; Arun Shankar
Shukla v. State of U.P. and Ors. (1999) 6 SCC 146; Hamida
v. .Rashid alias Rasheed & ors. (2008) 1 SCC 47 4; State of H
978 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009) 5 S.C.R. ~

A Haryana & Ors. v. Bhajan Lal & Ors. 1992 Suppl. (1) SCC
335 and Ruchi Agarwal v. Amit Kumar Agrawal & Ors. (2005)
3 sec 299, referred to

B (1980) 2 sec 91
Case Law Reference:
referred to Para 20
1
-
(1979) 2 sec 322 referred to Para 22
(2008) 2 sec 383 referred to Para 22
(1999) 5 sec 740 referred to Para 23 ,,.__
c (
(1999) s sec 146 referred to Para 25
(2008) 1 sec 47 4 referred to Para 25
~

1!192 Suppl. (1) SCC 335 referred to Para 27
~
D
(2005) 3 sec 299 referred to Para 28
CRIMINAL AP PELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal
No. 725 of 2009.

E From the Judgment & Order dated 22.07.2008 of the High
Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital in Criminal Misc. Application
No. 620/2006.

WITH .( I

F Criminal Appeal No. 726-727/2009, 728-729/2009.

LP. Naithani, A.G., Uttaranchal, Sushil Kumar, Dinesh
Dwivedi, C.D. Singh, Bhupendra Pratap Singh, Vairagya
Vardhan Dubey, Sunny Chaudhary, Aditya Singh, Aditya Kumar,
G Minakshi Kumar, Aarohi Bhalla, Pravesh Khanna, Shekhar Raj
Sharma, Subodh Patil, Saroub Bhatia, Sujata Kurdukar and ..... ,,
Jatinder Kumar Bhatia for the appearing parties.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
H S.B. SINHA, J. 1. Leave granted.

y
i
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 979
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
2. These three appeals involving common questions of A
fact and law were taken up for hearing together and are being
disposed of by this common judgment.

3. The parties hereto are related to each other.

Indisputably in relation to an incident which took place on B
or about 4.11.1999, two First Information Reports were lodged;
one on 4.11.1999 and the other on the next day, i.e., 5.11.1999.
The first FIR was lodged by Meenaxi Agrawal, (for short,
"Meenaxi") inter alia, alleging that Manoj Narain Agrawal (for
short, "Manoj") along with forty others raided their farm house C
and attacked Shashi Agrawal (for short, "Shashi") and Meenaxi
(Appellant Nos.1 and 2 in Criminal Appeals arising out of
Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No.6061-6062 of 2008) as
also staff members thereof as a result whereof one R.K. Yadav,
an employee suffered grievous injuries. FIR No.960/99 in D
relation to the said purported incident was lodged under
Sections 147, 148, 149, 452, 323, 427, and 506, of the Indian
Penal Code (for short, "the IPC") at the Kichha Police Station.
The accused were allegedly arrested on the spot by the local
police. E
Another FIR was, however, lodged by Manoj (Appellant in
Criminal Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Criminal)
No.5419 of 2008) alleging that D.S. Sirohi, Manager of Parag
Farm, Kichha uttered filthy language over his mobile calling
names to mother, sister and also threatened to kill him and when F
he reached there, some guards of the Farm, namely, Hans Pal,
Munna Lal, Dharmender, etc. opened fire at him
indiscriminately in order to kill him on the order of D.S. Sirohi,
Manager of Farm, R.K. Yadav and Meenaxi. One pellet hit him
near his heart. It was also stated that he was mercilessly beaten G
up by some of the employees of Meenaxi. The second
comp~int was registered as FIR No.960A/99. The FIR lodged
by Marioj contained two principal allegations, viz., (a) overt acts
on the part of the accused as a result whereof he suffered
grievous injuries; and (b) forgery of some documents on the H
980 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R.
.. .
, -
A basis whereof some orders had been obtained by them in
getting their names mutated in the revenue record.

4. On the basis of the said FIRs, investigations were
carried out. Upon completion thereof, a charge sheet was filed
in relation to the case arising out of FIR No.960/99 lodged by
B
Meenaxi against Manoj and 39 others under Sections 147, 148,
~
149, 452, 323, 427, 506 and 307 of the IPC; but a final report
dated 29.11.1999 was filed in respect of FIR No.960A/99,
stating that no case was made out against Shashi and
Meenaxi.
c
5. However, on or about 1.12.1999, Manoj had filed a writ
petition being Writ Petition No. 7230of1999 in the High Court
of Allahabad praying for a fair investigation and also for
appointment of another investigating officer in the Crime No.
D 960A/99. By reason of an order dated 1.12.1999, the High
Court dispose':l of the said Writ Petition directing the DIG
(Kumaun Region) Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital to ensure fair
and impartial investigation with respect to the Crime Case No.
960A/99 by another agency. In view of the said order, the final
E report dated 29.11.1999 was sent to the office of Circle Officer
(Deputy Superintendent of Police) on 3.12.1999. The Deputy
Superintendent of Police sought for the opinion of the Senior
Public Prosecutor on or about 13.12.1999. It was opined that
as a part of the allegation has not been investigated into, a
further investigation would be required. On apprehending their
F -4
arrest, Shashi and Meenaxi filed a Writ Petition No. 310 of
2000 before the High Court of Allahabad praying for stay of
their arrest in Crime No. 960A/99.
6. On or about 3.4.2000, an application was moved by
G Shashi before the Chief Secretary UP and DG, UP Police
praying the investigation to be conducted by CBCID. As no
action was taken thereupon, another Writ Petition No. 1747 of
2000 was filed by Shashi before the Allahabad High Court with
~ •
a prayer that the investigation in Crime Case No. 960A/99 be
H directed to be carried out by CBCID.
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 981
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
Indisputably, a direction was issued by the State of U.P that A
Crime No. 960A/99 be investigated by CBCID pursuant
whereto the investigation was taken over by CBCID. On or
about 11.5.2000, the investigation in Crime Case No. 960A/
99 was transferred from CBCID to local police by the State of
U.P. Shashi thereafter filed a Writ Petition No. 2996 of 2000 in B
the High Court with a prayer for direction to set aside the order
dated 11.5.2000 passed by the State of U.P. Manoj also filed
a Writ Petition No. 3848 of 2000 questioning the order dated
6.4.2000 whereby the investigation was transferred by the State
Government from local police to CBCID. On or about 4.7.2000, c
the High Court passed an interim order in Writ Petition No. 2996
of 2006 staying the arrest of the petitioners. All the connected
matters with Writ Petition No. 310 of 2000 were disposed of
by the High Court on or about 13.9.2000 directing the
investigating agency to carry out the investigation fairly and 0
honestly and not to take any coercive steps against the parties.

7. A Special Leave Petition (Criminal) Nos.4054-4057 of
2000 was filed by Meenaxi & anr. before this Court questioning
the order dated 13.9.2000 passed in Writ Petition No. 310 of
2000 and other connected matters. This court by reason of an E
order dated 7.9.2001 passed in the said Special Leave
Petition quashed the order directing investigation by the local
police and directed the CBCID to conclude the investigation
and to submit its report. However, the protection afforded by
> '>-- the High Court to Meenaxi was directed to be continued. Local F
police was directed to handover all the materials to CBCID.

8. In the meanwhile, trial against Manoj began. By a
judgment and order dated 24.7.2003, passed by the learned
Additional District & Sessions Judge, Udham Singh Nagar, he G
was convicted under Section 324 of the IPC. However, other
accused were acquitted.

9. An appeal was preferred thereagainst which is pending
before the High Court. The sentence passed against Manoj has
H
982 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R. ~

"'
A also been suspended and he has been granted bail. On or
about 2.5.2006, a charge sheet was filed against Shashi and
Meenaxi under Sections 147, 148, 149, 307, 504 and 506 of
the IPC. Shashi was said to have been named therein for the
first time. By an order dated 14.6.2006, cognizance of the said
B offence was taken by the Judicial Magistrate, Rudrapur and
summons were said to have been issued against them. ~

10. A Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 620 of 2006
was filed before the High court of Uttarakhand at Nainital under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing
c of the said criminal proceedings. By reason of an order dated
22.7.2008, the High Court dismissed the said application, ./'

stating:

"1. After hearing the detailed arguments of the learned
D Senior Couns_el appearing for the petitioners as well as
learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respondent no.2 i
and Mr. G.S. Sandhu, learned Government Advocat~
appearing for respondent No.1 and upon perusal of various
documents in this case as well as the counter affidavit and
E the supplementary counter affidavit filed by the respondent
No.2, I feel totally disinclined to interfere in this matter while
exercising this Court's jurisdiction under Section 482 of Cr.
P. C. The petition accordingly is liable to be dismissed.

2. Both the petitioners are ladies. Petitioner No.1 is stated _.
F to be quite unwell and she is also an old lady aged about "
80 years. Both the petitioners being ladies, particularly
Petitioner No.1 being an old lady, I am convinced that both
of them deserve some protection from this court even
though I have declined to interfere in the trial in exercise
G of this court's jurisdiction under Sec. 482 of Cr.P.C.

3. Therefore, even while dismissing the petition, I direct the -
learned Trial Court as under:- ""'

·(1) To dispose of the bail applications of both the
H

• w
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 983
. --\ [S.B. SINHA, J.]
petitioners on the same day these are filed. Having A

- gone through the papers of this case, I am quite·
convinced that valid grounds exist for granting bail
to the petitioners.

(2) It is upto petitioner No.1 to make an application B
for exemption from personal appearance in the trial
court in terms of Section 205 of Cr. P.C. ifsuch an
application is made by the petitioner no.1 even
without appearing in the Trial Court on any date
hereafter, the learned Trial Court is directed to
consider this application and pass appropriate
c
·'· orders thereupon. While disposing of the said
application, the learned Trial Court shall be
influenced by the fact that the petitioner no.1 is old
lady and she is keeping quite unwell. After granting
exemption from personal appearance, of course, D
~, the learned Trial Court, at the same time, shall
ensure that the petitioner no.1 is made to appear
personally in the Trial Court if in the opinion of the
learned Trial Court, for reasons to be recorded in
writing, her presence for a particular purpose and E
on a particular occasion is essential.'

4. Before parting with the case, I do wish to observe and
direct that the Trial Court shall take all possible steps to
) ensure very-very expeditious trial. No unnecessary F
>
adiournment on any date shall be granted during the trial."
11. The third respondent herein, i.e., Inspector of CBCID
moved an application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate,
Udham Singh Nagar on the same day with a prayer that he may
be permitted to investigate the matter further with regard to the G
embezzlement of the alleged amount of Rs.13,50,000/- from
). Sehkari Vikas Ganna Samiti, Kichha by Meenaxi, Madhvi,
Manisha and Shashi by making forged signature of Manoj.
12. A Criminal Appeal arising out Special Leave Petition H
984 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R.
... .
A (Criminal) No. 5419 of 2008 has been filed by Manoj against
the said order dated 22.7.2008 in this Court.

13. By an order dated 31.7.2008, the learned M~gistrate,
Rudrapur permitted the third respondent to investigate into the
-
matter further against Shashi and Meenaxi.
8
14. A Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 518 of 2008
was thereafter filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure against the said order dated 31. 7.2008 before the
High Court of Uttaranchal at Nainital, which by reason of an
c order dated ·11.8.2008 was dismissed, observing:
,,,..
"After hearing the detailed arguments of Mr. Suri, I feel
convinced that in this matter relating to and arising out of
Section 173 (8) Cr. P.C., the impugned order passed by
D the learned court below based upon the applications of
prosecution, cannot be faulted on any ground. I need not
say more because of the pendency of the litigation, lest 1
any observations made by me adversely or otherwise may
prejudice or influence the outcome of the trial court or
litigation.
E
I am convinced that no interference in the exercise of this
Court' jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr. P.C. is warranted .
with regard to the impugned order. Petition, is accordingly,
dismissed.
F
Mr. Suri, at this stage, submits that he has apprehensions
.I
'
that the petitioners might be denied bail because of the
aforesaid supervening and intervening development of
circumstances. To allay of Mr. Suri's aforesaid
G apprehension, I just have to refer to this Court's order dated
22nd July, 2008 passed in Criminal Misc. Applications No.
620 of 2006."

15. Against the said order dated 22.7.2008 and order
dated 11.8.2008, Criminal Appeals arising out of Special Leave
H Petition (Criminal} No. 6061-62 of 2008 and Criminal Appeals
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 985
. .l [S.B. SINHA, J.]
arising out of Special Leave Petition (Criminal) Nos.6136-37 A
have been filed.

16. Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned Senior Counsel appearing
on behalf of Manoj and Mr. Dinesh Dwivedi, learned Senior
Counsel appearing on behalf of the State of Uttarakhand would B
contend:

i. The High Court committed a serious error in
passing the impugned judgments insofar as it failed
to take into consideration that in the applications
filed by Shashi and Meenaxi, no prayer for grant of c
~ bail having been made, the High Court could not
have issued such a direction.

ii. The jurisdiction to exempt the accused from
personal appearance before the Court being within D
\ the domain of the learned Magistrate, the directions
,~ issued by the High Court must be held to be wholly
illegal.
17. Mr. Sushil Kumar, learned Senior Counsel appearing
on behalf of Shashi and Meenaxi, on the other hand, urged: E

i. As the investigations have been carried out for fairly
a long time, a new case is sought to be made out
which is impermissible in law.
}
).,
F
ii. The investigation having started in the year 2001
and the final report having been filed on 2.5.2006,
it is improbable that the investigation has not been
fully conducted by CBCID.

iii. The prayer contained in the application dated G
22.7.2008 must be held to be wholly illegal as no
investigation has been sought to be carried out for
commission of offence under Section 409 of the
IPC although initially allegations for commission of
offence under Section 307 of the IPC have been H
986 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R.
~

A made.

iv. When a final report was filed, the learned
Magistrate had three options, namely, (1) to accept
the said final report; or (2) direct further investigation
upon rejecting the same; or (3) take cognizance of
B
the offence alleged.
•
Neither of the said course of action having been
resorted to, the impugned judgment cannot be
sustained.
c
v. In the Writ Petitions filed by Shashi and another, the
State did not file any counter affidavit. It was the duty
of the State to point out that a final report had
already been filed and as such transfer of
D investigation to CBCID could not have been
directed at that stage.
1
vi. Having regard to the provisions contained in
Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
Final report submitted by the Investigating Officer
E could not have been sent to the public prosecutor
for his opinion.

18. The learned counsel also drew our attention to a
statement made by Manoj in his examination under Section 313
F of the Code of Criminal Procedure which would go to show that
he raised a plea therein that he was not present at the place
~ "'
of occurrence.
19. The parties as noticed hereinbefore are related to each
other. Manoj is the son of Shashi. Meenaxi is his sister. It is
G evident that disputes relate to a farm house. Allegations and
counter allegations have been made. Both sides lodged FIRs.
Whereas the FIR lodged by Manoj is concerned, only charge
-"
sheet had been filed in the case charged against him, he has
since been convicted. As correctness of the said conviction is
H pending before the High Court and the sentence of Manoj has
• ... MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 987
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
been suspended, it is neither desirable nor permissible in law A
to make any observation thereupon. The facts of the matter, as
noticed hereinbefore, clearly show that the investigation in the
connected matter being Crime No. 960A of 1999 run from one
extreme end to the other. Final reports were prepared twice.
However, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, CBCID on the B
second final report so 'prepared sought to obtain the legal
opinion of the public prosecutor. Such a course adopted may
be irregular but it is not denied or disputed that a vital aspect
of the matter of the investigation had not be~n carried out. It is
~- not the case of the appellants, i.e., Shashi and Meenaxi that c
the opinion given by the public prosecutor was incorrect. We
have noticed hereinbefore that even otherwise the learned
Magistrate has granted such permission.

20. In Kamlapati Trivedi vs. State of West Bengal [(1980}
~ D
2 SCC 91], this Court held:
"50. Section 169 and 170 do not talk of the submis.sion of
any report by the police to the Magistrate, although they
do state what the police has to do short of such submission
when it finds at the conclusion of the investigation (1) that E
there is not sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of
suspicion to justify the forwarding of the accused to a
Magistrate (Section 169} or (2) that there is sufficient
} '> evidence or reasonable ground as aforesaid (Section
170). In either case the final report of the police is to be F
submitted to the Magistrate under Sub-section (1) of
Section 173. Sub-section (3) of that section further
provides that in the case of a report by the police that the
accused has been released on his bond (which is the
situation envisaged by Section 169), the Magistrate shall G
make "such order for the discharge of such bond or
).,
otherwise as he thinks fit". Now what are the courses open
---.... to the Magistrate in such a situation? He may, as held by
this Court in Abhinandan Jha and Ors. v. Dinesh Mishra
[1967] 3 SCR 668.
H
988 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R.

A (1) agree with the report of the police and file the
proceedings, or

(2) not agree with the police report and

(a) order further investigation, or
B
(b) hold that the evidence is sufficient to justify
the forwarding of the accused to the
Magistrate and take cognizance of the
offence complained of."
c 21. It is, however, not the case of Shashi that the learned
Magistrate had accepted the report. Even in such a case, the
learned Magistrate was bound to give notice to the complainant
who could have objected thereto. A protest petition was also
maintainable.
D
In this case, this Court had directed CBCID to complete
the investigation. It was, thus, obligatory on its part to complete
the investigation and submit an appropriate report to the court.

·E 22. In Ram Lal Narang vs. State (Delhi Adminstration)
[(1979) 2 sec 322), this court held:

".....The criticism that a further investigation by the police
would trench upon the proceedings before the Court is
really not of very great substance, since whatever the police
F may do, the final discretion in regard to further action is
with the Magistrate. That the final word is with the
Magistrate is sufficient safeguard against any excessive
use or abuse of the power of the police to make further
investigation. We should not, however, be understood to
G say that the police should ignore the pendency of a
proceeding before a Court and investigate every fresh fact
that comes to light as if no cognizance had been taken by
the Court of any offence. We think that in the interests of
the independence of the magistracy and the judiciary, in
H the interests of the purity of the administration of criminal
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 989
..\
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
justice and in the interests of the comity of the various A
agencies and institutions entrusted with different stages of
such administration, it would ordinarily be desirable that
the police should inform the Court and seek formal
~
permission to make further investigation when fresh facts
come to light. B
•
21 .... ln our view, notwithstanding that a Magistrate had
taken cognizance of the offence upon a police report
submitted under Section 173 of the 1898 Code, the right
of the police to further investigate was not exhausted and
the police could exercise such right as often as necessary
c
when fresh information came to light. Where the police
desired to make a further investigation, the police could
express their regard and respect for the Court by seeking
its formal permission to make further investigation.
'~
D
22. As in the present case, occasions may arise when a
second investigation started independently of the first may
.' disclose a wide range of offences including those covered
by the first investigation. Where the report of the second
investigation is submitted to a Magistrate other than the E
Magistrate who has already taken cognizance of the first
\
case, it is up to the prosecuting agency or the accused
concerned to take necessary action by moving the
appropriate superior Court to have the two cases tried
}
>- together. The Magistrates themselves may take action suo F
motu."

{See also State of Andhra Pradesh vs. A.S. Peter [(2008)
2 sec 383]},

23. In Sri Bhagwan Samardha Sreepada Vallabha G
Venkata Vishwanandha Maharaj [(1999) 5 SCC 740], this
Court held:
"10. Power of the police to conduct further investigation,
=- after laying final report, is recognised under Section 173(8) H

~
'.
.-.

990 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R.
\
\
A of the CrPC. Even after the court took cognizance of any
offence on the strength of the police report first submitted,
it is open to the police to conduct further investigation. This
has been so stated by this Court in Ram Lal Narang v.
State (Delhi Admn.). The only rider provided by the
B aforesaid decision is that it would be desirable that the 4
police should inform the court and seek formal permission
to make further investigation."

24. It is, therefore, too late in the day to raise a contention
as has been done by Mr. Sushil Kumar that in Writ Petition No.
c 7230 of 1999, that the State should have disclosed that a final
report had been filed in regard to the complaint made by him,
for more than one reason; firstly, the same has become
academic; secondly, whereas final report had been filed on
29.11.1999, the Writ Petition was filed on that date itself. What
D would have been the effect of the said final report that no case
1
has been made out, again is a matter of no significance, as
even the High Court while exercising its jurisdiction under
Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure did not find so.

E 25. The jurisdiction of the High Court under Section 482
of the Code of Criminal Procedure is limited.

In Arun Shankar Shukla vs. State of U.P. and Ors. [(1999)
6 sec 146), it was held:
F "2. It appears that unfortunately the High Court by
1 '
exercising its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of the
Criminal Procedure Code (for short "the Code") has
prevented the flow of justice on the alleged contention of
the convicted accused that it was polluted by so called
G misconduct of the judicial officer. It is true that under
Section 482 of the Code, the High Court has inherent
powers to make such orders as may be necessary to give
effect to any order under the Code or to prevent the abuse ""'
of process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends .!
H of justice. But the expressions "abuse of the process of
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 991
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
law" or "to secure the ends of justice" do not confer A
_, unlimited jurisdiction on the High Court and the alleged
abuse of the process of law or the ends of justice could
only be secured in accordance with law including
-t
procedural law and not otherwise. Further, inherent powers
~·
are in the nature of extraordinary powers to be used B
sparingly for achieving the object mentioned in Section 482
of the Code in cases where there is no express provision
empowering the High Court to achieve the said object. It
is well neigh settled that inherent power is not to be
~ invoked in respect of any matter covered by specific c
provisions of the Code or if its exercise would infringe any
specific provision of the Code. In the present case, the
High Court overlooked the procedural law which
empowered the convicted accused to prefer statutory
appeal against conviction of the offence. High Court has D
~ intervened at an uncalled for stage and soft- pedaled the
course of justice at a very crucial stage of the trial."

In Hamida vs. Rashid alias Rasheed & ors. [(2008) 1
SCC 474), this Court held:
E
.,
"7. It is well established principle that inherent power
~
conferred on the High Courts under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
has to be exercised sparingly with circumspection and in
rare cases and that too to correct patent illegalities or when
' .. some miscarriage of justice is done. The content and F
scope of power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. were examined
~ in considerable detail in Madhu Limaye v. State of
) Maharashtra [(1977) 4 sec 551) and it was held as
under:
1
~ The following principles may be stated in relation G
~

....
to the exercise of the inherent power of the High
"
Court -
(1) That the power is not to be resorted to if there
is a specific provision in the Code for the redress H
992 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R.

A of the grievance of the aggrieved party;

(2) That it should be exercised very sparingly to
prevent abuse of process of any Court or otherwise
to secure the ends of justice;
B (3) That it should not be exercised as against the ~

express bar of law engrafted in any other provision.
of the Code."

c
26. It is not necessary for us to deal with the large volume
of cases as to the jurisdiction of the High Court to quash the
,.
criminal proceedings in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section
482 of the Code Qf Criminal Procedure, as the principles in
respect thereof are well known.

The jurisdiction of the High Court is limited. It can interfere
D with an order of summoning an accused by the learned 1
Magistrate inter alia in the event if a finding is arrived at that
the accused were being prosecuted mala fide and/or even if
the allegations contained in the FIR are given face value and
taken to be correct in their entirety, no case has been made
E out for taking cognizance of the offence.

27. We may only notice that in State of Haryana & Ors.
vs. Bhajan Lal & ors. [1992 Suppl. (1) SCC 335], it has, inter
alia, been held: _.
F
'
"6. Where there is an express legal bar engrafted in
any 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
G
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
H with mal.a fide and/or where the proceeding is
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 993
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for A
wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a
view to spite him due to private and personal
grudge."

28. In Ruchi Agarwal vs. Amit Kumar Agrawal & ors. 8
[(2005) 3 SCC 299], this Court took into consideration
subsequent events for the purpose of exercising its jurisdiction
under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, stating:

"9. In view of the above said subsequent events and the
conduct of the appellant, it would be an abuse of the · C
process of the court if the criminal proceedings from which
this appeal arises is allowed to continue. Therefore, we are
of the considered opinion to do complete justice, we
should while dismissing this appeal also quash
proceedings arising from the Criminal Case D
No.Cr.No.22412003 registered in Police Station, Bilaspur,
(Distt.Rampur) filed under Sections 498A, 323 and 506
IPC and under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition
Act against the respondents herein."
E
29. Contention of Mr. Sushii Kumar is that while filing a
charge sheet, the Investigating Officer did not follow the
directions given by this Court in its order dated 7.9.2001
whereby and whereunder the Investigating Agency was
:, t ~ directed to consider the report dated 29.11.1999 submitted by F
Mr. Naresh Pal. It is again not a matter to take which requires
serious consideration at this stage. It does not appear that any
such contention was raised before the High Court, the effect
thereof must be considered by the courts at an appropriate
stage. It is also difficult for us to arrive at a positive decision
that the FIR lodged by Manoj was only retaliatory in nature as G
,._ he had not suffered any bullet injury. It is a matter of trial.
Submission of Mr. Sushi! Kumar that the order passed by
the Judicial Magistrate, Rudrapur on the final report filed in FIR
No. 960A of 1999 has not been brought on record is not very H
994
'
SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2009] 5 S.C.R. ~

A significant as the appellants also could have filed a certified
copy of the said order if the said final report had been
accepted. When the charge sheet was filed, the learned
Magistrate, of course, should have been informed that further
investigation was to be carried out but it is now well known that
B a further investigation can be directed to be made in terms of
Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure even after
an order taking cognizance has been passed. Mr. Sushi! Kumar
may be right in his contention that even after disposal of the
matter an application was filed for carrying out further
c investigation after a period of seven and a half years, but the
question as to whether the learned Magistrate should have
passed the said order dated 31. 7.2008 or not had not been
considered by the High Court. Therefore, we request the High
Court to consider the matter afresh.
D 30. We, therefore, set aside the orders passed by the High
Court in its order dated 11.8.2008 opining that the same was
beyond its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure. It is, however, made clear that all
contentions of the parties shall remain open. It is furthermore
E made clear that the parties hereto may approach the High
Court in Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 518 of 2008.
Allegations of mala fide made against the State may also be
gone into. The High Court can pass any such interim order as
it may think and proper. For a period of four weeks, however,
F the interim order passed by this Court shall continue.
~
"
31. So far as the Criminal Appeals arising out of Special
Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 6061-6062 of 2008 and Special
Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 6136-37 are concerned, there
cannot be any doubt whatsoever that the jurisdiction of the High
G
Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is
limited. It is ordinarily for the learned Magistrate to consider as ....
to whether a case for grant of bail has been made out or not, ~

the High Court, therefore, may not be correct in observing, "I
am quite convinced that valid grounds exist for granting bail to
H
MANOJ NARAIN AGRAWAL v. SHASHI AGRAWAL 995
[S.B. SINHA, J.]
the petitioners." Similarly, the High Court should not have, for A
all intent and purport, issued the direction for grant of exemption
from personal appearance. Such a matter undoubtedly shall be
left for the consideration before the learned Magistrate. We are
sure that the Magistrate would exercise his jurisdiction in a fair
and judicious manner. The impugned directions are set aside B
and the maters are remitted to the High court for consideration
of the application filed before it by the parties afresh on merit.

32. The appeals are disposed of to the aforementioned
extent.
c
B.B.B. Appeals disposed of.