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Appeal (crl.) 206 of 2008
PETITIONER:
Som Mittal
RESPONDENT:
Government of Karnataka
BENCH:
K. G. Balakrishnan & R. V. Raveendran & J. M. Panchal
JUDGMENT:
JUDGMENT
ORDER
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.206/2008
K.G.BALAKRISHNAN, CJI
"In a catena of decisions this Court has deprecated the interference by the
High Court in exercise of its inherent powers under Section 482 of the
Code in a routine manner. It has been consistently held that the power
under Section 482 must be exercised sparingly, with circumspection and
in rarest of rare cases. Exercise of inherent power under Section 482 of
the Code of Criminal Procedure is not the rule but it is an exception. The
exception is applied only when it brought to the notice of the Court that
grave miscarriage of justice would be committed if the trial is allowed to
proceed where the accused would be harassed unnecessarily if the trial is
allowed to linger #.."
6. Though the learned Judges did not set down the legal issues, we
discern the following two issues from their opinions :
(i) Whether the power under section 482 Cr.P.C. should be exercised
'sparingly' or 'sparingly with circumspection and in the rarest of rare
cases'?
7. When Sema, J. observed that the power under section 482 Cr.P.C. was
to be used 'sparingly, with circumspection and in rarest of rare cases', he
did not lay down any new proposition of law, but was merely reiterating
what was stated by this Court in several cases, including Kurukshetra
University v. State of Haryana 1977 (4) SCC 451 and State of Haryana v.
Bhajan Lal [1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335]. In Kurukshetra University (supra),
this Court observed "that the statutory power under section 482 has to be
exercised sparingly with circumspection and "in rarest of rare cases". In
Bhajan Lal, this Court reiterated the word of caution 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". It may not
therefore be correct to say that the words 'rarest of rare cases' are
appropriate only when considering death sentence for an offence under
section 302 IPC or that those words are inappropriate when referring to the
ambit of the power to be exercised under section 482 Cr.P.C.
(2) Where the allegations in the first information report and other
materials, if any accompanying the FIR do not disclose a cognizable
offence, justifying an investigation by police officers under Section 156(1)
of the Code except under an order or a Magistrate within the purview of
Section 155(2) of the Code.
(5) Where the allegations made in the FIR or complaint are so absurd
and inherently improbable on the basis of which no prudent person can
ever reach a just conclusion that there is sufficient ground for proceeding
against the accused.
It was also made clear that it was not possible to lay down precise and
inflexible guidelines or any rigid formula or to give an exhaustive list of the
circumstances in which such power could be exercised.
9. When the words 'rarest of rare cases' are used after the words
'sparingly and with circumspection' while describing the scope of section
482, those words merely emphasize and reiterate what is intended to be
conveyed by the words 'sparingly and with circumspection'. They mean that
the power under section 482 to quash proceedings should not be used
mechanically or routinely, but with care and caution, only when a clear case
for quashing is made out and failure to interfere would lead to a miscarriage
of justice. The expression "rarest of rare cases" is not used in the sense in
which it is used with reference to punishment for offences under section 302
IPC, but to emphasize that the power under section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash the
FIR or criminal proceedings should be used sparingly and with
circumspection. Judgments are not to be construed as statutes. Nor words or
phrases in judgments to be interpreted like provisions of a statute. Some
words used in a judgment should be read and understood contextually and
are not intended to be taken literally. Many a time a Judge uses a phrase or
expression with the intention of emphasizing a point or accentuating a
principle or even by way of a flourish of writing style. Ratio decidendi of a
judgment is not to be discerned from a stray word or phrase read in isolation.
12. When this Court renders judgments, it does so with great care and
responsibility. The law declared by this Court is binding on all courts. All
authorities in the territory of India are required to act in aid of it. Any
interpretation of a law or a judgment, by this Court, is a law declared by this
Court. The wider the power, more onerous is the responsibility to ensure that
nothing is stated or directed in excess of what is required or relevant for the
case, and to ensure that the Court's orders and decisions do not create any
doubt or confusion in regard to a legal position in the minds of any authority
or citizen, and also to ensure that they do not conflict with any other decision
or existing law. Be that as it may.