Indirect Tax Practitioners Association Vs R K Jain

The right of a member of the public to criticize the functioning of a judicial institution has been beautifully described by the Privy Council in Andre Paul Terence Ambard v. Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago AIR 1936 PC 141
Only when the criticism of judicial institutions transgresses all limits of decency and fairness or there is total lack of objectivity or there is deliberate attempt to denigrate the institution then the Court would use this power.
In the free market place of ideas criticisms about the judicial system or judges should be welcomed, so long as such criticisms do not impair or hamper the administration of justice. This is how courts should approach the powers vested in them as judges to punish a person for an alleged contempt, be it by taking notice of the matter suo motu or at the behest of the litigant or a lawyer.
Although, the petitioner has tried to project the editorial as a piece of writing intended to demean CESTAT as an institution and scandalize its functioning but we do not find anything in it which can be described as an attempt to lower the authority of CESTAT or ridicule it in the eyes of the public. Rather the object of the editorial was to highlight the irregularities."

State of Haryana & Others Vs Bhajan Lal & Others 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed, “(1) Where the allegations made in the first information report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not prima facie constitute any offence or make out a case against the accused.
(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 of a Magistrate within the purview of Section 155(2) of the Code.
(3) Where the uncontroverted allegations made in the FIR or complaint and the evidence collected in support of the same do not disclose the commission of any offence and make out a case against the accused.
(4) Where, the allegations in the FIR do not constitute a cognizable offence but constitute only a non-cognizable offence, no investigation is permitted by a police officer without an order of a Magistrate as contemplated under 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.
(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 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 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.”

Preeti Gupta & Another Vs State of Jharkhand & Another, Decided by Delhi High Court on 13.08.10

In Connelly v. Director of Public Prosecutions [1964] AC 1254, Lord Devlin stated that where particular criminal proceedings constitute an abuse of process, the court is empowered to refuse to allow the indictment to proceed to trial.
The powers possessed by the High Court under section 482 of the Code are very wide and the very plenitude of the power requires great caution in its exercise. The court must be careful to see that its decision in exercise of this power is based on sound principles. The inherent power should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate prosecution but court’s failing to use the power for advancement of justice can also lead to grave injustice. The High Court should normally refrain from giving a prima facie decision in a case where all the facts are incomplete and hazy; more so, when the evidence has not been collected and produced before the court and the issues involved, whether factual or legal, are of such magnitude that they cannot be seen in their true perspective without sufficient material. Of course, no hard and fast rule can be laid down in regard to cases in which the High Court will exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction of quashing the proceedings at any stage.
The allegations of harassment of husband’s close relations who had been living in different cities and never visited or rarely visited the place where the complainant resided would have an entirely different complexion. The allegations of the complaint are required to be scrutinized with great care and circumspection. Experience reveals that long and protracted criminal trials lead to rancour, acrimony and bitterness in the relationship amongst the parties. It is also a matter of common knowledge that in cases filed by the complainant if the husband or the husband’s relations had to remain in jail even for a few days, it would ruin the chances of amicable settlement altogether. The process of suffering is extremely long and painful.
Before parting with this case, we would like to observe that a serious relook of the entire provision is warranted by the legislation. It is also a matter of common knowledge that exaggerated versions of the incident are reflected in a large number of complaints.

R P Kapur Vs State of Punjab AIR 1960 SC 866

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed about use of inherent power to quash the proceedings "(i) where it manifestly appears that there is a legal bar against the institution or continuance of the proceedings;
(ii) where the allegations in the first information report or complaint taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety do not constitute the offence alleged;
(iii) where the allegations constitute an offence, but there is no legal evidence adduced or the evidence adduced clearly or manifestly fails to prove the charge."

Madhu Limaye Vs The State of Maharashtra (1977) 4 SCC 551

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed, “In case the impugned order clearly brings out a situation which is an abuse of the process of the court, or for the purpose of securing the ends of justice interference by the High Court is absolutely necessary, then nothing contained in Section 397(2) can limit or affect the exercise of the inherent power by the High Court. Such cases would necessarily be few and far between. One such case would be the desirability of the quashing of a criminal proceeding initiated illegally, vexatiously or as being without jurisdiction. The present case would undoubtedly fall for exercise of the power of the High Court in accordance with Section 482 of the 1973 Code, even assuming, that the invoking of the revisional power of the High Court is impermissible.”

Madhavrao Jiwajirao Scindia & Others Vs Sambhajirao Chandrojirao Angre & Others (1988) 1 SCC 692

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed, “The legal position is well settled 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. It is also for the court to take into consideration any special features which appear in a particular case to consider whether it is expedient and in the interest of justice to permit a prosecution to continue. This is so on the basis that the court cannot be utilized for any oblique purpose and where in the opinion of the court chances of an ultimate conviction is bleak and, therefore, no useful purpose is likely to be served by allowing a criminal prosecution to continue, the court may while taking into consideration the special facts of a case also quash the proceeding even though it may be at a preliminary stage.”

Virender Prasad Singh Vs Rajesh Bhardwaj & Ors Deccided by Supreme Court of India on 16.08.10

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed, "On its own, the High Court did not go into that exercise to decide as to whether the investigation was required to be done by any other agency. It required help of DGP level officer and his opinion to decide whether the earlier investigation was done properly or not. We are afraid that was not the task. To decide so was the task of the Court alone and no opinion could have been sought for, particularly, in the circumstances of this case. Nothing seems to have been established which would justify calling for such opinion."

Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd & Others Vs Mohd Sharaful Haque & Another (2005) 1 SCC 122

Hon'ble Supreme Court of India observed, “It would be an abuse of process of the court to allow any action which would result in injustice and prevent promotion of justice. In exercise of the powers, court would be justified to quash any proceeding if it finds that initiation/continuance of it amounts to abuse of the process of court or quashing of these proceedings would otherwise serve the ends of justice. When no offence is disclosed by the complaint, the court may examine the question of fact. When a complaint is sought to be quashed, it is permissible to look into the materials to assess what the complainant has alleged and whether any offence is made out even if the allegations are accepted in toto.”

Ramesh Kumar Vs State of Chhattisgarh (2001) 9 SCC 618

Hon’ble Supreme Court observed, “Instigation is to goad, urge forward, provoke, incite or encourage to do ‘an act’. To satisfy the requirement of instigation though it is not necessary that actual words must be used to that effect or what constitutes instigation must necessarily and specifically be suggestive of the consequence.... A word uttered in the fit of anger or emotion without intending the consequences to actually follow cannot be said to be instigation.”

S S Chheena Vs Vijay Kumar Mahajan & Another

One person died after leaving behind a suicide note as---“SUICIDE NOTE I am Saurav Mahajan a final year student of Department of Law of GNDU. Montu had leveled a false allegation upon me. I am very annoyed because a false allegation has been leveled upon me. I have a faith that this allegation is false, accused Montu and his accomplices will be arrested and I will be declared as innocent. The reason of my annoyance is that I am falsely involved as I did not commit any theft. A dying person will not speak falsely. I have not committed this theft. According to me, the theft has been committed by Harminder Singh in connivance with his accomplices. Harminder Singh says that on the day when the Mobile was stolen, he was taking the test. I made request to Mr. Chhina to see as to whether he was engaged in the test or not? Or he had not completed the whole test, came out a little before the fixed time, and committed theft. Examination sheet of the said day of Harminder Singh be seen. Harminder Singh had admitted two things in the presence of M.D. Singh, HOD of the Law Department, i.e. (1) he had played a joke with me (2) Harminder Singh admitted that he had demanded money from me. Chhina Sahib, M.D. Singh, while dying, I will not speak untrue. I have not committed any theft. Real thief is Montu. He has falsely involved my name. Harminder Singh cannot prove this at any cost because he is totally wrong. On the other hand, he has admitted that he had sold this Reliance set to his friends and has falsely leveled this allegation against me. I request my uncle/aunt, mother/father to forgive me that I tried my best to fulfill their expected wishes but could not do the same because Harminder Singh has leveled false allegation against me. I want to say this thing again that I am innocent and request my mother/father that they may not make any complaint regarding my suicide. I will also say to Chhina Sahib even if they give justice and leave me but the people will have a suspicion about me. I am taking this step on account of my insult. Harminder Singh and his accomplices are responsible for my suicide or MD Singh who did not take into account my faith and without consulting me, has forwarded this case. Dated: 16.10.2003 Sd/Saurav Mahajan.” Question is whether Chhina is liable for u/s 306 IPC.
Hon’ble High Court observed that the material against the appellant was not just the suicide note but also includes threats, humiliating phrases etc. addressed to the deceased and his father over a period of few days.
Hon’ble Supreme Court observed on 12.08.10 “The word “suicide” in itself is nowhere defined in the Penal Code; however its meaning and import is well known and requires no explanation. “Sui” means “self” and “cide” means “killing”, thus implying an act of self-killing. In short, a person committing suicide must commit it by himself, irrespective of the means employed by him in achieving his object of killing himself.
Suicide by itself is not an offence under either English or Indian criminal law, though at one time it was a felony in England. In England, the former law was of the nature of being a deterrent to people as it provided penalties of two types: • Degradation of corpse of the deceased by burying it on the highway with a stake through its chest. • Forfeiture of property.
Abetment involves a mental process of instigating a person or intentionally aiding a person in doing of a thing. Without a positive act on the part of the accused to instigate or aid in committing suicide, conviction cannot be sustained. In order to convict a person under Section 306 IPC there has to be a clear mens rea to commit the offence. It also requires an active act or direct act.
The order of framing charge under section 306 IPC against the appellant is quashed.”