TMI Blog2008 (2) TMI 866X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Magistrate took cognizance by order dated 30.12.2005 and directed issue of notice to the appellant. The appellant filed a petition under section 482 of Cr.P.C. for setting aside the said order dated 30.12.2005 and for quashing the complaint. The High Court, by order dated 28.3.2006, rejected the prayer for quashing the complaint, but altered the offence in respect of which cognizance was taken as one under section 30(1) read with section 25 of the said Act. The said order of the High Court was challenged by the appellant in this appeal. 2. The appeal was heard by a Bench consisting of H.K.Sema and Markandey Katju, JJ. By the main judgment dated 29.1.2008 Sema, J. dismissed the appeal, making it clear that the court was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case and the learned Magistrate shall decide the maintainability of the complaint at the time of framing of the charge uninfluenced by any observations made by this Court or the High Court. In the course of his judgment, Sema, J. observed : 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 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d the directions issued by this Court in Joginder Kumar v. State of U.P. -- 1994 (4) SCC 260 in regard to the procedure to be followed when arresting a person, and directed that copies of his judgment be sent to the Chief Secretaries, Home Secretaries and Law Secretaries of all State Governments and Union Territories with a direction to ensure strict compliance with said decision. 4. In view of the difference of opinion on legal issues, the appeal was directed to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders, though both learned Judges concurred that the appeal should be dismissed. The matter is accordingly placed before the bench of three Judges. 5. When the matter came up, Mr. K.K.Venugopal, learned senior counsel for the appellant submitted that having regard to the exemption under section 3(h) of the Act in respect of persons in management of an establishment, the Act in entirety was inapplicable to the appellant who was the Managing Director of the establishment. He also submitted that the question of violation of section 25 of the Act did not arise as Appellant's establishment was exempted from the provisions of section 25 of Act by Government O ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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. 8. Quashing of a complaint or criminal proceedings under section 482 Cr.P.C. depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. The scope and ambit of the power under section 482 has been explained by this Court in a series of decisions -- R.P.Kapur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1960 SC 866, State of Uttar Pradesh v. R.K.Srivastava, 1989 (4) SCC 59; State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal 1992 Supp. (1) SCC 335, Mrs. Rupan Deol Bajaj v. Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, 1995 (6) SCC 194; Pepsi Foods Ltd. V. Special Judicial Magistrate, 1998 (5) SCC 749; Zandu Pharmaceutical Works v. Mohd. Sharaful Haque 2005 (1) SCC 122; Indian Oil Corporation v. NEPC India Ltd. 2006 (6) SCC 736, and Sonapareddy Maheedhar v. State of Andhra Pradesh, 2007 (14) SCALE 321. This Court in Bhajan Lal (supra) listed the following categories of cases wher ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 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. 1 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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