IMPORTANT POINT
Bar created by Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. is against taking of cognizance by Court and no bar against registration of a criminal case or investigation by police agency or submission of a report by police on completion of investigation.

Headnote:(i) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 196(1-A) — Indian Penal Code, 1860 — Section 153-B — FIR for offence registered against respondent — Petition to quash FIR and investigation on ground that police ought to have obtained previous sanction of Central Govt. or of the State Govt. or of the Dist. Magistrate and in absence of such sanction proceedings were illegal and without jurisdiction — High Court allowed petition and quashed the proceedings — Appeal — Bar created by Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. was against taking of cognizance by the Court and not against registration of criminal case or investigation by police or submission of a report on completion of investigation — An order remanding an accused to judicial custody during investigation would not amount to taking cognizance of offence — Premise on which proceedings were quashed by High Court was wholly erroneous and liable to be set aside.
       Held : The opening words of the Section are "No Court shall take cognizance" and consequently the bar created by the provision is against taking of cognizance by the Court. There is no bar against registration of a criminal case or investigation by the police agency or submission of a report by the police on completion of investigation, as contemplated by Section 173 Cr.P.C. If a criminal case is registered, investigation of the offence is done and the police submits a report as a result of such investigation before a Magistrate without the previous sanction of the Central Government or of the State Government or of the District Magistrate, there will be no violation of Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. and no illegality of any kind would be committed. (Para 7)
       It is necessary to mention here that taking cognizance of an offence is not the same thing as issuance of process. Cognizance is taken at the initial stage when the Magistrate applies his judicial mind to the facts mentioned in a complaint or to police report or upon information received from any other person that an offence has been committed. The issuance of process is at a subsequent stage when after considering the material placed before it the Court decides to proceed against the offenders against whom a prima facie case is made out. (Para 9)
       In the present case neither any complaint had been filed nor any police report had been submitted nor any information had been given by any person other than the police officer before the Magistrate competent to take cognizance of the offence. After the FIR had been lodged and a case had been registered under Section 153-B IPC, the respondent was arrested by the police and thereafter he had been produced before the Magistrate. The Magistrate had merely passed an order remanding him to judicial custody. Section 167 Cr.P.C. finds place in Chapter XII which deals with Information To The Police And Their Powers To Investigate. This Section gives the procedure which has to be followed when investigation cannot be completed within twenty-four hours and requires that whenever any person is arrested and detained in custody and it appears that the investigation cannot be completed within the period of twenty-four hours fixed by Section 57 and there are grounds for believing that the accusation or information is well founded, he shall be forthwith transmitted to the nearest Judicial Magistrate along with copy of the entries in the diary. Sub-section (2) of Section 167 will show that even a Magistrate who has no jurisdiction to try the case can authorize the detention of the accused. A limited role has to be performed by the Judicial Magistrate to whom the accused has been forwarded, viz., to authorize his detention. This is anterior to Section 190 Cr.P.C. which confers power upon a Magistrate to take cognizance of an offence. Therefore, an order remanding an accused to judicial custody does not amount to taking cognizance of an offence. In such circumstances Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. can have no application at all and the High Court clearly erred in quashing the proceedings on the ground that previous sanction of the Central Government or of the State Government or of the District Magistrate had not been obtained. (Para 10)
       (ii) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Section 482 — Inherent power of High Court — Power can be exercised to prevent abuse of process of any Court or otherwise to secure ends of justice — Power can be exercised to quash criminal proceedings pending in any Court but cannot be exercised to interfere with statutory power of police to conduct investigation in a cognizable offence.(Para 11)

JUDGMENT

G.P. Mathur, J. — Leave granted.

2. This appeal, by special leave, has been preferred against the judgment and order dated 23.2.2005 of Karnataka High Court by which initiation of criminal proceedings against the respondent under Section 153-B IPC were quashed in exercise of jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C.

3. One R.N. Lokesha son of R.S. Narayanappa resident of Ramapura, Channapatna, lodged an FIR alleging that at about 7.30 p.m. on 14.1.2005, he along with some other persons was celebrating Sankranthi festival when the respondent Pastor P. Raju, who is a member of Christian community, came there and made an appeal to them to get converted to Christian religion where they would get many benefits and facilities which were not available to them in Hindu religion to which they belong. It is also alleged that many persons who were present there resented the appeal made by the respondent and strongly opposed the plea or assertion for their conversion from Hindu religion to Christian religion. On the basis of the FIR, a case as Crime No.8 of 2005 was registered under Section 153-B IPC at the concerned police station. The respondent was arrested on 15.1.2005 and was produced before a Magistrate on the same day who remanded him to judicial custody as no application for bail had been filed. Subsequently, a bail application was moved under Section 436 Cr.P.C. before the learned Magistrate which was rejected on the ground that the offence under Section 153-B IPC being a non-bailable offence, the power under the aforesaid provision could not be exercised as the said provision empowered the Court to grant bail in bailable offences only. The respondent filed a petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. on 27.1.2005 for quashing of the proceedings initiated against him under Section 153-B IPC in case Crime No.8 of 2005. This petition was allowed by the High Court by the order under challenge and the entire proceedings initiated against the respondent were quashed.

4. The principal submission which was made before the High Court on behalf of the respondent was that before initiating any proceedings under Section 153-B IPC, the police ought to have obtained previous sanction of the Central Government or of the State Government or of the District Magistrate as required by Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. and in the absence of such a sanction having been obtained, the proceedings initiated against the respondent were illegal and without jurisdiction. After hearing counsel for the parties, the learned judge framed the question for consideration in the following manner :-

"Having heard the arguments of the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned H.C.G.P. for the respondent/State, the point that arises for my consideration and decision is whether initiation of criminal proceedings against the petitioner is bad in law and whether prior sanction to prosecute a person who tries to instigate Hindus to convert into Christianity requires any prior sanction to register a case and arrest the accused under Section 153-B (1) of IPC ?" (emphasis supplied)

5. The High Court has held that as the investigating agency had not obtained previous sanction of the Central Government or of the State Government or of the District Magistrate as required by Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C., the initiation of criminal proceedings against the respondent is bad in law and consequently it was liable to be quashed.

6. We have heard learned counsel for the appellant State of Karnataka, learned counsel for the respondent Pastor P. Raju and have perused the record.

7. The heading of Chapter XIV of Code of Criminal Procedure is "Conditions Requisite For Initiation Of Proceedings". The first provision in this Chapter is Section 190 and it deals with the power of the Magistrate to take cognizance of offences. There are some other provisions in this Chapter which create an embargo on the power of the Court to take cognizance of offences committed by persons enumerate

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2006 Supreme(SC) 702

IMPORTANT POINTBar created by Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. is against taking of cognizance by Court and no bar against registration of a criminal case or investigation by police agency or submission of a report by police on completion of investigation.

Cases Referred (11)

IMPORTANT POINT
Bar created by Section 196(1-A) Cr.P.C. is against taking of cognizance by Court and no bar against registration of a criminal case or investigation by police agency or submission of a report by police on completion of investigation.