Section 482 CrPC cannot ordinarily quash summons issued during a pending excise and customs inquiry.

Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is not ordinarily available to quash summons issued in aid of a pending inquiry under the Central Excise Act, 1944 and the Customs Act, 1962. Where the summons are issued under Section 14 of the Central Excise Act and Section 108 of the Customs Act during an ongoing inquiry, the inquiry may be treated as a judicial proceeding only for the limited purpose in Section 14(3) of the Central Excise Act. As no court process was under challenge and the matter concerned a pending inquiry, the application was held not maintainable, leaving the applicants to pursue other available remedies.

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Issues: Whether the High Court could invoke its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to quash summons issued in aid of a pending inquiry under the Central Excise and Customs laws.

Analysis: The application challenged summons issued by the excise authorities during an ongoing inquiry. The jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 is intended to prevent abuse of process of a court, but it cannot ordinarily be used to interfere with an investigation or inquiry already pending. The summons were issued under Section 14 of the Central Excise Act, 1944 and Section 108 of the Customs Act, 1962, and the inquiry was treated as a judicial proceeding for the limited purpose indicated in Section 14(3) of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Since no court process was under challenge and the matter concerned a pending inquiry, the application was held to be not maintainable.

Conclusion: The application for quashing the summons was not maintainable under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and was dismissed. The applicants were left to pursue remedy under Article 226 or Article 227 of the Constitution of India or any other available legal remedy.

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