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TMI Blog2008 (8) TMI 880X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . I am requesting you to take action against the said people. I am filing all xerox copies of documents to show my rights in the said land. Said Pentaiah obtained pass books and pahanies in his name illegally in respect of our land in Sy. No. 80 and has been harassing us. R.D.O. has stayed the said entries. You are requested to take action against the said pentaiah and his men who demolished the compounded wall of our plot. We are also afraid that they may come at any time and kill us. Said Pentaiah drove our security guards Ramulu and Sudhakar and demolished the wall. You are requested to take action against the said person. Sd/B.Eswar (Bakara Eswar) S/o Rajaiah Peerjadiguda Village, Ghatkesar Mandal, RR District." The appellant aggrieved by registration of the criminal case, invoked inherent powers of the court by filing a petition under Section 482 of Code of Criminal Procedure before the High Court for quashing of the proceedings emanating from Crime No. 281 of 2004 Police Station Uppal, Hyderabad. The High Court, by impugned judgment dated 19.9.2006, dismissed the said petition. Aggrieved by the dismissal of the petition by the High Court, present appeal, by special leav ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to his person, reputation or property, or to the person or reputation of any one in whom that person is interested, with intent to cause alarm to that person, or to cause that person to do any act which he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do any act which that person is legally entitled to do, as the means of avoiding the execution of such threat, commits criminal intimidation." It may be pertinent to mention here that respondent No. 3 had filed Civil Suit bearing O.S. No. 832 of 2004 for perpetual injunction against appellant on 14.5.2004. The suit was withdrawn on 19.7.2004 on the ground "that due to personal problems the plaintiffs are not interested to continue the proceedings against the defendants as such they intends to withdraw the above as not pressed". Respondent No.3 also filed a second suit bearing O.S. No. 1211 of 2004 in the month of July, 2004 with the following prayer: "Pass a decree in favour of plaintiffs and against the defendants, their agents, legal heirs, successors, attorneys etc. declaring that the plaintiffs are absolute owners and direct the defendants to handover the peaceful possession of the suit schedule property to the plaintiffs". The de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ught to the notice of the court, then the Court would be justified in preventing injustice by invoking inherent powers in absence of specific provisions in the Statute. Discussion of decided cases Reference to the following cases would reveal that the courts have consistently taken the view that they must use this extraordinary power to prevent injustice and secure the ends of justice. The English courts have also used inherent power to achieve the same objective. It is generally agreed that the Crown Court has inherent power to protect its process from abuse. In Connelly v. DPP [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. Lord Salmon in DPP v. Humphrys [1977] AC 1 stressed the importance of the inherent power when he observed that it is only if the prosecution amounts to an abuse of the process of the court and is oppressive and vexatious that the judge has the power to intervene. He further mentioned that the court's power to prevent such abuse is of great constitutional importance and should be jealously preserved. In R.P. Kapur v. Sta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... v. Maharaj Singh & Another (1982) 1 SCC 466, in a landlord and tenant matter where criminal proceedings had been initiated, this Court observed in para 1 at page 467 as under:- "A frustrated landlord after having met his waterloo in the hierarchy of civil courts, has further enmeshed the tenant in a frivolous criminal prosecution which prima facie appears to be an abuse of the process of law. The facts when stated are so telling that the further discussion may appear to be superfluous." The court noticed that the tendency of perjury is very much on the increase. Unless the courts come down heavily upon such persons, the whole judicial process would come to ridicule. The court also observed that chagrined and frustrated litigants should not be permitted to give vent to their frustration by cheaply invoking jurisdiction of the criminal court. This court in Madhavrao Jiwajirao Scindia & Others v. Sambhajirao Chandrojirao Angre & Others (1988) 1 SCC 692 observed in para 7 as under: "7. 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 pri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n-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. This court in Janata Dal v. H. S. Chowdhary & Others (1992) 4 SCC 305 observed thus: "132. The criminal courts are clothed with inherent power to make such orders as may be necessary for the e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the complainant has alleged and whether any offence is made out even if the allegations are accepted in toto." In Indian Oil Corporation v. NEPC India Ltd. & Others (2006) 6 SCC 736, this court again cautioned about a growing tendency in business circles to convert purely civil disputes into criminal cases. The court noticed the prevalent impression that civil law remedies are time consuming and do not adequately protect the interests of lenders/creditors. The court further observed that "any effort to settle civil disputes and claims, which do not involve any criminal offence, by applying pressure through criminal prosecution should be deprecated and discouraged." The question before us is - whether the case of the appellants comes under any of the categories enumerated in Bhajan Lal (supra)? Is it a case where the allegations made in the first information report or the complaint, even if they are taken at their face value and accepted in entirety, do not make out a case against the accused under Sections 420, 467 and 120B IPC? For determination of the question it becomes relevant to note the nature of the offences alleged against the appellants, the ingredients of the offences ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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