Cr.P.C v. He relied on the judgment of this Court in Superintendent and Remembrancer

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 – s. 482 – A complaint case was registered u/ss. 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of IPC r/w. ss. 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 – Petitioner was amongst the accused named therein – The State Government accorded sanction to prosecute the petitioner – Upon completion of investigation, charge- sheet was prepared and cognizance was taken – In 2018, Petitioner fi led petition u/s. 482 Cr.P.C. and challenged only Government’s sanction and same was disposed of with liberty to approach Trial Court – In 2022, the petitioner again fi led petition u/s. 482 Cr.P.C. with prayers to quash charge-sheet and the cognizance order – Propriety: Held: Though it is clear that there can be no blanket rule that a second petition u/s. 482 Cr.P.C. would not lie in any situation and it would depend upon the facts and circumstances of the individual case, it is not open to a person aggrieved to raise one plea after the other, by invoking the jurisdiction of the High Court u/s.

482 Cr.P.C., though all such pleas were very much available even at the fi rst instance – Permitting the fi ling of successive petitions u/s. 482 Cr.P.C. ignoring this principle would enable an ingenious accused to eff ectively stall the proceedings against him to suit his own interest and convenience, by fi ling one petition after another u/s. 482 Cr.P.C., irrespective of when the cause therefor arose – Such abuse of process cannot be permitted – In the instant case, the fi ling of the charge sheet and the cognizance thereof by the Court concerned were well before the fi ling of the fi rst petition u/s. 482 Cr.P.C., wherein challenge was made only to the sanction order – That being so, the petitioner was not at liberty to again invoke the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court in relation to the charge sheet and the cognizance order at a later point of time. [Paras 11 and 12] LIST OF CITATIONS AND OTHER REFERENCES Superintendent and Remembrancer of Legal Aff airs, West Bengal vs.

Mohan Singh and others (1975) 3 SCC 706; Anil Khadkiwala vs. State (Government of NCT of Delhi) (2019) 17 SCC 294; S.M.S. Pharmaceuticals Ltd. vs. Neeta Bhal (2007) 4 SCC 70; Vinod Kumar, IAS. vs. Union of India and others 2021 SCC OnLine SC 559; Simrikhia vs. Dolley Mukherjee and Chhabi Mukherjee and another (1990) 2 SCC 437: [1990] 1 SCR 788; Sooraj Devi vs. Pyare Lal and another (1981) 1 SCC 500: [1981] 2 SCR 48; R. Annapurna vs. Ramadugu Anantha Krishna Sastry and others (2002) 10 SCC 40 – referred to. S. Madan Kumar vs. K. Arjunan 2006 SCC Online Mad 94 – approved. OTHER CASE DETAILS INCLUDING IMPUGNED ORDER AND APPEARANCES CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.7976 of 2023. From the Judgment and Order dated 20.02.2023 of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad in A482 No.2014 of 2022. Appearances: Pradeep Kumar Singh Baghel, Sr. Adv., Abhishek Kumar Singh, Ramesh Chandra Tiwari, Abhinav Jaganathan, Ms.

Pallavi Baghel, Ms. Anamika Yadav, Sidharth Shukla, Advs. for the Petitioner. S. Nagamuthu, Sr. Adv. (Amicus Curiae), M. P. Parthiban, R. Sudhakaran, Hari Hara Sudha, Shreyas Kaushal, Advs. for the Respondents. BHISHAM LAL VERMA v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH 57 JUDGMENT / ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT ORDER SANJAY KUMAR, J.

‘Is a second petition maintainable under Section 482 Cr.P.C. on grounds that were available for challenge even at the time of fi ling of the fi rst petition thereunder?’

This is the short question that arises for consideration.

As the issue turned on the very maintainability of the case, Mr. S. Nagamuthu, learned senior counsel, was requested to assist the Court and, with his usual graciousness, he agreed to do so.

We may fi rst note the relevant facts: Complaint dated 23.06.2012 was fi led by the Joint Director, State Urban Development Authority, Uttar Pradesh, before the Station House Offi cer, Police Station Kotwali, Rampur, alleging irregularities in the construction of toilets under the Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme and embezzlement of public funds by the persons involved. The petitioner herein, being the Project Director/Additional District Magistrate, Rampur, at the relevant time, was also implicated. Thereupon, C.C. No. 1280 of 2012 was registered on the fi le of Police Station Civil Lines, Rampur, under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B IPC read with Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for brevity, ‘the Act of 1988’). The petitioner was amongst the accused named therein.

In exercise of power under Section 197 Cr.P.C. and Section 19 of the Act of 1988, by order dated 03.12.2013, the Government of Uttar Pradesh accorded sanction to prosecute the petitioner for the off ences alleged under Sections 409, 420, 467 and 471 IPC and Sections 7 and 13 of the Act of 1988 and any other off ences relating thereto. Upon completion of the investigation, charge sheet dated 30.04.2015 was laid before the learned Sessions Judge, Rampur. Therein, the petitioner was charged with off ences under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 IPC and Sections 7 and 13 of the Act of 1988. By order dated 12.06.2015, the learned Sessions Judge, Rampur, took cognizance. The case was thereafter taken on fi le by the Special Court at Bareilly as Special Case No. 19 of 2016.

Long thereafter, the petitioner fi led his fi rst petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C., viz., Criminal Misc. Application No. 8465 of 2018, before the Allahabad High Court. Therein, he chose to challenge only the Government’s sanction order dated 03.12.2013. The State opposed the application, pointing out that a challenge to the sanction could be made before the Trial Court. Thereupon, the petitioner’s counsel sought liberty to approach the Trial Court by way of an appropriate application challenging the sanction. Accepting that plea, the High Court disposed of the application, vide order dated 15.12.2020, granting liberty to the petitioner to approach the Trial Court and challenge the sanction order. Signifi cantly, at the time of fi ling of this fi rst petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C., the charge sheet was very much on record and the learned Sessions Judge, Rampur, had already taken cognizance.

However, it was only in the year 2022 that the petitioner felt inspired to fi le a second petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C., viz., Criminal Misc. Application No. 2014 of 2022. His prayers therein were to quash the charge sheet dated 30.04.2015; the cognizance order dated 12.06.2015; and the proceedings in Special Case No. 19 of 2016, insofar as he was concerned. This application was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court, vide order dated 20.02.2023. Therein, the High Court noted that the petitioner had earlier fi led Criminal Misc. Application No. 8465 of 2018 under Section 482 Cr.P.C. with a limited prayer - to quash the sanction order dated 30.12.2013. Holding that it was not open to the petitioner to go on challenging the proceedings one by one and as he had not felt aggrieved by the charge sheet or the order of cognizance when he had fi led the fi rst petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C., the High Court concluded that the subsequent petition challenging the same would not be maintainable and dismissed the application. It is against this order that the petitioner approached this Court by way of the present case.

On behalf of the petitioner, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Singh Baghel, learned senior counsel, would argue that a second petition is maintainable under Section 482 Cr.P.C.. He relied on the judgment of this Court in Superintendent and Remembrancer of Legal Aff airs, West Bengal vs. Mohan Singh and others1. Therein, it was held that a subsequent application under Section 561-A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, presently Section 482 Cr.P.C, would be maintainable in changed circumstances. It was affi rmed that a subsequent application, which is not a repeat application squarely on the same facts and circumstances, would be maintainable. To the same eff ect was the more recent decision of this Court in Anil Khadkiwala vs. State (Government of NCT of Delhi) and another2. Earlier, in S.M.S. Pharmaceuticals Ltd. vs. Neeta Bhalla and another3, this Court held that when the fi rst petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C was withdrawn with liberty to avail remedies, if any, available in law, the High Court would not be denuded of its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. on being petitioned again and the principle of res judicata would not stand attracted. Again, in Vinod Kumar, IAS. vs. Union of India and others4, a 3-Judge Bench of this Court observed that dismissal of an earlier petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C would not bar fi ling of a subsequent petition thereunder in case the facts so justify.

Mr. S. Nagamuthu, learned amicus curiae, would however point out that entertainment of the second petition in Mohan Singh (supra) was held permissible as the circumstances obtaining at the time of the subsequent petition were clearly diff erent from what they were at the time of the earlier one and that was the distinguishing factor which saved the second petition. He would further point out that, in Simrikhia vs. Dolley Mukherjee and Chhabi Mukherjee and another5, this Court cautioned that the inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C cannot be invoked to override the bar of review under Section 362 Cr.P.C. Reference was made to Sooraj Devi vs. Pyare Lal and another6 which held that the inherent power of the Court could not be exercised for doing that which is specifi cally prohibited by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. He also drew our attention to R. Annapurna vs. Ramadugu Anantha Krishna Sastry and others7, wherein 1 2 3 4 5 6 7