Power to stay investigation under inherent jurisdiction is...

Power to stay investigation under inherent jurisdiction is confined to rare cases of miscarriage of justice or where an FIR discloses no cognizable offence; on surface evaluation the FIR here disclosed prima facie cognizable offences, so no stay or interim protection was granted. A subsequent FIR was held permissible where its allegations and scope materially differed from an earlier FIR. Issuance of non-bailable warrants was sustained because material indicated the accused evaded lawful process. Parallel civil or company remedies did not bar criminal proceedings where prima facie criminality is shown and the complaint was not a colourable device.

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