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TMI Blog1977 (3) TMI 150X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Crossbar Division, attempted to serve the dismissal order on him but he refused to accept it and threatened the complainant that he, the complainant, was primarily responsible for the dismissal and would have to answer the consequences. It is alleged that the I.T.I. Employees' Union took up cudgels on his behalf and resolved to support his cause. The case of the prosecution is that accused Nos. 1 and 8 to 20 conspired to commit the murder of the complainant and that in pursuance of that conspiracy accused Nos. 1, 8 and 10 hired accused Nos. 2, a notorious criminal, to execute the object of the conspiracy. Accused No. 2 in turn engaged the services of accused Nos. 3 to 7 and eventually on the morning of December 6, 1973 accused Nos. 1 to 6 are alleged to have assaulted the complainant with knives, thereby committing offences under ss. 324, 326 and 307 read with s. 34. of the Penal Code. Accused No. 2 was charged separately under s. 307 or in the alternative under s. 326, Penal Code. By his order dated October 23, 1974 the learned Metropolitan Magistrate, V Court, Bangalore directed all the 20 accused to take their trial before the Sessions Court for offences under s. 324, 32 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere allowed by the High'Court on the view that there was no sufficient ground for proceeding against the petitioners before it. The High Court accordingly quashed the proceedings in regard to. them which has led to these appeals. Mr. Mookerjee who. appears on behalf of the State of Karnataka contends that the High Court ought not to have exercised its; powers to quash the proceedings against the respondents without giving to the Sessions Court, which was seized of the case, an opportunity to consider whether there was sufficient material on the record on which to frame charges against the respondents. It is argued that the Sessions Court had adjourned the case for a consideration of that very question and it was not proper for the High Court to withdraw the case, as it were, and to exercise its extraordinary powers, thereby preventing the Trial Court from examining the sufficiency of the material which it is the primary duty and function of that Court to examine. There is some apparent justification for this grievance because the language in which the sessions Court couched its order would seem to suggest that it had adjourned the case to September 1, 1975 for consideration of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for which the Sessions Judge has held that there is of is not sufficient ground for proceeding against the accused. The High Court therefore is entitled to go into the reasons given by the Sessions Judge in support of his order and to determine for itself whether the order is justified by the facts and circumstances of the case. Section 482 of the New Code, which corresponds to s. 561-A of the Code of 1898, provides that: "Nothing in this Code shall be deemed to limit or affect the inherent powers of the High Court to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Code or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice." In the, exercise of this. whole some power, the High Court is entitled to quash a proceeding if it comes to the conclusion that allowing the proceeding to continue would be an abuse of the process of the Court or that the; ends of justice require that the proceeding ought to be quashed. The saving of the High Court's inherent powers, both in civil and criminal matters, is designed to. achieve a salutary public purpose which is that a court proceeding ought not to be permitted to degenerate into ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hether they held any deliberations at all, are matters on which no witness has said a word. In the circumstances, it would be a sheer waste of public time and money to permit the proceedings to continue against the respondents. The High Court was therefore justified in holding that for meeting the ends of justice the proceedings against the respondents ought to be quashed. Learned counsel for the State Government relies upon a decision of this Court in R.P. Kapur v. The State of Punjab (1) in which it was held that in the exercise of its inherent jurisdiction under s. 561A of the Code of 1898, the High Court cannot embark upon an enquiry as to whether the evidence in the case is reliable or not. That may be so. But in the instant case the question is not whether any reliance can be placed on the veracity of this or that particular witness. The fact of the matter is that there is no material on the record on the basis of which any tribunal could reasonably come to the conclusion that the respondents are in any manner connected with, the incident leading to the prosecution. Gajendragadkar, J., who spoke for the Court in Kapur's([1960] 3 S.C.R. 388) case observes in his judgment tha ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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