2006 (8) TMI 670
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....g the FIR is that the CBI had no jurisdiction to register the FIR under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (in short the 'Act'). FIR was registered by Shri Rajiv Sharma, Superintendent of Police, Jaipur at the Police Station, CBI on the information received through some sources as in regard to certain advertisements involving criminal conspiracy resulting in the commission of offences noted above. 2. Respondent no.1 filed the petition before the High Court questioning legality of the proceedings. 3. With reference to Sections 3, 5 and 6 of the Act, the respondent no.1 took the stand that the CBI had no jurisdiction to register the case. In substance the stands were: (a) consent necessary by the concerned State for operation of the Act had been withdrawn as is evident from the letter dated 26.6.1999 of the Special Officer (Home), Secretary, Department in response to the letter dated 21.11.1989 written by the Government of India, Department of Personnel and Training, New Delhi. (b) consent of the State Government which was given in 1956 was extended in 1989 after the PC Act was promulgated but subsequently the State Government had not con....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....It envisages three circumstances under which the inherent jurisdiction may be exercised, namely, (i) to give effect to an order under the Code, (ii) to prevent abuse of the process of court, and (iii) to otherwise secure the ends of justice. It is neither possible nor desirable to lay down any inflexible rule which would govern the exercise of inherent jurisdiction. 7. No legislative enactment dealing with procedure can provide for all cases that may possibly arise. Courts, therefore, have inherent powers apart from express provisions of law which are necessary for proper discharge of functions and duties imposed upon them by law. That is the doctrine which finds expression in the section which merely recognizes and preserves inherent powers of the High Courts. All courts, whether civil or criminal possess, in the absence of any express provision, as inherent in their constitution, all such powers as are necessary to do the right and to undo a wrong in course of administration of justice on the principle "quando lex aliquid alicui concedit, concedere videtur et id sine quo res ipsae esse non potest" (when the law gives a person anything it gives him th....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....mbark upon an enquiry whether the evidence in question is reliable or not or whether on a reasonable appreciation of it accusation would not be sustained. That is the function of the trial Judge. Judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression, or, needless harassment. Court should be circumspect and judicious in exercising discretion and should take all relevant facts and circumstances into consideration before issuing process, lest it would be an instrument in the hands of a private complainant to unleash vendetta to harass any person needlessly. At the same time the section is not an instrument handed over to an accused to short-circuit a prosecution and bring about its sudden death. The scope of exercise of power under Section 482 of the Code and the categories of cases where the High Court may exercise its power under it relating to cognizable offences to prevent abuse of process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice were set out in some detail by this Court in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal (1992 Supp (1) 335). A note of caution was, however, added that the power should be exercised sparingly and that too in rarest of rare cases. The illustrative ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....ly refrain from giving a prima facie decision in a case where the entire facts are incomplete and hazy, more so when the evidence has not been collected and produced before the Court and the issues involved, whether factual or legal, are of 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 cases in which the High Court will exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction of quashing the proceeding at any stage. (See: Janata Dal v. H. S. Chowdhary (1992 (4) SCC 305), and Raghubir Saran (Dr.) v. State of Bihar (AIR 1964 SC 1). It would not be proper for the High Court to analyse the case of the complainant in the light of all probabilities in order to determine whether a conviction would be sustainable and on such premises arrive at a conclusion that the proceedings are to be quashed. It would be erroneous to assess the material before it and conclude that the complaint cannot be proceeded with. In a proceeding instituted on complaint, exercise of the inherent powers to quash the proceedings is called for only in a case where the complaint does not disclose any offence or is frivolous, vexatious ....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....by the Central Government specifying the offences under FERA to be investigated by the members of DSPE. It is also not in dispute that a notification dated October 26, 1977 by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, has been issued in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (1) of Section 5 read with Section 6 of DSPE Act. By the said notification the Central Government, with consent of the various State Governments as mentioned in the said notification including the State Government of Rajasthan, has extended the powers and jurisdiction of the members of DSPE, inter alia, to the State of Rajasthan for the investigation of the offences specified in the Schedule to the said notification. In the schedule under Clause (a), offences punishable under the FERA and under Clause (b) attempts, abatements and conspiracies in relation to or in connection with any offence mentioned in Clause (a) and any other offence committed in the course of the same transaction arising out of the same facts have been mentioned. 22. It is, however, to be noted that under Section 2 of DSPE Act, the Central Government has been empo....
X X X X Extracts X X X X
X X X X Extracts X X X X
....nforcement. (2) Without prejudice to the provisions of Sub-section (1), the Central Government may authorise a Director of Enforcement or an Additional Director of Enforcement or a Deputy Director of Enforcement or an Assistant Director of Enforcement to appoint officers of Enforcement below the rank of an Assistant Director of Enforcement. (3) Subject to such conditions and limitations as the Central Government may impose, an officer of Enforcement may exercise the powers and discharged the duties conferred or imposed on him under this Act. Section 5 - Entrustment of functions of Director or other officer of Enforcement: The Central Government may, by order and subject to such conditions and limitations as it thinks fit to impose, authorise any officer of customs or any Central Excise Officer or any police officer or any other officer of the Central Government or a State Government to exercise such of the powers and discharge such of the duties of the Director of Enforcement or any other officer of Enforcement under this Act as may be specified in the order. 27. In our view, such notifications under Sections 3 and 5 of DSPE Act are necessary for....
TaxTMI