What are the Powers of High Court? 



Inherent powers of the High Court. Under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the inherent power of High Court is peculiar in criminal jurisprudence. It is the most powerful weapon for the High Court to clear the province of criminal law jurisdiction of all vitiating and malicious influences. 


In the following cases, the inherent power of the High Court could be exercised to quash the proceedings-

1. Where there is a legal bar against the institution or continuance of the proceedings.

2. Where the allegation in the first information report (FIR) or complaint does not constitute the offence alleged.  

3. Where there is no legal evidence adduced in support of the charge or the evidence adduced clearly or failed to prove the charge.

The above list of points is not exhaustive. High court may exercise its inherent power in other situations as well, to serve the ends of justice.


When to Use Inherent Power

In Divine Retreat Centre vs. State of Kerala, SC 2008, the Supreme Court held that there are three circumstances under which the inherent jurisdiction under section 482 of CrPC may be exercised-

1.   To give effect to an order under the code.

2.   To prevent abuse of the process of the courts.

3.   To otherwise secure the ends of justice.


 

Cannot Order Stay of Arrest

In the case of, Ashok Kumar Singh vs. State of Bihar CrLT SC 1993, the Supreme Court held that the High Court, while exercising its jurisdiction under section 482, cannot order stay of arrest of accused during the investigation.

Investigation after Charge Sheet

In the case of, State of Punjab vs. CBI and others, SC 2011, the Supreme Court held that fresh investigation or re-investigation after the filing of charge sheet by police can be ordered by High Court under section 482 of CrPC to secure the ends of justice. Further held that inherent powers of the High Court are not limited or affected by section 173(8).

Cancellation of Bail by High Court

For the ends of justice, the High Court may order for the cancellation of bail using its inherent powers under section 482.

Quashing of FIR by High Court

In the case of, D.C Jain vs. UOI, 1994, Punjab and Haryana High Court: The allegation in FIR prima facie constituted the offence of cheating, and a civil suit was also pending in respect of the same offence. It was held that the pendency of civil suit is no ground for quashing the FIR.

Quashing of charge → Yes

Quashing of charge sheet → Yes

 

Quashing FIR on Account of Delay

It was held in case of, Jagdish Ram vs. the State of Rajasthan that, FIR does not deserve to be quashed by the High Court in the exercise of power under section 482 of the code merely on account of delay.

 


Comments

  1. BOSE30 May 2020 at 13:18

    Good article by my friend and colleague. Great job buddy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NiLeSh31 May 2020 at 03:12

    Good article about the high courts powers u/s 482 crpc. All the best.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @@@2 June 2020 at 21:30

    Good one

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Types and prevention of cyber crime   Introduction As a saying in criminology goes – “ a crime will happen where and only when the opportunity avails itself .”. Earlier, cybercrime was committed mainly by individuals or small groups. Presently, it is observed that there is highly complex cybercriminal networks bring together individuals at global level in real time to commit crimes.     Types of Cyber Crimes:   1. Hacking: In this category, a person's computer is broken into so that his personal or sensitive information can be accessed. In the United States, hacking is categorized as a wrongdoing and punishable as such. This is different from ethical hacking, which many organizations use to check their Internet security protection.   - It is suggested to monitor children and how they use the Internet. Install parental control software to limit where they can surf.   - Make sure that social networking profiles such as Facebook, Twitt...
Read more

Admissibility of Electronic Records as Evidence in India

Image
Section 65B provides for 'Admissibility of  Electronic Records '. Section 65 B (2) of the Indian  Evidence Act , 1872 lists the technological conditions upon which a duplicate copy (including a print-out) of an original  electronic record  may be used. Although the main method of providing  electronic evidence  is printing on paper the information and delivering the  electronic  data in a medium such as a CD, for said  evidence  to have real security we should have the support of a computer expert. Many businesses conduct essential meetings and business deals on platforms such as e-mail, and even on instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and other similar applications. Schedules and minutes of meetings, essential documents, and receipts are all communicated via or on office WhatsApp groups. However, it is essential to be informed on how electronic records of conversations and documents shared on such platforms should be preserved and ...
Read more

Supreme Court judgment on daughters’ right to ancestral property

Image
  Daughters Have Coparcenery Rights Even If Their Father Was Not Alive When Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 Came Into Force The Supreme Court of India in a recent judgment has again backed the fact that the daughters cannot be deprived of their right of equality conferred upon them by Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The judgment recognizes that in a coparcenary property, the daughters have an equal right. The Supreme Court also stated that since the right in coparcenary is by birth, it is not necessary that father coparcener should be living as on 9.9.2005. The judgment was pronounced by Justice Arun Mishra in a Bench comprising of Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice M.R. Shah as well. In the operative part of the judgment, the Supreme Court observes that the provisions contained in substituted Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 confer the status of coparcener on the daughter born before or after amendment in the same manner as a son with same rights an...
Read more