Prima facie bigamy complaint justified issuance of process; inherent quashing power was not attracted at the threshold.

A complaint alleging a second marriage, supported by church records, hospital records and proposed witness evidence, was held to disclose a prima facie offence under Section 494 IPC for issuance of process. At the stage of process, the Magistrate examines only whether sufficient grounds exist to proceed; the admissibility, reliability and ultimate proof of the materials are not decided then. The High Court's inherent power under Section 482 CrPC was not attracted because the complaint did not show absence of essential ingredients, patent absurdity, inherent improbability, capricious exercise of discretion or any fundamental legal defect.

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Issues: Whether the complaint disclosed a prima facie offence under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 so as to justify issuance of process, and whether the High Court should exercise inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to quash the order issuing process.

Analysis: At the stage of issuing process, the Magistrate is concerned only with whether there are sufficient grounds for proceeding and not with the likelihood of conviction. The complaint contained specific allegations of a second marriage, supported by references to church records, hospital records, and the complainant's proposed evidence. The Court held that questions about the admissibility, reliability, or ultimate proof of those materials could not be decided at that stage. The complaint did not fall within the categories warranting interference, such as absence of essential ingredients, patent absurdity, inherent improbability, capricious exercise of discretion, or fundamental legal defect. The inherent jurisdiction of the High Court was therefore not attracted.

Conclusion: The complaint disclosed a prima facie case under Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and the order issuing process was not liable to be quashed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Ratio Decidendi: Inherent powers to quash a criminal process are to be exercised sparingly, and an order issuing process will not be interfered with where the complaint, taken at face value, discloses the essential ingredients of the offence and does not suffer from patent absurdity, inherent improbability, or a fundamental legal defect.

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