IMPORTANT POINTS
Police have statutory right to investigate, without any interference or direction form judiciary.
Unless the information discloses commission of a cognizable offence, immediate registration of FIR is not mandatory.
Extraordinary power under Article 226 or inherent power under Section 482 could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, but the power to quash FIR has to be exercised sparingly and cautiously.
High Court refusing to stay the same and at the same time directing that accused persons shall not be arrested amounts to an order u/s 438 without satisfying conditions therefor and is legally not acceptable.

JUDGMENT :

Dipak Misra, J.

The seminal issue that arises for consideration in this appeal, by special leave, is whether the High Court while refusing to exercise inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to interfere in an application for quashment of the investigation, can restrain the investigating agency not to arrest the accused persons during the course of investigation.

2. The facts lie in a narrow compass. On the basis of a report by the informant under Section 154 CrPC, FIR No. 205/2014 dated 26.07.2014 was registered at Chandrayanagutta Police Station, Hyderabad for the offences punishable under Sections 147, 148 149 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Challenging the initiation of criminal action, the three accused persons, namely, accused Nos. 1, 2 and 5, (respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 3 herein) invoked inherent jurisdiction of the High Court in Criminal Petition No. 10012 of 2014 for quashing of the FIR and consequential investigation. As the impugned order would show, the learned single Judge referred to the FIR and took note of the submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioners therein that all the allegations that had been raised in the FIR were false and they had been falsely implicated and thereafter expressed his disinclination to interfere on the ground that it was not appropriate to stay the investigation of the case. However, as a submission had been raised that the accused persons were innocent and there had been allegation of false implication, it would be appropriate to direct the police not to arrest the petitioners during the pendency of the investigation and, accordingly, it was so directed.

3. It is submitted by Mr. Harin P. Raval, learned senior counsel appearing for the State that the informant had sustained grievous injuries and was attacked by dangerous weapons and custodial interrogation of the accused persons is absolutely essential. According to him, the High Court in exercise of inherent power under Section 482 CrPC can quash an FIR on certain well known parameters but while declining to quash the same, it cannot extend the privilege to the accused persons which is in the nature of an anticipatory bail. Learned senior counsel would submit that the nature of the order passed by the High Court is absolutely unknown to the exercise of inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC and, therefore, it deserves to be axed.

4. Ms. Nilofar Khan, learned counsel appearing for the respondent Nos. 1 to 3 in support of the order passed by the High Court submitted that the custodial interrogation is not necessary in the facts of the case. She would further submit that the plentitude of power conferred on the High Court under Section 482 CrPC empowers it to pass such an order and there being no infirmity in the order, no interference is warranted by this Court.

5. The controversy compels one to visit the earlier decisions.

In King Emperor v. Khwaja Nazir Ahmad, AIR 1945 PC 18 while deliberating on the scope of right conferred on the police under Section 154 CrPC, Privy Council observed:-

“… so it is of the utmost importance that the judiciary should not interfere with the police in matters which are within their province and into which the law imposes upon them the duty of enquiry. In India, as has been shown, there is a statutory right on the part of the police to investigate the circumstances of an alleged cognizable crime without requiring any authority from the judicial authorities, and it would, as their Lordships think, be an unfortunate result if it should be held possible to interfere with those statutory rights by an exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court. The functions of the judiciary and the police are complementary, not overlapping, and the combination of individual liberty with a due observance of law and order is only to be obtained by leaving each to exercise its own function, always of course subject to the right of the Court to intervene in an ap