The power under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can only be invoked during an inquiry, investigation, or trial, not during preliminary verification.

JUDGMENT :

1. The issues involved in the instant petition are akin and analogous to each others, as such, are being disposed of hereunder at this stage with the consent of the appearing counsel for the parties.

CRM(M) No. 317/2024

2. In the instant petition, the petitioner herein has invoked the inherent power of this Court saved under section 482 Cr.P.C. for quashing of the summons issued by the respondents under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short the Code) vide communication No.SSP/MSA/Misc.16/2023/ACB/1712 dated 02.04.2024.

3. The facts in brief pertaining to the case in hand as stated in the petition are that the respondents upon initiation of a preliminary verification bearing No. Misc-16/2023 ACB Jammu issued a communication bearing No. SSP/MSA/Misc.16/2023/ACB/8961-62 dated 20.12.2023 requesting the Chair of the Managing Director, "J&K Cooperative Housing Cooperation Ltd, Jammu" (For short "the Corporation‘) which the petitioner herein is holding, to provide various record/information pertaining to the "Ladies Cooperative House Building Society Limited, Samba" (for short "the Society‘), whereupon the petitioner, in consequence whereof claims to have written to the Secretary of the Society to furnish the record/information, however, the Society instead is stated to have challenged the said verification initiated by the respondents herein before this Court in CRM(M) No. 133/2024 (the connected petition) wherein an interim order dated 02.03.2024 was passed by this Court providing that the preliminary verification may go on, however, the respondents shall not register FIR on the basis of the verification without seeking prior permission of the Court, whereafter, the passing of the said order dated 02.03.2024 by this Court, the impugned summons dated 02.04.2024 is stated to have been issued by the respondents.

4. The petitioner herein has challenged the impugned summons in the instant petition primarily on the premise that the power under section 91 of the Code cannot be invoked in absence of the initiation of an investigation and that since no investigation has been initiated and no enquiry or trial under the Code is pending before any court in the matter therefore, the issuance of the impugned summons under section 91 of the Code is without jurisdiction.

5. Respondents have not filed the reply to the petition.

Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record

6. Before adverting to the aforesaid challenge urged by the petitioner herein in the instant petition, a reference to the provisions of section 91 of the Code becomes imperative, which reads as under:

“91. Summons to produce document or other thing.—(1) Whenever any Court or any officer in charge of a police station considers that the production of any document or other thing is necessary or desirable for the purposes of any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code by or before such Court or officer, such Court may issue a summons, or such officer a written order, to the person in whose possession or power such document or thing is believed to be, requiring him to attend and produce it, or to produce it, at the time and place stated in the summons or order.

(2) Any person required under this section merely to produce a document or other thing shall be deemed to have complied with the requisition if he causes such document or thing to be produced instead of attending personally to produce the same.

(3)……….."

A plain reading of section 91(supra) would reveal that the power under the section can be invoked by any court or an officer incharge of a police station, if the court or such officer considers that the production of any document or other things is necessary or desirable for the purposes of any investigation, inquiry, trial or other proceedings under this Code by or before such court or officer. The words/expressions used in the section are ―investigation‖, "inquiry" and "trial", a reference whereof is made hereunder:-

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