Functus officio, judicial bias, and limits on CBI directions: final criminal proceedings cannot be reopened by inherent powers.

A criminal court becomes functus officio once a judgment is signed, and Section 362 of the Code of Criminal Procedure bars review or alteration except for clerical or arithmetical correction; Section 482 cannot be used to circumvent that prohibition. Allegations of judicial bias are tested by whether a fair-minded and informed person would reasonably apprehend bias, and unsupported suspicion is insufficient, though waiver may arise if no timely objection is taken. A constitutional court may order a CBI investigation only in exceptional circumstances, after hearing affected persons, and cannot direct a roving enquiry or assume jurisdiction beyond roster assignment. Orders made in excess of jurisdiction or under reasonable apprehension of bias are unsustainable.

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Issues: (i) whether the High Court's orders were vitiated by judicial bias and want of impartiality; (ii) whether, after disposal of the criminal appeal, the High Court could reopen the matter and entertain applications under Sections 362 and 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973; and (iii) whether the High Court could direct a CBI investigation and adopt the procedure directed in the impugned orders.

Issue (i): whether the High Court's orders were vitiated by judicial bias and want of impartiality.

Analysis: The governing test is not actual bias alone but whether a fair-minded and informed person would have a reasonable apprehension of bias. If such apprehension exists, the proceeding is vitiated as contrary to natural justice. At the same time, an allegation of bias must be assessed on the factual matrix and cannot rest on mere suspicion or unsupported inference. The doctrine of waiver applies where a party, knowing the material facts and the right to object, fails to raise the issue at the earliest.

Conclusion: The impugned proceedings were found to be tainted by bias and could not be sustained.

Issue (ii): whether, after disposal of the criminal appeal, the High Court could reopen the matter and entertain applications under Sections 362 and 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: Once a criminal judgment is signed, the court becomes functus officio and Section 362 creates an absolute bar against review or alteration except for clerical or arithmetical correction. The inherent power under Section 482 cannot be used to do what is expressly prohibited by the Code or to revive a finally disposed matter. Applications invoking inherent powers in a concluded appeal, without a legally permissible basis for recall, therefore cannot be entertained.

Conclusion: The High Court lacked jurisdiction to reopen the disposed criminal appeal and entertain the applications in that manner.

Issue (iii): whether the High Court could direct a CBI investigation and adopt the procedure directed in the impugned orders.

Analysis: A constitutional court may order CBI investigation only where a prima facie case exists, the affected person is heard, and exceptional circumstances justify such intervention. The court cannot direct a roving enquiry, dictate the manner of investigation, or impose a procedure not authorised by the Code. The power of a Bench is also controlled by roster allocation made by the Chief Justice, and a Bench cannot assume jurisdiction outside that assignment. The directions issued in the present case transgressed these limits and were beyond jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The directions for CBI investigation and the adopted procedure were held to be without jurisdiction and unsustainable.

Final Conclusion: The impugned orders could not stand in law, and the consequential investigation and FIR were liable to fall with them.

Ratio Decidendi: A criminal court, after becoming functus officio upon final disposal of a matter, cannot invoke inherent powers to reopen the case or direct a special investigation in a manner contrary to the Code, and any order made in excess of jurisdiction or under a reasonable apprehension of bias is a nullity.

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