AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (4) TMI 1354
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....gainst the accused persons for the alleged offences on the ground that the CBI could not have undertaken further investigation under sub section (8) of Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (for short, 'the CrPC') and filed a chargesheet having once already submitted a final report under sub section (2) of the Section 173 of the CrPC (closure report)? In other words, whether the High Court was right in taking the view that the Special Court could not have taken cognizance upon the chargesheet filed by the CBI based on further investigation having once already filed a closure report in the past and the same having been accepted by the court concerned at the relevant point of time? FACTUAL MATRIX 4. The respondent No. 3 herein D. Dwarakanadha Reddy (Accused No. 1) joined the services of the Customs Department as a Preventive Officer in the year 1993. 5. In January, 2003, the respondent No. 3 was promoted as an Appraiser in Customs Department. 6. On 30.06.2006, the office of Superintendent of Police (CBI) was in receipt of the following information: (i) D. Dwarakanadha Reddy (A-1) was holding the post of Appraiser, Customs Department since 2004, and ....
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....FIR is closed and permitted to retain the documents collected during the investigation to be used in the regular Departmental Action against A1. Pronounced by me in the Open Court, this the 29th day of January 2009. Principal Spl. Judge for CBI Cases" 10. On 24.02.2012, departmental proceedings were initiated against the accused No. 1. 11. It appears from the materials on record that at the end of the departmental proceedings, the possession of disproportionate assets could not be established. However, an administrative warning was issued to the accused No. 1 for the lapse on his part to intimate his department the fact of having obtained a loan of Rs. 3, 00, 000/- (Rupees Three Lakh) from the Andhra Bank jointly along with his wife. An administrative warning was also issued in regard to not intimating the correct expense incurred by the accused No. 1 towards the construction of the house. 12. On 26.06.2013, the CBI filed the Crl. MP 3833/2013 in RC MA 1 2006 A0027 under Section 173(8) of the CrPC, seeking to reopen and undertake further investigation of the case, stating inter alia as follows: "...the prosecution had filed final report under Sec....
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....er: (i) In the year 2013, the CBI came into possession of certain fresh materials warranting the re-opening of the investigation against the accused persons. (ii) Under 173(8) of the CrPC, a police officer can carry on further investigation even after a report under Section 173(2) of the CrPC is submitted, in view of Section 173(8) of the CrPC and held in Vinay Tyagi v. Irshad Ali alias Deepak and Others reported in (2013) 5 SCC 762, with the only rider being that the police should seek formal permission from the Court. (iii) Acceptance of the final report by the Magistrate does not debar him from taking cognizance if on further investigation, fresh material comes to light. (iv) In the CBI counter, it is stated that fresh material was received in the year 2013 which warranted reopening of the investigation. (v) The Magistrate's power to order further investigation under Section 156(3) of the CrPC does not conflict with the power of the police to investigate further in light of Section 173(8) of the CrPC, and therefore the Magistrate can order reopening of the investigation. (vi) This can of course only be done when fresh materia....
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.... had already been closed. (vi) The Special Court thus had no power to grant permission to conduct a further investigation. (vii) The judgment of Vinay Tyagi (supra) had not been brought to the attention of the High Court at the time of deciding Crl. O.P. No. 6371 of 2014. 23. It appears that the respondent No. 3 herein also filed Crl. O.P. No. 411 of 2016, seeking quashing of the chargesheet. The High Court vide order dated 08.01.2016 allowed the Crl. O.P. No. 411 of 2016 filed by D. Dwarakanadha Reddy in terms of the order passed by it dated 15.12.2015, holding that the same principles and reasonings would apply to the petition filed by the D. Dwarakanadha Reddy too. 24. Thus, the High Court ultimately quashed the entire prosecution, essentially on the ground that the Special Court (CBI) had no jurisdiction/power to grant permission to the CBI to conduct further investigation. In other words, the High Court took the view that the chargesheet filed against the accused persons was the outcome of the materials collected during the course of the further investigation, which by itself was illegal and, therefore, the criminal proceedings would not be maintainable....
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....der passed by the High Court dated 11.09.2014 in Crl. O.P. No. 6371 of 2014. 29. In such circumstances as referred to above, the learned counsel prays that there being merit in all his appeals, those may be allowed and the impugned order be set aside. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE ACCUSED PERSONS 30. On the other hand, all the appeals have been vehemently opposed by the learned counsel appearing for the accused persons, submitting that no error, much less an error of law could be said to have been committed by the High Court in passing the impugned orders. The learned counsel would submit that the acceptance of a closure report by the Special Court (CBI) would terminate the proceedings finally and the same would thereafter operate as a legal bar for the investigating agency to undertake any further investigation in connection with the alleged offence. The learned counsel laid much stress on the fact that for the purpose of granting permission to conduct further investigation, something must be pending before the court concerned in the primary report to enable to file a supplementary report. In the instant case, according to the learned counsel, nothing was pending at the ti....
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....lias Zak Nedumchira Luke and Others v. Joseph Joseph and Others reported in (2022) SCC Online SC 241. ANALYSIS 34. Section 169 of the CrPC reads as under: "169. Release of accused when evidence deficient.- If, upon an investigation under this Chapter, it appears to the officer in charge of the police station that there is not sufficient evidence or reasonable ground of suspicion to justify the forwarding of the accused to a Magistrate, such officer shall, if such person is in custody, release him on his executing a bond, with or without sureties, as such officer may direct, to appear, if and when so required, before a Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence on a police report, and to try the accused or commit him for trial." 35. The perusal of the aforesaid Section would reveal that the Investigating Officer is under an obligation to release such person, who is in custody on executing a bond with or without sureties, if evidence is not sufficient and/or there are no reasonable grounds of suspicion to forward such person to the Magistrate. 36. The plain reading of Section 169 of the CrPC, therefore, postulates that when the Investigating Officer r....
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....ted through that officer, and he may, pending the orders of the Magistrate, direct the officer in charge of the police station to make further investigation. (4) Whenever it appears from a report forwarded under this section that the accused has been released on his bond, the Magistrate shall make such order for the discharge of such bond or otherwise as he thinks fit. (5) When such report is in respect of a case to which section 170 applies, the police officer shall forward to the Magistrate along with the report- (a) all documents or relevant extracts thereof on which the prosecution proposes to rely other than those already sent to the Magistrate during investigation; (b) the statements recorded under section 161 of all the persons whom the prosecution proposes to examine as its witnesses. (6) If the police officer is of opinion that any part of any such statement is not relevant to the subject-matter of the proceedings or that its disclosure to the accused is not essential in the interests of justice and is inexpedient in the public interest, he shall indicate that part of the statement and append a note requesting the Magistrate to ....
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.... the submission of the police report and subsequent to taking cognizance by the Magistrate. There was, also, no express provision prohibiting further investigation by the police. 42. The said omission was sought to be supplied for the first time by a twoJudge Bench of the Madras High Court as early as in 1919 in Divakar Singh v. A. Ramamurthi Naidu reported in AIR 1919 Mad 751, where it was observed that: " Another contention is put forward that when a report of investigation has been sent in under Section 173 of the Cr PC, the police has no further powers of investigation, but this argument may be briefly met by the remark that the number of investigations into a crime is not limited by law and that when one has been completed another may be begun on further information received.". 43. After recognition of the right of the police to make repeated investigations under the Old Code in Divakar's case, a three-Judge Bench of this Court in H.N. Rishbud v. State of Delhi reported in AIR 1955 SC 196, held that:- "It does not follow, however, that the invalidity of the investigation is to be completely ignored by the Court during trial. When the breach of such a ma....
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....rded to the Magistrate; and (2) During further investigation, the officer-in-charge has power (a) to obtain further evidence, oral or documentary, (b) to forward to the Magistrate, a further report or reports regarding such evidence in the form prescribed, (3) The provisions of sub sections (2) to (6) shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to such further report or reports. Sub section (1) of Section 173 of the CrPC provides that every investigation by the police shall be completed without unnecessary delay and sub section (2) of Section 173 of the CrPC provides that as soon as such investigation is completed, the officer in charge of the police station shall forward to a Magistrate empowered to take cognizance of the offence on a police report, a report in the form prescribed by the State Government. Under sub section (2) of the Section 173 of the CrPC, a police report (chargesheet or Challan) is filed by the police after investigation is complete. Sub section (8) of Section 173 of the CrPC, states that nothing in the section shall be deemed to preclude any further investigation in respect of an offence after a report under sub-section (2) h....
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....d effective justice. Difference between "Further Investigation" and "Re-investigation" 51. There is no doubt that "further investigation" and "re-investigation" stand altogether on a different footing. In Ramchandran v. R. Udhayakumar and Others reported in (2008) 5 SCC 413, this Court has explained the fine distinction between the two relying on its earlier decision in K. Chandrasekhar v. State of Kerala and Others reported in (1998) 5 SCC 223. We quote paras 7 and 8 as under: "7. At this juncture it would be necessary to take note of Section 173 of the Code. From a plain reading of the above section it is evident that even after completion of investigation under sub-section (2) of Section 173 of the Code, the police has right to further investigate under sub-section (8), but not fresh investigation or reinvestigation. This was highlighted by this Court in K. Chandrasekhar v. State of Kerala [(1998) 5 SCC 223 : 1998 SCC (Cri) 1291] . It was, inter alia, observed as follows : (SCC p. 237, para 24) "24. The dictionary meaning of 'further' (when used as an adjective) is 'additional; more; supplemental'. 'Further' investigation therefore is the continuation of ....
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.... v. State of A.P. and Others reported in (1999) 5 SCC 740, it was held in paras 10 and 11: "10. Power of the police to conduct further investigation, after laying final report, is recognised under Section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Even after the court took cognizance of any offence on the strength of the police report first submitted, it is open to the police to conduct further investigation. This has been so stated by this Court in Ram Lal Narang v. State (Delhi Admn.) [(1979) 2 SCC 322 : 1979 SCC (Cri) 479 : AIR 1979 SC 1791] . The only rider provided by the aforesaid decision is that it would be desirable that the police should inform the court and seek formal permission to make further investigation. 11. In such a situation the power of the court to direct the police to conduct further investigation cannot have any inhibition. There is nothing in Section 173(8) to suggest that the court is obliged to hear the accused before any such direction is made. Casting of any such obligation on the court would only result in encumbering the court with the burden of searching for all the potential accused to be afforded with the opportunity of being heard....
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.... "further investigate" the case and collect further evidence keeping in view the objections raised by the appellant to the investigation and the "new" report to be submitted by the investigating officer would be governed by sub-sections (2) to (6) of Section 173 CrPC.". 56. This Court in Hasanbhai (supra) held thus: "12. Sub-section (8) of Section 173 of the Code permits further investigation, and even dehors any direction from the court as such, it is open to the police to conduct proper investigation, even after the court took cognisance of any offence on the strength of a police report earlier submitted. All the more so, if as in this case, the Head of the Police Department also was not satisfied of the propriety or the manner and nature of investigation already conducted. 13. In Ram Lal Narang v. State (Delhi Admn.) [(1979) 2 SCC 322 : 1979 SCC (Cri) 479 : AIR 1979 SC 1791] it was observed by this Court that further investigation is not altogether ruled out merely because cognisance has been taken by the court. When defective investigation comes to light during course of trial, it may be cured by further investigation, if circumstances so permitted. It woul....
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....reinvestigation. Whereas reinvestigation without prior permission is necessarily forbidden, further investigation is not." 59. In Nirmal Singh Kahlon v. State of Punjab and Others reported in (2009) 1 SCC 441, this Court held as follows: "68. An order of further investigation in terms of Section 173(8) of the Code by the State in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 36 thereof stands on a different footing. The power of the investigating officer to make further investigation in exercise of its statutory jurisdiction under Section 173(8) of the Code and at the instance of the State having regard to Section 36 thereof read with Section 3 of the Police Act, 1861 should be considered in different contexts. Section 173(8) of the Code is an enabling provision. Only when cognizance of an offence is taken, the learned Magistrate may have some say. But, the restriction imposed by judicial legislation is merely for the purpose of upholding the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. It is one thing to say that the court will have supervisory jurisdiction to ensure a fair investigation, as has been observed by a Bench of this Court in Sakiri Vasu v. State of U.P. [(2....
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....police retain the power, subject, of course, to the Magistrate's nod under Section 173(8) to further investigate an offence till charges are framed, but that the supervisory jurisdiction of the Magistrate suddenly ceases midway through the pre-trial proceedings, would amount to a travesty of justice, as certain cases may cry out for further investigation so that an innocent person is not wrongly arraigned as an accused or that a prima facie guilty person is not so left out. There is no warrant for such a narrow and restrictive view of the powers of the Magistrate, particularly when such powers are traceable to Section 156(3) read with Section 156(1), Section 2(h) and Section 173(8) CrPC, as has been noticed hereinabove, and would be available at all stages of the progress of a criminal case before the trial actually commences. It would also be in the interest of justice that this power be exercised suo motu by the Magistrate himself, depending on the facts of each case. Whether further investigation should or should not be ordered is within the discretion of the learned Magistrate who will exercise such discretion on the facts of each case and in accordance with law." It was al....
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....to whether an order passed under Section 190(1) of the CrPC accepting a final report being a judicial order would bar further investigation by the police or the CBI as in the present case, in exercise of the statutory powers under chapter XII of the CrPC? 68. In State of Rajasthan v. Aruna Devi and Others reported in (1995) 1 SCC 1, a complaint was filed in the Court of Munsif and Judicial Magistrate, First Class, Bilara, against the respondents under various sections of the IPC. The gravamen of the allegation was that the respondents had, in pursuance of a conspiracy, transferred some land on the strength of a special power of attorney bearing forged signature. The Magistrate, after perusal of the complaint, directed an investigation to be made as contemplated by Section 156(3) of the CrPC. A case was registered thereafter, by the police and a final report was submitted on 18.07.1981 stating that complaint was false. The report came to be accepted by the Magistrate on 23.09.1981. It, however, so happened that the Superintendent of Police had independently ordered further investigation on 24.09.1981 and a challan came to be filed by police against the respondents, inter alia, un....
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....rred to and relied upon by the High Court in its first order dated 11.09.2014. 70. This Court in K. Chandrasekhar (supra) was considering a case, where on the complaint of a Police Inspector, a case was registered by the Kerala Police against the appellants therein for the offences punishable under Sections 3 and 4 respectively of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 read with Section 34 IPC on the allegation that in collusion with some Indians and foreigners they had committed acts prejudicial to the safety and sovereignty of India. During the investigation, certain other persons (appellants in accompanying appeals) were arrested. Thereafter, a DIG of Police, who was the head of the team conducting the investigation, recommended the case for being investigated by the CBI. Pursuant to such recommendation, the Government of Kerala by a notification dated 02.12.1994 accorded its consent under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (for short, 'the Act') for further investigation of the case by the CBI. Accordingly, the CBI took up the investigation. After completion of the investigation, on 16.04.1996, the CBI filed its report in the final form under Section 173(2....
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....2) Cr.P.C. reinvestigation or fresh investigation is not permissible. However, it has been expressly observed that if any further investigation is to be made, it is the CBI alone which can do so. In other words, further investigation could be carried out, but that the same could be done by the CBI alone as it was entrusted to investigate into the case by the State Government and had carried out the investigation and submitted final report in connection therewith. 71. In S. Papaiah (supra) on a complaint made by the UPSC, investigation had been carried out by the CBI and final report was submitted under Section 173 of the CrPC before the Metropolitan Magistrate, before whom the first information report had been lodged, seeking closure of the case. The CBI in spite of the request made to it by the UPSC did not inform about the filing of the final report seeking closure of the case to the UPSC. The report was returned by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate as notice had not been issued to the complainant by the CBI though the CBI had asserted that it had informed the UPSC regarding the filing of the closure report. The final report was resubmitted by the CBI to the Court of the Met....
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....ked the provisions of Section 173(8) which have been enacted to take care of such like situations also." (Emphasis supplied) 72. After referring to the provisions of Section 173(8) of the CrPC, the Court observed that the Magistrate could, thus, in exercise of the powers under Section 173(8) of the CrPC, direct the CBI to "further investigate" the case and collect further evidence keeping in view the objections raised by the UPSC to the investigation and the "new" report to be submitted by the Investigating Officer would be governed by sub-sections (2) to (6) of Section 173 of the CrPC. The Court held that the learned Magistrate failed to exercise the jurisdiction vested in him by law and his order dated 04.11.1995 cannot be sustained. 73. In the light of the aforesaid decision of the Supreme Court, it appears that though the order passed by the learned Magistrate accepting a final report under Section 173 is a judicial order, there is no requirement for recalling, reviewing or quashing the said order for carrying out further investigation under Section 173(8) of the CrPC. As held by this Court in the said decision, the provisions of Section 173(8) of the CrPC have been en....
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....e court styling it as FIR No. 208 of 1998 need be considered as an information submitted to the court regarding the new discovery made by the police during the investigation that persons not named in FIR No. 135 are the real culprits. To quash the proceedings merely on the ground that final report had been laid in FIR No. 135 is, to say the least, too technical. The ultimate object of every investigation is to find out whether the offences alleged have been committed and, if so, who have committed it. 12. Even otherwise, the investigating agency is not precluded from further investigation in respect of an offence in spite of forwarding a report under sub-section (2) of section 173 of a previous occasion. This is clear from Section 173(8) of the Code." (Emphasis supplied) 76. Thus, a conspectus of the aforesaid decisions of this Court rendered in cases where final reports (closure reports) had already been submitted and accepted makes the position of law very clear that even after the final report is laid before the Magistrate and is accepted, it is permissible for the investigating agency to carry out further investigation in the case. In other words, there is ....
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....tioner. In the aforesaid decisions, the well settled principle is restated that Section 173(8) of Cr.P.C enables an officer in charge of a Police Station/CBI to carry on further investigation even after a report under Section 173(2) of Cr.P.C is submitted to the court. The power to further investigation, after filing of final report in court and even after the Magistrate has taken cognizance, is available to the Police in view of the Section 173(8) of Cr.P.C. Further investigation, therefore, is the continuation of the earlier investigation and not a fresh investigation or reinvestigation to be started ab initio wiping out the earlier investigation altogether. This is well settled in the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in 2013-5-SCC-762 (Tyagi Vs. Irshad Ali). The only rider is provided is that it would be desirable that the Police should inform the Court and seek formal permission to make further investigation as observed in Bhagwan Samardha Sreepada Vallabha Venkata Vishwadaha Maharaj Vs. State of AP (AIR-1999-SC-2332). 6. Although sub section (8) of Section 173 of Cr.P.C does not, in specific terms, mention about the powers of the court to order furth....
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....he petition filed by the Investigating Officer, Inspector, CBI/ACB. It is now clear that sub section (8) of section 173 of Cr.P.C gives power to the Investigating Officer to reopen the investigation in the case in which final report had been submitted earlier and after completing the investigation fresh report has to be submitted before the learned Special Judge under sub section (2) of Section 173 of the Code. Of course, this can be done only on such fresh materials which did not come to the knowledge of the Investigating Officer, while he was conducting the investigation and in my view, exactly the same situation prevailed in this case. 11. The same view has also been taken in the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in State of Rajasthan Vs. Aruna Devi and others (1995-SCC-Crl-1) wherein it was held that acceptance of final report by Magistrate does not debar him from taking cognizance of the offence if on further investigation fresh materials come to light. 12. Mr. N. Chandrasekaran, the learned Special Public Prosecutor has contended that there is no legal bar to the reopening of the investigation of any case in which closure report has been submitted if....
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....ay do one of three things: (1) he may accept the report and take cognizance of the offence and issue process, or (2) he may disagree with the report and drop the proceeding, or (3) he may direct further investigation under sub-section (3) of section 156 and require the police to make a further report. The report may on the other hand state that, in the opinion of the police, no offence appears to have been committed and where such a report has been made, the Magistrate again has an option to adopt one of three courses: (1) he may accept the report and drop the proceeding, or (2) he may disagree with the report and taking the view that there is sufficient ground for proceeding further, take cognizance of the offence and issue process, or (3) he may direct further investigation to be made by the police under sub-section (3) of section 156" 11. From a cursory reading of the observations made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, it is discernible that after getting a final report under section 173(2) of the said code, the concerned Magistrate is having power, either to take cognizance or to direct the investigating agency to conduct further investigation as per section 173(8) of ....
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....n the above case. Xxx xxx xxx 23. The learned Special Public Prosecutor has advanced his entire argument only on the basis of the order passed in Criminal Original Petition No.6371 of 2014. In fact, at the time of passing the order in Crl.O.P.No.6371 of 2014, the decision mentioned supra has not been brought to the knowledge of this court. Under the said circumstances, this court has erroneously ratified the permission granted by the Principal Special Judge for CBI cases, Chennai. Therefore, on the basis of the order passed, in Crl.O.P.No.6371 of 2014 by this court, we cannot come to a conclusion that the order passed by the Principal Special Judge for CBI Case, Chennai, is valid in law. Further, it has already been pointed out that the said order has been passed even without power. Since the said order is totally alien to law, the subsequent proceedings are also bad in law. 24. The present petitions have been filed praying to quash the final report filed in Calendar Case No.13 of 2015. Since the permission granted to the respondent for conducting re-investigation or further investigation by the Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Chennai is totally il....
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....s. In some cases, the High Courts have gone to the extent of ignoring the law laid down by this Court without any tangible reason. Likewise, there have been instances in which smaller Benches of this Court have either ignored or bypassed the ratio of the judgments of the larger Benches including the Constitution Benches. These cases are illustrative of non-adherence to the rule of judicial discipline which is sine qua non for sustaining the system. In Mahadeolal Kanodia v. Administrator General of W.B. [AIR 1960 SC 936 : (1960) 3 SCR 578] this Court observed : (AIR p. 941, para 19) "19. ... If one thing is more necessary in law than any other thing, it is the quality of certainty. That quality would totally disappear if Judges of coordinate jurisdiction in a High Court start overruling one another's decisions. If one Division Bench of a High Court is unable to distinguish a previous decision of another Division Bench, and holding the view that the earlier decision is wrong, itself gives effect to that view the result would be utter confusion. The position would be equally bad where a Judge sitting singly in the High Court is of opinion that the previous decision of ano....
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.... proper to sacrifice certainty of law. Judicial decorum, no less than legal propriety forms the basis of judicial procedure and it must be respected at all costs." Xxx xxx xxx 90. We are distressed to note that despite several pronouncements on the subject, there is substantial increase in the number of cases involving violation of the basics of judicial discipline. The learned Single Judges and Benches of the High Courts refuse to follow and accept the verdict and law laid down by coordinate and even larger Benches by citing minor difference in the facts as the ground for doing so. Therefore, it has become necessary to reiterate that disrespect to the constitutional ethos and breach of discipline have grave impact on the credibility of judicial institution and encourages chance litigation. It must be remembered that predictability and certainty is an important hallmark of judicial jurisprudence developed in this country in the last six decades and increase in the frequency of conflicting judgments of the superior judiciary will do incalculable harm to the system inasmuch as the courts at the grass roots will not be able to decide as to which of the judgments lay down t....
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....elevant circumstance in reaching a final verdict. (See: Japani Sahoo v. Chandra Sekhar Mohanty reported in (2007) 7 SCC 394.) 85. The following observations in Hasanbhai (supra), have been made by this Court in reference to further investigation: "13. ....if there is necessity for further investigation, the same can certainly be done as prescribed by law. The mere fact that there may be further delay in concluding the trial should not stand in the way of further investigation if that would help the court in arriving at the truth and do real and substantial as well as effective justice. ..." 86. Thus, the assurance of a fair trial is to be the first imperative in the dispensation of justice. [Reference: Commissioner of Police, Delhi and Another v. Registrar, Delhi High Court, New Delhi reported in (1996) 6 SCC 323]. The need for fair investigation has also been emphasized in Vinay Tyagi (supra) where it was observed as under: "48. What ultimately is the aim or significance of the expression "fair and proper investigation" in criminal jurisprudence? It has a twin purpose: Firstly, the investigation must be unbiased, honest, just and in accordance with law; sec....
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.... of the court of law is to secure justice on the basis of true facts which ought to be unearthed through a committed, resolved and a competent investigating agency. ". (Emphasis supplied) NON-COMPLIANCE OF THE SECOND PROVISO TO SECTION 17 OF THE 1988 ACT 88. The Second proviso to Section 17 of the 1988 Act directs that the offence referred to under clause (e) of sub section (1) of Section 13 of the 1988 Act shall not be investigated without the order of a police officer not below the rank of a Superintendent of Police. Thus, from the Second proviso, it is clear that an investigation into the offence referred to in clause (e) of sub section (1) of Section 13 of the 1988 Act even by any police officer enumerated in clauses (a) to (c) or any Police Officer authorized in that behalf by the State Government as per the first proviso, can be undertaken only by an order of the police officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police. Thus, the Second proviso is in the nature of additional safe guard for the public servant who are accused of the offence punishable under Section 13(1)(e) of the 1988 Act against an investigation by a police officer without the knowledge and cons....