TMI Blog1992 (8) TMI 301X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Military Services of U.K. and (4) M/s. Voest Alpine of Austria. In November 1985, there was a further short listing of Sofma and Before. Finally, the order was placed by the Government of India with Before on 24th March 1986 for the supply of 410 numbers (400 plus 10 free) of 155 mm Field Howitzer 77-B gun system/spare guns vide contract No. 6(9)/84/D (GS-IV) for a total amount of SEK 8410.66 million (Swedish Kroners) (equivalent to about ₹ 1437.72 crores or ₹ 14377.2 million). The related contract for supplying the gun package (towed) and other related agreements/contracts were concluded and signed on 24th March 1986 with M/s. A.B. Before. 4. On 17 April, 1987, some leading newspapers of our country gave prominent coverage to a Swedish Radio Broadcast made in the previous day, broadcasting that bribes had been paid to senior Indian politicians and key Defence figures to win the contract awarded by the Government of India to M/s. Before of Sweden on 24 March, 1986. 5. The Swedish Radio repeated the allegation on 17 April, 1987 claiming that it had documentary proof of the payoffs in four installments to Indian accounts in Swiss Banks and it had checked with Skand ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... You show us any evidence that there has been involvement of middlemen, of payoffs or of bribes or commissions, we will take action and we will see that nobody however high-up is allowed to go free. 12. The then Defence Minister following the assurance made by the then Prime Minister stated: The Prime Minister has already intervened on a number of occasions and has said that there are no charges at the moment and if evidence is asked for then we shall look into it. We shall inquire into it and if somebody is found guilty we will punish him. This is the essence of what Members have been asking. 13. During the course of the discussion in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, several members demanded a probe with full details by a Parliamentary Committee. When the matter stood thus on 4th June 1987, the Swedish Embassy in India, forwarded a copy of the Report dated 1st June 1987 of the Swedish National Audit Bureau (SNAB for short) with a note to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, stating that what was made available to the Government of India was only one part of the Report of SNAB but not report in its entirety and the rest was withheld by the Government of Sweden ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 30 elected members - 20 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha for making the inquiry into the following matters: (i) Whether the procedures laid down for the acquisition of weapons and systems, were adhered to in the purchase of the Before' gun; (ii) to ascertain the identity of the persons who received, and the purpose for which they received, payments of the following amounts: (a) SEK 170-250 million (b) SEK 29.5 million (c) SEK 2.5 million from M/s. Before (as referred to in the Report of the Swedish National Audit Bureau, received by the Government of India on June 4, 1987); (iii) arising out of the enquiry, if there is prima facie evidence that M/s. Before have in addition to payments mentioned in (ii) above, made any other payments for securing the Indian contracts, the identity of the persons who received such payments shall be ascertained; (iv) to determine if any Indian laws/rules/regulations have been violated either by M/s. Before or by persons as indicated in (ii) and (iii) above. 18. Of the elected members, two members by name Shri Mahabir Prasad and Smt. Sumati Oraon resigned w.e.f. 16.3.1988. One other member, Dr. K.G. Adiyodi died and t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -B read with Sections 161, 162, 163, 164 and 165-A of the Indian Penal Code read with Sections 5(2), 5(1)(d) and 5(2)/5(1)(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 read with Sections 409, 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code against 14 accused of whom three are named, they being (1) Shri Martin Ardbo, former President of M/s. A.B. Before, Sweden, (2) Shri. Chadha alias Win Chadha, S/o Shri Assa Nand, President of M/s. Anatronic General Corporation/Anatronic General Companies Ltd., C/4, Main Market, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi and Shri G.P. Hinduja, New Zealand House, Hay Market, London SW-1. The rest of the 11 accused are stated in general as directors/employees/holders/beneficiaries of account code and public servants of the Government of India. The preface of the First Information Report shows that the case was registered on the basis of reliable information received from certain sources, certain facts and circumstances that have become available, through media reports dated 1st June 1987 of the Swedish National Audit Bureau, certain facts contained in the report dated 22nd April 1988 of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and the report dated 28th April 1988 of the Com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... breach of trust, cheating, forgery and using of forged documents. It appears that the CBI has commenced its investigation during the course of which it has recorded statements of witnesses and took into its custody various documents and files relating to this Before deal. 25. While it was so, the CBI moved an application before the Special Judge, namely, Shri R.C. Jain requesting to issue a letter rogatory/request to Switzerland urgently for getting the necessary assistance so that the investigation can be conducted in Switzerland lest very important and relevant evidence would remain uncollected and the cause of justice would be frustrated. 26. Be it noted, the compelling reasons which necessitated the CBI to file that application have already been given in brief in our earlier order dated 27th August 1991 reported in [1991] 3 SCC 756. Therefore, we are not repeating those facts in this final judgment. The Special Judge after hearing the then Additional Solicitor General of India, Deputy Legal Advisor of CBI and Senior Public Prosecutor allowed that application by his order dated 5th February 1990. The relevant portion of which reads thus: In the result, the application ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r dated 18th August 1990 observing thus: It goes without saying that Letter Rogatory had been issued by Shri R.C. Jain, then Special Judge, Delhi on recording his satisfaction that it should be issued. The petitioner has appended along with the application the copy of the order passed by the Cantonal Court, Geneva. It is accompanied by its English translation. It clearly recites that application for judicial assistance should be sent back after completing the procedural formalities mentioned in the order. It cannot, therefore, be said that the letter of request had been rejected. It further does not call for any fresh reconsideration in this regard pertaining to the order passed by my learned predecessor. 30. Coming to the question of locus standi of Shri Harinder Singh Chowdhary to file this petition requesting the prayers mentioned ibid, the learned Judge held thus: Examining the present case on the touch-stone of the above mentioned cases, it is clear that though petitioner is a member of the noble profession, but while the matter is still at investigating stage, he cannot be permitted to intervene and the doors of the Court will not be ajar for him. He has no direct in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... High Court of Delhi, Several applications were taken before him by the impending interveners seeking several prayers such as permitting them to implead themselves in the revision proceedings and affording them adequate opportunities to make their submissions before the Court opposing the revision petition. As the prayers of the interveners were not acceded to, the Janata Dal etc. filed a special leave petition (criminal) No. 2320 of 1990 before this Court which passed an order on 10th December 1990, the relevant portion of which is as follows: ...We are of the view that the learned Judge should dispose of these applications by a judicial order before the matter is reserved for judgment and in case the applications are not accepted, judgment should not be delivered for at least 2 days after such an order on these writ petitions (sic on the revision petition) is made to enable them to move this Court. 35. In compliance of the above direction of this Court, Mr. Justice Chawla heard Mr. Ram Jethmalani, Sr. counsel who appeared on behalf of Janata Dal and Mr. Prashant Bhushan. It appears Mr. Jethmalani was constrained to make a request to Mr. Justice Chawla to refuse himself from ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... standing relied upon by the trial court was contrary to the Municipal law of the land and is violative of Article 21 and 300-A of the Constitution of India. (5) That the CBI is not a legally constituted force which can be entrusted with the investigation; and (6) That the investigation on the face of it is biased and influenced by outside agencies. So, I sue motu take cognizance while exercising my powers under Sections 397 and 401 read with Section 482 of the Code, and direct the office to register the case under the title, court on its own motion vs. State and CBI. Consequently, I call upon the CBI and the State to show cause as to why the proceedings initiated on the filing of FIR No. RCI (A)/90/ACU-IV dated 22.1.90, pending in the court of Shri V.S. Aggarwal, Special Judge, Delhi, be not quashed. 37. Feeling aggrieved by the above order of Justice Chawla of Delhi High Court, all these criminal appeals and the Writ petition have been filed before this Court. This Court on 20th December 1990 in Criminal Appeal No. 304 of 1991 (arising out of SLP Criminal No. 2476 of 1990 filed by the Janata Dal) passed the following order granting interim stay: In the meantime, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... v. State and CBI cannot be sustained. Consequent upon the above conclusions No. (4), we hold that the directions of Mr. Justice M.K. Chawla calling upon the CBI and the State to show cause as to why the proceedings initiated on the strength of the first information report dated January 22, 1990 be not quashed, cannot be sustained. In the result, we agree with the first part of the order dated December 19, 1990 of Mr. Justice M.K. Chawla holding that parties have no locus standi. We, however, set aside the second part of the impugned order whereby he has taken suo motu cognizance and issued show-cause notice to the State and CBI and accordingly the show-cause notice issued by him is quashed. In view of the above conclusions, all the proceedings initiated in pursuance of the first information report dated January 22, 1990 relating to Crime No. RC/(A)/90/ ACU-IV on the file of the Special Judge, Delhi including the issuance of the letter rogatory/request as they stand now, remain unaffected and they can be proceeded with in accordance with law. In Summation Criminal Appeal Nos. 304, 305, 306, 307, 308 and 309 of 1991 are dismissed. Criminal Appeal No. 310 of 1991 filed by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ischarge of the judicial functions to issue directions or pass appropriate orders without causing prejudice to either of the parties for administering substantial justice whenever legitimate occasion for doing so arises, 2. The discretionary power of the Special Judge in issuing Letter Rogatory on 5.2.1990 even before the introduction of Section 166-A of the CrPC (hereinafter referred to as the Code ) in exercise of his uninhibited inherent powers is supported by the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) creating a contractual arrangement between the two countries, namely, India and Switzerland which arrangement amounts to bilateral international treaty having a binding force between the two contracting parties and also in substantial compliance of Section 285 of the Code. 3. Criminal Courts are not forbidden in participating in the course of investigation in the matter of collection of evidence; and in fact the Courts are invested with statutory power to take active role and aid the investigation in gathering evidence as contemplated under Sections 91, 93, 94, 105 (as amended by the Amending Act XXXII of 1988), 284, 285 etc. of the Code as well as under Sections 156(3), 157, 15 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t the grounds taken in the petition filed by Mr. H.S. Chowdhary before the Special Judge were only with reference to issue of Letter Rogatory and the authority of the CBI to register a case in the absence of any named public servant being brought as accused in the FIR and the power of CBI to investigate the case since the JPC had already rendered its findings on the subject-matter in issue. One other contention was that the registration of the case was on account of political rivalry entertained by the Janata Dal Government as against the outgoing Congress Government. 45. The Special Judge disposed of the petition holding, Shri H.S. Chowdhary has no locus standi to claim the reliefs sought for in the petition. In the revision petition, Mr. H.S. Chowdhary took certain additional grounds stating that the First Information Report has not disclosed the commission of any cognizable offence and the CBI has gone wrong in registering the FIR in the absence of any additional evidence which were not available before the JPC and that the Letter Rogatory ought not have been issued without recording evidence. The High Court dismissed the revision petition as being not maintainable on the s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ified by the verdict now sought to be obtained by these public interest litigants. 47. However, as we have expressed our view that the question as to whether laws are so petrified as to be unable to respond to the challenges made will be dealt with in detail in our main judgment, we have to examine the law as regards the scope and ambit of public interest litigation and the power of the High Court in taking suo motu cognizance in exercise of its powers under Section 397 and 401 read with Section 482 of the Code which are the general issues as indicated by us in our earlier Order. 48. We hasten to add that we will not be justified to make disembodied pronouncements or any observation on seriously disputed questions of law and facts taking its cue from mere affidavits, that too not from the person aggrieved or affected and without the battle lines being properly drawn by the affected parties. 49. We shall now briefly deal with the scope and object of 'public interest litigation' (PIL), the horizon of which is widely extended and which at present constitutes a new chapter in justice delivery system acquiring a significant degree of importance in the modern legal juri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e case on hand to analyze both the basic features and the evolution and profound transformation of the developing and growing PIL in modern society. Suffice it to say that the challenges facing this ameliorable litigation are examined in the light of their social, economic, political and ideological causes; and that the solutions to be adopted by the legal system to meet those challenges are explored, since there is still an ocean of unmet needs. These challenges are : (1) The expanded role of Courts in the modern 'social' state and the new demands for judicial responsibility; (2) the rise and growth of varied systems of judicial review and the legitimacy of such development; (3) the emergence of the notion of 'access to justice' as a judicial answer to egalitarian ideals and demands for effectiveness, and the development of PIL, and (4) the role of courts in promoting the legal system in the arena of PIL. The relentless efforts taken by courts in meeting all those challenges, in fact, strive for a optimally in which the interest of the least advantaged is given an overriding priority. During the last three decades, judicial activism has opened up new dimension for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng vindication of its rights has been recognised in various parts of the world. 56. The emergence of the concept of PIL, in the Indian legal system has been succinctly explained by P.N. Bhagwati, J. (as he then was) in one of his articles contributed under the caption 'Social Action Litigation: The Indian Experience' thus: The judiciary has to play a vital and important role not only in preventing and remedying abuse the misuse of power but also in eliminating exploitation and injustice. For this purpose it is necessary to make procedural innovations in order to meet the challenges posed by this new role of an active and committed judiciary. The summit judiciary in India, keenly alive to its social responsibility and accountably to the people of the country, has liberated itself from the shackles of Western thought, made innovative use of the power of judicial review, forged new tools, devised new methods and fashioned new strategies for the purpose of bringing justice for socially and economically disadvantaged groups.... ... During the last four or five years however, judicial activism has opened up a new dimension for the judicial process and has given new ho ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aker. Less litigation, consistent with fair process, is the aim of adjectival law. 59. After the germination of the seeds of the concept of PIL in the soil of our judicial system, this rule of PIL was nourished, nurtured and developed by the Apex Court of this land by a series of outstanding decisions. 60. In Fertilizer Co-option Kamgar Union v. Union of India the terminology public interest litigation was used. In that decision, Krishna Iyer, J. delivering his opinion for Bhagwati, J. (as the learned Chief Justice then was) and himself used the expression 'epistolary' jurisdiction. However, this rule on gaining momentum day by day, burgeoned more and more expanding its branches in the cosmos of PIL and took its root firmly in the Indian Judiciary and fully blossomed with fragrant smell in S.P. Gupta v. Union of India . Locus Standi 61. Though it is imperative to lay down clear guidelines and propositions; and outline the correct parameters for entertaining a Public Interest Litigation - particularly on the issue of locus standi yet no hard and fast rules have yet been formulated and no comprehensive guidelines have been evolved. There is also one view that su ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to recall the observation of this Court in People's Union for Democratic Rights and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors. which reads thus: But the traditional rule of standing which confines access to the judicial process only to those to whom legal injury is caused or legal wrong is done has now been jettisoned by this Court and the narrow confines within which the rule of standing was imprisoned for long years as a result of inheritance of the Anglo-Saxon System of jurisprudence have been broken and a new dimension has been given to the doctrine of locus standi which has revolutionised the whole concept of access to justice in a way not known before to the western system of jurisprudence... it is therefore necessary to evolve a new strategy by relaxing this traditional rule of standing in order that justice may become easily available to the lowly and the lost. 66. R.S. Pathak, J. (as the learned Chief Justice then was) while agreeing with the directions proposed by Bhagwati, J. (as the learned Chief Justice then was) in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India and Ors. [1984] 2 SCR 65 at 159 expressed his view stating, in public interest litigation, the role held by Court is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... forcement of the constitutional or legal rights of socially or economically disadvantaged persons who on account of their poverty or total ignorance of their fundamental rights are unable to enter the portals of the courts for judicial redress, yet no precise and inflexible working definition has been evolved in respect of locus standi of an individual seeking judicial remedy and various activities in the field of PIL. Probably, some reservation and diversity of approach to the philosophy of PIL among some of the Judges of this Court as reflected from the various decisions of this Court, is one of the reasons for this Court finding it difficult to evolve a consistent jurisprudence in the field of PIL. True, in defining the rule of locus standi no 'rigid litmus test' can be applied since the broad contours of PIL are still developing apace seemingly with divergent views on several aspects of the concept of this newly developed law and discovered jurisdiction leading to a rapid transformation of judicial activism with a far reaching change both in the nature and form of the judicial process. 69. In this context, it would be quite relevant to recite the observations made by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Lord Denning, MR while dealing with the case of a realtors action observed as follows: In the light of all this I am of the opinion that, in the last resort, if the Attorney General refuses leave in a proper case, or improperly or unreasonably delays in giving leave or his machinery works too slowly, then a member of the public, who has a sufficient interest, can himself apply to the court itself. He can apply for a declaration and, in a proper case, for an injunction, joining the Attorney General if need be, as defendant. In these days when government departments and public authorities have such great powers and influence, this is a most important safeguard for the ordinary citizens of this country; so that they can see that those great powers and influence are exercised in accordance with law. I would not restrict the circumstances in which an individual may be held to have a sufficient interest.... I have said so much because I regard it as a matter of high constitutional principle that if there is good ground for supposing that a government department or a public authority is transgressing the law, or is about to transgress it, in a way which offends or injures thousands of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... l action by the Attorney General as an Officer of the Crown representing the public and that a private person was not entitled to bring an action in his own name for the purpose of preventing public wrongs and, therefore, the Court had no jurisdiction to grant relief, whether interlocutory or final or whether by way of an injunction or declaration, in such an action. 75. This decision evoked serious debate and was subjected to severe criticism by the jurists in England and elsewhere. 76. So far as the newly invented concept of PIL in Indian legal system is concerned, we can be proud of saying that there is a tremendous development and dynamic progress in the cosmos of PIL in spite of multiple criticism levelled against the various aspects of PIL. The melioration of the philosophy of PIL is demonstrably radiated by the long line of decisions, a few of which we will presently refer to. 77. This Court in Sunil Batra (II) v. Delhi Administration has accepted a letter written to the Supreme Court by one Sunil Batra, a prisoner from Tihar Jail, Delhi complaining that the Jail Warder had subjected another prisoner serving life term in the same jail to inhuman torture. This Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ess and legality of the decision of the Bombay Municipal Corporation to demolish the dwellings of the slum hutments on several grounds, one of which being violation of Article 21 of the Constitution. These Writ Petitions were heard by a Constitution Bench of this Court in Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation . The respondent challenged the very maintainability of the Writ Petitions. Chandrachud, CJ. speaking for the Constitution Bench rejecting the challenge of the respondent therein entertained those petitions and held that the right to life conferred by Article 21 is of wide sweep and far reaching and one of the facets of such right is the right to livelihood. 83. In Ramsharan Autyanuprasi v. Union of India [1989] Supp. 1 SCC 251 a writ petition was registered under Article 32 of the Constitution on the basis of a petition addressed by the writ petitioners to one of the learned Judges of this Court as a Public Interest Litigation but Mukherji, J. (the learned CJ. as he then was) speaking for the Bench dismissed the Writ Petition holding: ...the allegations are too vague, too indirect and too tenuous to threaten the quality of life of people at large or any section of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rious concern for conservation of public resources and the direction and correction of public power so as to promote justice in its triune facets.... 87. In National Textile Workers' Union etc. v. P.R. Ramakrishnan and Ors. Bhagwati, J. (as he then was) speaking for the majority expressed his view that the workers of a company are entitled to appear at the hearing of the winding up petition whether to support or to oppose it and they have a locus standi to appear and he heard both before the petition is admitted and an order for advertisement is made as also after the admission and advertisement of the petition until an order is made for winding up the company. A.N. Sen, J dissented from the above view. 88. In passing, it may be stated that in A.R. Antulay v. Ramdas Sriniwas Nayak this Court observed the Locus standi of the complainant is a concept foreign to criminal jurisprudence save and except that where the statute creating an offence provides for the eligibility of the complainant, by necessary implication the general principle gets excluded by such statutory provision. Reference also may be made to: (1) D.S. Nakara v. Union of India (decision of a Constituti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ess or disability or socially or economically disadvantaged position, unable to approach the court for relief, any member of the public can maintain an application for an appropriate directions, order or writ in the High Court under Article 226 and in case of breach of any fundamental light of such person or determinate class of persons, in this Court under Article 32 seeking judicial redress for the legal wrong or injury caused to such person or determinate class of persons.... This Court will readily respond even to a letter addressed by such individual acting pro bona publico. It is true that there are rules made by this Court prescribing the procedure for moving this Court for relief under Article 32 and they require various formalities to be gone through by a person seeking to approach this Court. But it must not be forgotten that procedure is but a handmaiden of justice and the cause of justice can never be allowed to be thwarted by any procedural technicalities. The court would therefore unhesitatingly and without the slightest qualms of conscience cast aside the technical rules of procedure in the exercise of its dispensing power and treat the letter of public-minded indivi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ed in general with the view expressed by Bhagwati, J. on the question of locus standi. However, Desai, J. added a note saying that the contention about locus standi is now of academic interest and I do not propose to deal with it. However, I am in full agreement with learned Bhagwati, J. 95. However, Venkataramiah, J. (as the learned Chief Justice then was) in his separate judgment with regard to the question of locus standi of lawyers in filing petitions in respect of matters concerning judges, courts and administration of justice has registered his opinion thus: It has, however, to be made clear that it cannot be said that lawyers only because they have a right to practise in a court have 'locus standi' to file petitions in respect of every matter concerning judges, courts and administration of justice. There are many such matters in which have no 'locus standi' to ask for relief. By way of illustration, lawyers cannot question the establishment of a new court on the ground that their professional prospects would be affected thereby. Even in these cases on the question of non-appointment of Mr. S.N. Kumar and on the question of transfer of Mr. K.B.N. Singh, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ess to be abused by a mere busybody or a meddlesome interloper or wayfarer or officious intervener without any interest or concern except for personal gain or private profit or other oblique consideration. 99. In Gupta's case (supra) Bhagwati, J emphatically pointed out that the relaxation of the rule of locus standi in the field of PIL does not give any right to a busybody or meddlesome interloper to approach the court under the guise of a public interest litigant. He has also left the following note of caution; But we must be careful to see that the member of the public, who approaches the court in cases of this kind, is acting bona fide and not for personal gain or private profit or political motivation or other oblique consideration. The court must not allow its process to be abused by politicians and others to delay legitimate administrative action or to gain a political objective.... 100. In State of H.P. v. Parent of a Student it has been said that public interest litigation is a weapon which has to be used with great care and circumspection. 101. Khalid, J. in his separate supplementing judgment in Sachidanand Pandey v. State of West Bengal [1987] SCC 295 an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n, they are actuated by a desire to win notoriety or cheap popularity; while the ulterior intent of some applicants in this category, may be no more than spooking the wheels of adminstration. The High Court should do well to reject the applications of such busybodies at the threshold. 105. Krishna Iyer, J in Fertilizer Corporation v. Union of India (supra) in stronger term stated: If a citizen is no more than a wayfarer or officious intervener without any interest or concern beyond what belongs to any one of the 660 million people of this country, the door of the court will not be ajar for him. 106. In Chhetriya Pardushan Mukti Sangharsh Samiti v. State of U.P. Sabyasachi Mukharji, C.J. observed: While it is the duty of this Court to enforce fundamental rights, it is also the duty of this Court to ensure that this weapon under Article 32 should not be misused or per milled to be misused creating a bottleneck in the Superior Court preventing other genuine violation of fundamental rights being considered by the Court. 107. In a recent decision of this Court in Union Carbide Corporation and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors. Ranganath Mishra, C.J, in his separate judgment ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der the colour of PIL brought before the court for vindicating any personal grievance, deserves rejection at the threshold. 110. It is depressing to note that on account of such trumpery proceedings initiated before the Courts, innumerable days are wasted which time otherwise could have been spent for the disposal of cases of the genuine litigants. Though we are second to none in fostering and developing the newly invented concept of PIL and extending our long arm sympathy to the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed and the needy whose fundamental rights are infringed and violated and whose grievances go unnoticed, unrepresented and unheard; yet we cannot avoid but express our opinion that while genuine litigants with legitimate grievances relating to civil matters involving properties worth hundreds of millions of rupees and criminal cases in which persons sentenced to death facing gallows under untold agony and persons sentenced to life imprisonment and kept in incarceration for long years, persons suffering from the undue delay in service matters, Government or private persons awaiting the disposal of tax cases wherein huge amounts of public revenue or unauthorised collection of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ad which is devoted to uphold the Rule of Law and fight against injustice, has got a fundamental duty to inform the court regarding the activation of the complainant (CBI) in the aforesaid case which has tarnished the image, credibility of the nation and has also lowered the national prestige . According to him, the prosecution has been malevolently launched with rancour, stimulated by political vendetta after Shri V.P. Singh became the Prime Minister, who with his colleagues have attributed mendacious charges publicly, that there was payment of kickbacks and receipt of price from Before. 114. The sum and substance of the inculpation as gathered from the averments made in the petition and the submissions made by Mr. Bhagat on behalf of H.S. Chowdhary, in short, are that those who were at the helm of affairs in the then Government during January 1990 in their attempt to lock horns with those who were in power of the then outgoing Government with mala fide intention of vindicating their electoral rivalry have been instrumental in registration of the FIR containing the unveracious and vile charges by using every possible trick and ruse at their command and disposal and making voci ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Swiss Banks should not be frozen. He also says the very purpose of filing this petition by Mr. Chowdhary for quashing the proceedings is only to stultify and frustrate the proceedings against the accused. He further states that when the scandal of Before' affairs involving clandestine payoffs at the highest level which has come to light and surfaced by the Swedish Radio Broadcast, has assumed mammoth proportion, Mr. Chowdhary pretentiously claiming to be a crusader for justice in the name of propone publico has filed this benami litigation at the instance of the holders of foreign bank accounts and is attempting to thwart and stall the proceedings by masquerading the accused persons as paragons of virtue. 117. Mr. Anand Dev Giri, the learned Solicitor General stating that Public Interest Litigation is not in the nature of adversarial litigation and it is intended to promote and vindicate public interest which demands that violation of constitutional or legal rights of large number of people who are poor, ignorant or in a socially or economically disadvantaged position, should not go unnoticed and unredressed. According to him, the very litigation itself is not within the def ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 9; get justice from the Indian Courts. From whichever angle we survey and audit the contentions in both the petitions before the Courts below and the petition Bled before this Court, there can be no escape except to come to the conclusion that Mr. Chowdhary has no locus standi at all to file these petitions, as found by the Courts below. 121. In this connection, we would like to add a few words about the dismissal of the applications of the interveners. 122. The High Court rejected the applications of the interveners as having no right to be impleaded as a consequence of the dismissal of the petition of H.S. Chowdhary on the ground that he has no locus standi. We too in our earlier Order having held that H.S. Chowdhary has no locus standi to file the petition or to invoke the revisional or extraordinary inherent jurisdiction of the High Court under Sections 397 and 482 of the CrPC respectively and that the petition under Article 51-A of the Constitution cannot come within the true meaning and scope of public interest litigation, dismissed the applications of the interveners holding thus: Consequent upon the above conclusions (1) and (2), the appellants namely, Janata Dal, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e directed the office to register the case under the title, Court on its own motion v. State and CBI .... 126. We are pained to note that Justice M.K. Chawla has taken an extreme view that the Court can take judicial notice of any illegality being committed by any court with a view to prevent the injury being caused to the known or unknown aggrieved party , even when the investigation is at its threshold. The very sentence which we have quoted above is indicative of the fact that the learned Judge in order to protect any possible injury that might be caused either during the investigation or on the culmination of the criminal proceedings to the known or unknown aggrieved party has determined to take suo moto cognizance and proceed with the matter, by virtually stepping into the shoes of the accused parties both present and prospective. 127. Now let us briefly cogitate over the legal issue relating to the revisional and inherent jurisdiction of the High Court to call for the records and examine the records of any proceeding before any inferior criminal court within its jurisdiction for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any findi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... se, anxious attention being given to the said facts and circumstances which vary greatly from case to case. 131. Section 482 which corresponds to Section 561A of the old Code and to Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code proceeds on the same principle and deals with the inherent powers of the High Court. The rule of inherent powers has its source in the maxim Quadolex a liquid alicia concedit, conceder videtur id sine quo ipso, ess uon protest which means that when the law gives anything to anyone, it gives also all those things without which the thing itself could not exist. 132. The criminal Courts are clothed with inherent power to make such orders as may be necessary for the ends of justice. Such power though unrestricted and undefined should not be capriciously or arbitrarily exercised, but should be exercised in appropriate cases, ex debito justitiae to do real and substantial justice for the administration of which alone the Courts exist. 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. Courts must be careful to see that its decision in exercise of this powe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... produced before the Court and the issues involved whether factual or legal are of great magnitude and cannot be seen in their true perspective without sufficient material. Of course, no hard and fast rule can be laid down in regard to the cases in which the High Court will exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction to quashing the proceedings at any stage. This Court in State of Haryana and Ors. v. Ch. Bhajan Lal and Ors. [1990] 3 Supp. SCR 256 to which both of us were parties have dealt with this question at length and enunciated the law listing out the circumstances under which the High Court can exercise its jurisdiction in quashing proceedings. We do not, therefore, think it necessary in the present case to extensively deal with the import and intendment of the powers under Sections 397, 401 and 482 of the Code. 138. The question that arises for our consideration is whether Mr. Justice M.K. Chawla in exercise of this inherent power is justified in directing the office of the High Court to register a case so that he could exercise his discretionary revisional and inherent powers. The text and tenor of the impugned Order spells out that the initiation of the suo moto proceedings ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ision suo moto. 143. On carefully going through all the three decisions, we unhesitatingly hold that none of the decisions would be of any help to the facts of the present case. 144. The inherent power of a High Court to stay proceedings has been repeatedly debated in many English Court and a majority of the judgments has stressed that the power of staving proceedings should be reserved only for exceptional cases. We are not inclined to refer all those English decisions except a few. 145. In Connelly v. D.P.P. 1964 A.C. 1254, Lord Ried at page 1296 expressed his view there must always be a residual discretion to prevent anything which savours of abuse of process with which view all the members of the House of Lords agreed but differed as to whether this entitled a Court to stay a lawful prosecution. 146. The inherent power of a Court to stay proceedings was again the subject of debate in D.P.P. v. Humphreys 1977 A.C. 1. 147. Most of the decisions of the English cases laid down the dictum that only in cases where there is substantial amount of delay or potential abuse of process or vexatious prosecution or the proceedings tainted with malice etc. alone the Court can ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s observed thus: Although the Chief Officers of police are answerable to the law, there are many fields in which they have a discretion with which the law will not interfere. For instance, it is for the Commissioner of Police or the Chief Constable as the case may be, to decide in any particular case whether enquiries should be pursued, or whether an arrest should be made or a prosecution brought. It must be for him to decide on the disposition of his force and the concentration of his resources on any particular crime or area. No court can or should give him direction on such a matter. 150. This Court in Jehan Singh v. Delhi Administration held that when the First Information Report discloses the commission of a cognizable offence, the statutory power of the Police to investigate the cognizable offence cannot be interfered with in exercise of the inherent power of the Court. 151. Chandrachud, J. (as he then was) in Kurukshetra University and Anr. v. State of Haryana pointed out thus: Inherent powers do not confer an arbitrary jurisdiction on the High Court to act according to whim or caprice. That statutory power has to be exercised sparingly, with circumspection and i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... onal liberty and also property of a citizen, then the Court on being approached by the person aggrieved for the redress of any grievance, has to consider the nature and extent of the breach and pass appropriate orders as may be called for without leaving the citizens to the mercy of police echelons since human dignity is a dear value of our Constitution. 155. See also Jasbhai Motibhai Desai v. Roshan Kumar ; Amar Nath v. State of Haryana and State of Bihar v. V.P. Shama [1991] 1 Scale 539. 156. Sawant, J. in his submission note in Kekoo J. Maneckji v. Union of India 1980 (86) Cr, L.J, 258 has has expressed bis opinion thus: This is admittedly a stage where the prosecuting agency is still investigation the offences and collecting evidence against the accused. The petitioner, who is the accused, has therefore, no locus standi at this stage to question the manner in which the evidence should be collected. The law of this country does not give any right to the accused to control, or interfere with the collection of evidence. 157. The Seven-Judges Full Bench of the Allahabad High Court went into the matter very exhaustively in Ram Lal Yadav v. State of U.P. 1989 (95) Crl. LJ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be thoroughly investigated and the guilty, whoever they may be punished , and thereafter the then Prime Minster on 20th April 1987 declared that if any evidence proving the involvement of middlemen or payoffs or of bribes or commissions are brought, the Government will not hesitate to take action and will not allow anybody, however, high-up to go free which statement was subsequently re-asserted by the Minister of Defence. The excerpts of both the statements in the Parliament, have been cited in the earlier part of this judgment. 161. While so, it shocks our judicial conscience that Mr. Justice M.K. Chawla before whom no aggrieved or affected party had come challenging the FIR, has taken suo moto action and recorded such a categorical assertion that 'no offence' thereby meaning muchless a cognizable offence is made out in the FIR. 162. As pointed out in Nirmaljit Singh Hoon v. State of West Bengal that once an investigation by the police is ordered by a Magistrate under Section 156(3) of the Code, the Magistrate cannot place any limitations or direct the officer conducting it as to how to conduct the investigation. When that is the position of law, Mr. Justice M.K. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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