Can Section 482 CrPC Petition Be Dismissed Solely On The Ground That Discharge Application Is Pending? Supreme Court Issues Notice

Can High Court dismiss a petition under Section 482 CrPC solely on the ground that a discharge application is pending? The Supreme Court issued notice in a Special Leave Petition which raised this issue.In this case, the petitioners- accused had approached the Madras High Court seeking quashing of criminal proceedings against them. The court noticed that during the pendency of this petition, all the accused filed a petition for discharge under Section 239 of Cr.P.C. before the Trial Court. The Court therefore dismissed the petition observing that the accused cannot pursue parallel remedies.Before the Apex Court bench, Senior Advocate R.Basant, who appeared for the petitioners-accused, relied on Anand Kumar Mohatta and Another vs. State (NCT of Delhi) (2019) 11 SCC 706, to contend that the High Court ought not to have dismissed the petition without going into merits of the case.In Anand Kumar Mohatta, it was held that High Courts can entertain a petition filed under Section 482 CrPC seeking quashing of FIR, even if the charge sheet is filed during the pendency of that petition. "There is nothing in the words of this Section which restricts the exercise of the power of the Court to prevent the abuse of process of court or miscarriage of justice only to the stage of the FIR. It is settled principle of law that the High court can exercise jurisdiction under Section 482 of Cr.P.C even when the discharge application is pending 2 (2011) 7 SCC 59 7 with the trial court. Indeed, it would be a travesty to hold that proceedings initiated against a person can be interfered with at the stage of FIR but not if it has advanced, and the allegations have materialized into a charge sheet. On the contrary it could be said that the abuse of process caused by FIR stands aggravated if the FIR has taken the form of a charge sheet after investigation. The power is undoubtedly conferred to prevent abuse of process of power of any court.", it was observed.Issue notice to show cause why the matter may not be remanded to the High Court to consider the application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. afresh, the bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar observed in the order.CaseC.V.K.Balakrishnan vs State Of Tamil Nadu | SLP(Crl) Diary No(s). 2041/2023Click here to Read/Download Order

Can Section 482 CrPC Petition Be Dismissed Solely On The Ground That Discharge Application Is Pending? Supreme Court Issues Notice

Ashok KM

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