{"id":146605,"date":"2003-10-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-10-13T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/raghunath-v-nair-vs-state-on-14-october-2003"},"modified":"2018-08-17T22:43:39","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T17:13:39","slug":"raghunath-v-nair-vs-state-on-14-october-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/raghunath-v-nair-vs-state-on-14-october-2003","title":{"rendered":"Raghunath V.Nair vs State on 14 October, 2003"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Madras High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Raghunath V.Nair vs State on 14 October, 2003<\/div>\n<pre>       \n\n  \n\n  \n\n \n \n IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS           \n\nDATED: 14\/10\/2003  \n\nCORAM   \n\nTHE HONOURABLE Mr. JUSTICE V.KANAGARAJ           \n\nCRIMINAL ORIGINAL PETITION No.19498 OF 2002       \nAND  \nCRL.M.P.No.7926 OF 2002.   \n\n\nRaghunath V.Nair                       ... Petitioner\n\n-Vs-\n\nState, by The Inspector of Police\nJ5 Shastri Nagar Police Station,\nChennai.                                ... Respondent\n\nP.H.Menon  \nManaging Director,\nM\/s.Sanguino Implex Pvt.Ltd.,\nNo.111, Velacherry Main Road, \nChennai-600 032.                        ... Intervener\n\n(Intervener brought on record\nas per the Order of the Court\ndated 9.9.2002 made in \nCrl.M.P.No.8783\/2002) \n\n        Criminal Original Petition filed under Section  482  of  the  Code  of\nCriminal Procedure for the relief as stated therein.\n\n\n!For Petitioner:  Mr.B.S.Raman\n\n^For Respondent:  Mr.A.N.Thambidurai \n                Govt.Advocate(Cri.Side)\n\nFor intervener:  Mr.T.K.Rajasekaran\n                Mr.P.Karlmarx\n\n\n:O R D E R \n<\/pre>\n<p>                This Criminal Original Petition has been filed praying to call<br \/>\nfor the records on the file of the respondent  J5,  Sastri  Bhavan  Police  in<br \/>\ntheir Crime No.839 of 2002 and quash the same.\n<\/p>\n<p>                2.The case of the petitioner is that he is working  as  Branch<br \/>\nManager  in  TATA Finance limited, a reputed Non Banking Financial Institution<br \/>\nwhich  is  engaged  in  the  business  of   extending   finance   under   Hire<br \/>\nPurchase\/Lease  Scheme;  that M\/s Sanguino Impex P Ltd.approached TATA Finance<br \/>\nLimited for 100% finance for being given use of a  Ford  Escort  Car  under  a<br \/>\nlease  agreement  and  a lease agreement was entered into between TATA Finance<br \/>\nlimited and M\/s Sanguino Impex P.  Ltd.  on 12.5.1999 and a new Ford  Car  was<br \/>\npurchased by Tata Finance limited for a sum of Rs.7,59,988\/- and given for the<br \/>\nuse  of M\/s Sanguino Impex P.Ltd.; that as per the terms and conditions of the<br \/>\nagreement between the parties, the  lease  was  for  a  period  of  60  months<br \/>\ncommencing  from  12.3.199 9 to 12.4.2004; that the lessee was liable to pay a<br \/>\nsum of Rs.18,170\/- per month for the first 59 months and Rs.17,792.79 for  the<br \/>\n60th  month  as  lease rental every month to have the use of the car; that the<br \/>\nagreement in Clause 23 provides refers the TATA Finance Limited  as  owner  of<br \/>\nthe  vehicle  which  has  been  given  for  the  use  of  the lessee under the<br \/>\nagreement, being entitled to repossess the same in the  event  of  the  lessee<br \/>\ndefaulting  in  payment  of  dues; that as provided in the agreement, the 1999<br \/>\nModel Ford Escort Car was registered in the name of M\/s.Sanguino Impex Private<br \/>\nLimited with Registration No.PY-01-M-19 60; that the said  M\/s.Sanguino  Impex<br \/>\nPrivate  limited  committed a series of defaults and failed to pay the monthly<br \/>\nlease instalments; that various cheques issued by them  got  dishonoured  when<br \/>\npresented  for payment; that the Head Office of TATA Finance Limited at Mumbai<br \/>\nput M\/ s.Sanguino Impex Private Limited on notice by  letter  dated  18.6.2002<br \/>\nthat  the  lessee  was in default in payment of dues, and if the dues were not<br \/>\ncleared promptly, the said company would be forced to act under the  terms  of<br \/>\nthe  agreement;  that  following the lessees failure to take any step to clear<br \/>\nthe dues, the Head Office  TATA  Finance  Limited  at  Mumbai  authorised  the<br \/>\nrepossession  of  the leased vehicle and it was repossessed on 18.7.2002; that<br \/>\nas on the date of repossession, four monthly instalments viz.    12.4.2002  to<br \/>\n12.7.2002  remained  unpaid  with  default interest; that the repossession has<br \/>\nbeen intimated to the police authorities on the same day.\n<\/p>\n<p>                3.  The further case of the petitioner is  that  the  car  was<br \/>\nbeing  driven  by  one  Mr.P.H.Menon, a Director in M\/s.Sanguino Impex Private<br \/>\nLimited at the time of its being repossessed on 18.7.2002, who is  well  aware<br \/>\nof  the  fact  of non-payment of dues; that the said Mr.P.H.Menon gave a false<br \/>\ncomplaint on 19.7.2002 alleging that on 18.7.2002 in the morning, when he  was<br \/>\nproceeding  from  his resident to his office, the petitioner, one Ravi and two<br \/>\nunnamed others stopped his car and the petitioner abused the  informant;  that<br \/>\nit is al leged that certain valuables including Rs.16,000\/- in cash is said to<br \/>\nbe kept by him in the car and he has requested that the car and his properties<br \/>\nmay  be  restored  to  him;  that the respondent police have registered a case<br \/>\nagainst the petitioner herein under Sections 395 and  506(II)  IPC;  that  the<br \/>\ninformant  added  his name to the list of accused with a view to harass him as<br \/>\nhe is the Branch Manager of TATA Finance Limited; that  the  petitioner  is  a<br \/>\nresponsible officer in a reputed company and he has been falsely implicated in<br \/>\nthe  FIR  for collateral reasons of the informant trying to bargain favourable<br \/>\nterms with the company.  Hence, the above Criminal Original petition has  been<br \/>\nfiled for the relief extracted supra.\n<\/p>\n<p>                4.   During arguments, the learned counsel appearing on behalf<br \/>\nof the petitioner, besides reiterating the  facts  as  pleaded  in  the  above<br \/>\ncriminal original petition, would also cite the following judgments:\n<\/p>\n<p>1) 2001(4)CTC 102 <a href=\"\/doc\/1036461\/\">(CHARANJIT SINGH CHADHA AND OTHERS vs.  SUDHIR MEHRA)<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>2) 1996  SCC (Cri) 281 (K.A.MATHAI ALIAS BABU AND ANOTHER vs.  KORA BIBBIKUTTY<br \/>\nAND ANOTHER)\n<\/p>\n<p>3) 1979 SCC (Cri) 987 <a href=\"\/doc\/1271780\/\">(SARDAR TRILOK SINGH AND OTHERS vs.  SATYA DEO TRIPATHI)<\/a>            <\/p>\n<p>                5.  In the first judgment cited  above,  in  a  case  of  hire<br \/>\npurchase  agreement  containing a clause empowering the owner to repossess the<br \/>\nvehicle in case of default by hirer and on the hirer committing  default,  the<br \/>\nowner repossessed the vehicle in which the Honourable Apex Court has held:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The  hire-purchase  agreement  in  law  is  an executory contract of sale and<br \/>\nconfers no right in rem on hirer until the  conditions  for  transfer  of  the<br \/>\nproperty to  him have been fulfilled.  Therefore, the repossession of goods as<br \/>\nper the term of the agreement may not amount to any  criminal  offence.    The<br \/>\nagreement  specifically  gave  authority  to  the appellants to re-possess the<br \/>\nvehicle and their agents have been given the right to enter  any  property  or<br \/>\nbuilding wherein  the  motor  vehicle  was  likely to be kept.  Under the hire<br \/>\npurchase agreement, the appellants have continued to  be  the  owners  of  the<br \/>\nvehicle  and even if the entire allegations against them are taken as true, no<br \/>\noffence was  made  out  against  them  &#8230;.    The  complaint  and  any  other<br \/>\nproceedings initiated pursuant to such complaint are quashed.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>                6.   In the second judgment cited above, in a case where a bus<br \/>\npurchased by A.2 under a hire-purchase agreement was sold to  the  complainant<br \/>\nand  when the complainant defaulted in payment of instalment to the financier,<br \/>\nthe financier took possession of the bus with the help of A.1 and A.2  and  in<br \/>\nthis case, the Honourable apex Court held:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Financer  has  right  to  resume  possession  even  if the agreement does not<br \/>\ncontain a clause of resumption of possession and the offence of theft not made<br \/>\nout.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>                7.  In the third judgment cited above, in a case  wherein  the<br \/>\ntruck  sold  under  hire-purchase  agreement  was  seized  by the financier on<br \/>\ndefault in payment of instalment and buyer launched  criminal  prosecution  in<br \/>\nwhich the Honourable Apex Court held:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The launching of criminal prosecution by the buyer was an abuse of process of<br \/>\nthe court since the dispute was essentially of a civil nature.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>Citing  the above judgments, the learned counsel for the petitioner would pray<br \/>\nto the relief extracted supra.\n<\/p>\n<p>                8.     On    the    contrary,     on     behalf     of     the<br \/>\nintervener\/defactocomplainant, the learned counsel would submit that so far 40<br \/>\nmonthly  instalments  have been paid out of sixty instalments and due to three<br \/>\nmonths&#8217; paltry random default, the petitioner has foreclosed the agreement and<br \/>\ntried to re-possess the car that too by force; that on the  fateful  day  i.e.<br \/>\non  18.7.2002, at around 10.45 a.m., the petitioner along with three other men<br \/>\ncame in a black  Ambassador  car  and  waylaid  the  defacto-complainant  near<br \/>\nTheosophical  Society,  Besant  Avenue Road, Adyar, chennai and the petitioner<br \/>\nalong with one Ravi and other persons pulled the  defacto-complainant  out  of<br \/>\nhis  car  forcibly  and  slugged  on his neck, shoulder, stomach with enormous<br \/>\nforce and scolded him in filthy language at the instance  of  the  petitioner.<br \/>\nThe  learned  counsel  would further submit that the accused persons have also<br \/>\nrobbed the following items from the defacto-complainant:\n<\/p>\n<p>1.Samsung Stereo C.D.changer (Home Theatre)\n<\/p>\n<p>2.Oriental Bank of Commerce Cheque Book\n<\/p>\n<p>3.Standard Chartered Bank Cheque Book\n<\/p>\n<p>4.ICICI Bank cheque book\n<\/p>\n<p>5.Standard Chartered Bank ATM Card\n<\/p>\n<p>6.ICICI Bank ATM Card\n<\/p>\n<p>7.Americal Express Credit Card\n<\/p>\n<p>8.Office Bag containing files\n<\/p>\n<p>9.Cash of Rs.15,000\/= in office bag and Rs.1,500\/- in purse.\n<\/p>\n<p>10.House Keys bunch\n<\/p>\n<p>11.Office Keys bunch\n<\/p>\n<p>12.Nokia Battery Charger\n<\/p>\n<p>13.Nokia Cell\n<\/p>\n<p>14.Bible and other Misc.items\n<\/p>\n<p>15.Company Rubber Stamps.\n<\/p>\n<p>                9.  The learned  counsel  for  the  intervener  would  further<br \/>\nsubmit  that scores of rulings hold that an FIR, even concise in nature ,shall<br \/>\nnot be quashed by the High Courts exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of<br \/>\nthe Code of Criminal Procedure, if Courts are of the view that a  prima  facie<br \/>\noffence  is made out and it is the trial Court which ought to decide the same;<br \/>\nthat in UNION OF INDIA vs.    BAJANLAL  reported  in  AIR  1992  SC  604,  the<br \/>\nHonourable  Apex  Court  has  held  that  `the  Courts  have  to  order for an<br \/>\ninvestigation under Section 156 Cr.P.C., if the allegations  in  the  FIR  and<br \/>\nother  materials accompanying FIR discloses commission of cognizable offence&#8217;;<br \/>\nthat since in the case hand, the  FIR  discloses  a  cognizable  offence,  the<br \/>\nquestion  of quashing the same does not at all arise and would pray to dismiss<br \/>\nthe above criminal original petition.\n<\/p>\n<p>                10.  On  the  part  of  the  respondent  Police,  the  learned<br \/>\nGovernment  Advocate  on  the  criminal  side  would  submit that based on the<br \/>\ncomplaint lodged by the intervener\/defacto-complainant, the respondent  Police<br \/>\nhaving  registered  the  case,  are  proceeding  with  the  investigation  and<br \/>\ntherefore would pray to dismiss the  above  criminal  original  petition  thus<br \/>\npermitting  the Investigating Officer to have a free and fair investigation in<br \/>\nthe matter.\n<\/p>\n<p>                11.  In consideration of the materials placed  on  record  and<br \/>\nupon  hearing  the  learned  counsel  for  all  the  parties, the petitioner&#8217;s<br \/>\nfinancier company  is  alleged  to  have  made  financial  assistance  to  the<br \/>\ndefacto-complainant  to purchase a car on certain terms and conditions and the<br \/>\nmode of repayment etc.  On the part of the petitioner,  it  would  further  be<br \/>\nsubmitted  that there are conditional clauses inserted in the agreement to the<br \/>\neffect that in case of default in the repayment, the  financier  would  become<br \/>\nthe  owner  of the vehicle further becoming entitled to possession of the same<br \/>\nand giving effect to the said clause, since the defacto-complainant  committed<br \/>\nthe default in the payment, they have taken possession of the vehicle.\n<\/p>\n<p>                12.   On  the  part  of  the  defacto-complainant, it would be<br \/>\nsubmitted that till date forty instalments have been paid without any  default<br \/>\nand  due to some financial constraints, he could not make the payment only for<br \/>\nthe last three instalments and in such  circumstances,  the  petitioner  along<br \/>\nwith  one Ravi and engaging some unruly elements not only waylaid the vehicle,<br \/>\nbut also assaulted him and took the vehicle and the accused have  also  robbed<br \/>\nof  his articles and cash as a result of which, for his personal sufferings of<br \/>\nassault and for the acts perpetrated in deliberately snatching  not  only  the<br \/>\nvehicle  from  out  of his possession but also his valuable articles, engaging<br \/>\nunruly elements, he has given a complaint before the respondent police  within<br \/>\nwhose jurisdiction the vehicle had been snatched.\n<\/p>\n<p>                13.   In the above circumstances, the points for determination<br \/>\nare<\/p>\n<p>1.`whether the registering of  the  case  by  the  respondent  Police  on  the<br \/>\ncomplaint  of  the  defacto-complainant is just and proper or whether the same<br \/>\nhas to be quashed as it is sought for on the part of the petitioner?&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>2.`whether pursuant to this dispute, the act  admittedly  perpetrated  on  the<br \/>\npart  of the petitioner and other accused in taking forcible possession of the<br \/>\nvehicle and other valuable articles from the defactocomplainant,  is  just  or<br \/>\nproper  and  whether  the  same  could be ratified by the Court or whether the<br \/>\npetitioner and other accused  persons  become  liable  to  be  dealt  with  in<br \/>\naccordance with the penal provisions of law?&#8217;\n<\/p>\n<p>                14.  It may be the case of the petitioner finance company that<br \/>\nthere  was  a  written  agreement  entered  into in between themselves and the<br \/>\ndefacto-complainant, according to which if there are defaults in the repayment<br \/>\nof schedule agreed upon, the  petitioner&#8217;s  finance  company  would  not  only<br \/>\nbecome the full-fledged owner of the vehicle but also would become entitled to<br \/>\nget possession of the same.  But, when the defacto-complainant submits that he<br \/>\nalready  paid  forty  instalments,  even  though  he  agrees  to the terms and<br \/>\nconditions of agreement, is it proper on the part of the petitioner&#8217;s  finance<br \/>\ncompany  to  have acted in the manner alleged in taking forcible possession of<br \/>\nnot only the vehicle, which is subject to the agreement  but  also  the  other<br \/>\nvaluable articles mentioned in the complaint.\n<\/p>\n<p>                15.   Needless to mention that we are in a society governed by<br \/>\nlaws and for any claim made, only the proper forums established by law  should<br \/>\nbe  resorted  to for remedy and the rule being that in matters of such nature,<br \/>\nsince there is a  dispute  between  the  parties,  it  would  have  been  only<br \/>\nappropriate  on the part of the petitioner&#8217;s finance company to have initiated<br \/>\ncivil proceedings  either  for  the  recovery  of  the  money  or  for  taking<br \/>\npossession  of  the  vehicle as it is alleged to have been contemplated in the<br \/>\nagreement and in such cases, the decision of the civil Court will be final.\n<\/p>\n<p>                16.  Even regarding taking possession of the  vehicle,  it  is<br \/>\nthe  same civil court which could make an order and the rule in this regard is<br \/>\nexcept by due process of law and by the procedures established by law,  by  no<br \/>\nother  means,  parties  could take it for granted that they could take the law<br \/>\ninto their own hands and do things accordingly laying emphasis on the terms of<br \/>\nagreement entered into by parties particularly when a major compliance of  the<br \/>\nsame  is  claimed  by  the  other  side  and therefore the manner in which the<br \/>\npetitioner and other accused have acted in deliberately taking  possession  of<br \/>\nnot  only  the said vehicle but other valuable articles further assaulting the<br \/>\ndefactocomplainant is  undoubtedly  illegal  and  the  respondent  police  are<br \/>\nperfectly   right   in   registering   the   case  on  the  complaint  of  the<br \/>\ndefactocomplainant further taking up the same for investigation.\n<\/p>\n<p>                17.  It is not only the vehicle which is focussed on the  part<br \/>\nof  the  petitioner  herein  which is said to be under the lease agreement but<br \/>\nalso 15 items of articles have been specifically mentioned in the complaint by<br \/>\nthe intervener to have been robbed from him besides being assaulted black  and<br \/>\nblue  until  he  fell  in  giddiness  and  ultimately  two unknown persons who<br \/>\nwitnessed the  entire  scene  which  occurred  in  the  street  have  put  the<br \/>\ncomplainant  into  an  auto  and  sent him resulting in the complainant taking<br \/>\ntreatment in a private nursing home  besides  suffering  physical  and  mental<br \/>\nsufferings, agony and affliction.\n<\/p>\n<p>                18.   In  the  whole of the act perpetrated on the part of the<br \/>\naccused named in the complaint, the act of seizing of  the  vehicle  which  is<br \/>\nfocussed in the petition becomes eclipsed in view of the alleged commission of<br \/>\ngreater criminal offences such as assault, robbery, criminal intimidation etc.<br \/>\nand  this  Court  is not able to find reasons in the manner in which the above<br \/>\ncriminal original petition has been filed on the part of the petitioner who is<br \/>\none of the accused as though the seizure of the  vehicle  in  question  was  a<br \/>\nsmooth  transaction  and nothing else had happened and hence needless to again<br \/>\npoint out that the gruesome act alleged to have been perpetrated in the middle<br \/>\nof  the  street  as  an  ambush  engaging  unruly  elements,  harping  on  the<br \/>\ncomplainant  and unleashing all methods of criminal activities thus taking the<br \/>\nlaw into their own hands, have culminated not  only  in  the  lodging  of  the<br \/>\ncomplaint  by  the  complainant  but  also  registering  the case based on the<br \/>\ncomplaint by the intervener in the respondent&#8217;s  Cr.No.839  of  2002  for  the<br \/>\ncommission  of  the  offences  punishable  under Sections 395 and 506(II) IPC.<br \/>\nWhile such being the facts and circumstances encircling the case registered by<br \/>\nthe respondent against the accused therein, the petitioner, as though  nothing<br \/>\nhad  happened  and  burking  all those facts regarding the perpetration of the<br \/>\ncrime, as alleged in the complaint, without  even  offering  any  explanation,<br \/>\nonly  alleging that it is a false complaint, has come forward to pray to quash<br \/>\nthe same which cannot be done in law.\n<\/p>\n<p>                19.  So far as the judgments cited on  behalf  of  the  second<br \/>\npetitioner\/financier  are concerned, in the first judgment cited above, it had<br \/>\nbeen brought to the notice of the Honourable Supreme  Court  that  the  cheque<br \/>\nissued  by  the hirer for a sum of Rs.84,000\/= was dishonoured by the bank and<br \/>\nthe financier had  filed  a  criminal  complaint  under  Section  138  of  the<br \/>\nNegotiable  Instruments  Act wherein the Honourable Apex Court being convinced<br \/>\nof the default committed by the hirer has rightly held that there had been  no<br \/>\nelement  of  theft  or  dishonest  intention  either  for  wrongful  gains for<br \/>\nthemselves or to  cause  wrongful  loss  to  the  hirer  since  the  dishonest<br \/>\nintention  which is essential element to constitute an offence of theft cannot<br \/>\nbe attributed to a person exercising his right under the agreement of  default<br \/>\nof  payment and therefore since the financier continued to be the owner of the<br \/>\nvehicle and in right exercise of his authority to repossess the vehicle  under<br \/>\nthe  hire  purchase  agreement  he  has taken the vehicle, no offence of theft<br \/>\ncould be contemplated against him.\n<\/p>\n<p>                20.  But, this position as found by the Honourable Apex  Court<br \/>\nin  the said judgments is not prevalent in the case in hand since primarily on<br \/>\nthe part of the petitioner&#8217;s finance company, no evidence has been placed in a<br \/>\nreliable  manner  that  they  have  at  least   issued   a   notice   to   the<br \/>\ndefacto-complainant  nor  indicating  anywhere  that  he  is  in default or in<br \/>\narrears of payment of the monthly instalments.  While such being  the  factual<br \/>\nposition  of  the  case, the propositions held by the Honourable Apex Court in<br \/>\nthe second and third judgments cited above also do not  become  applicable  to<br \/>\nthe case in hand, which has to be dealt with on different parlance.\n<\/p>\n<p>                21.   In the above circumstances, yet another important aspect<br \/>\nawaiting vital consideration in the case in hand is that it is  not  only  the<br \/>\nvehicle  but  also  the  other  articles, as mentioned in the complaint of the<br \/>\ndefacto-complainant, have been taken forcible possession of by the accused for<br \/>\nwhich  the  petitioner&#8217;s  finance  company  has   absolutely   no   right   or<br \/>\nauthorisation  in  any manner and it is not only a frontal illegality but also<br \/>\nan atrocious act committed on the part of the  accused  taking  the  law  into<br \/>\ntheir own hands.\n<\/p>\n<p>                22.   Therefore,  though this Court is in perfect agreement of<br \/>\nthe propositions held by the Honourable Apex  Court  in  the  judgments  cited<br \/>\nabove,  still,  the  facts  and  circumstances encircling the case in hand are<br \/>\nentirely different in the sense that most part of the  instalments  have  been<br \/>\npaid by the defacto-complainant.  Therefore, the only conclusion that could be<br \/>\narrived at regarding the claim of the petitioner&#8217;s company is that the dispute<br \/>\nhas  to  be resolved by the Court of original civil jurisdiction without which<br \/>\nthe petitioner&#8217;s company cannot indulge in such acts as it had perpetrated  on<br \/>\nthe  date  of occurrence in forcibly taking possession of not only the vehicle<br \/>\nbut also the other articles of  the  defacto-complainant  which  are  lawfully<br \/>\nbelonging  him over which admittedly the petitioner&#8217;s finance company does not<br \/>\nhave any right and hence it is only proper  on  the  part  of  the  police  to<br \/>\nregister the case and investigate in order to give a disposal to the complaint<br \/>\nof the  defacto-complainant.    In these circumstances, the legal propositions<br \/>\nvalidly held by the Honourable Supreme  Court  ,  cannot,  in  any  manner  be<br \/>\napplied to the facts of the case in hand.\n<\/p>\n<p>                23.   In  fact,  the  criminal  complaint  lodged and the case<br \/>\nregistered by the respondent Police deserves a thorough  investigation  to  be<br \/>\nheld  following  all  such  procedures as laid down under the Code of Criminal<br \/>\nProcedure.\n<\/p>\n<p>                24.  In the recent  judgment  of  the  Honourable  Apex  Court<br \/>\ndelivered in  <a href=\"\/doc\/767596\/\">UNION OF INDIA vs.  PRAKASH P.HINDUJA AND ANOTHER<\/a> reported in IV<br \/>\n(20 03) Supreme Laws Today 335, the Honourable  Apex  Court,  considering  the<br \/>\npoint  that  `whether  the  High  Court can exercise its inherent powers under<br \/>\nSection 482  of  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure  in  a  matter  where  the<br \/>\ninvestigation is pending&#8217;, following the earlier decisions reported in (1) AIR<br \/>\n1945 PC  18  (EMPEROR  vs.    NAZIR AHMAD), (2) AIR 1963 SC 447 <a href=\"\/doc\/342595\/\">(STATE OF WEST<br \/>\nBENGAL vs.  S.N.BASAK)<\/a> (3)AIR 1963 SC 117 (  <a href=\"\/doc\/49832\/\">ABHINANDAN  JHA  AND  OTHERS  vs.<br \/>\nDINESH MISHRA), and<\/a> (4) 1980 (1) SCC 554 ( STATE OF BIHAR AND ANOTHER vs.  JAC<br \/>\nSALDANHA AND OTHERS) has held:\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;   the  legal  position  is  absolutely clear and also settled by judicial<br \/>\nauthorities that the Court would  not  interfere  with  the  investigation  or<br \/>\nduring  the  course  of  investigation  which  would mean from the time of the<br \/>\nlodging of the First Information Report till the submission of the  report  by<br \/>\nthe officer-in-charge of police station in Court under Section 173(2) Cr.P.C.,<br \/>\nthis field being exclusively reserved for the Investigating Agency.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>                25.   Since  in the case in hand also, it is reported that the<br \/>\ninvestigation is pending, the proposition held by the  Honourable  Apex  Court<br \/>\nwould squarely  become applicable to the case in hand.  Both the points framed<br \/>\nabove are answered against the petitioner  and  the  above  criminal  original<br \/>\npetition becomes liable only to be dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<p>                26.   For  all  the discussions held, the only conclusion that<br \/>\nthis Court could arrive  at  in  the  facts  and  circumstances  of  the  case<br \/>\nconnected  to  the  above  criminal  original petition is to dismiss the above<br \/>\ncriminal original petition as devoid of merits.\n<\/p>\n<p>                In result, the above criminal original petition is dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<p>                Consequently, Crl.M.P.No.7926 of 2002 is also dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<p>Index:  Yes<br \/>\nInternet:  Yes<br \/>\nvjy\/Rao<\/p>\n<p>To<\/p>\n<p>1.The IX Metropolitan Magistrate,<br \/>\nSaidapet, Chennai-15.\n<\/p>\n<p>2.The Inspector of Police,<br \/>\nJ5 Shastri Nagar Police Station,<br \/>\nChennai.\n<\/p>\n<p>3.The Public Prosecutor,<br \/>\nHigh Court, Madras.\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Madras High Court Raghunath V.Nair vs State on 14 October, 2003 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS DATED: 14\/10\/2003 CORAM THE HONOURABLE Mr. JUSTICE V.KANAGARAJ CRIMINAL ORIGINAL PETITION No.19498 OF 2002 AND CRL.M.P.No.7926 OF 2002. Raghunath V.Nair &#8230; Petitioner -Vs- State, by The Inspector of Police J5 Shastri Nagar Police Station, Chennai. &#8230; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-madras-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Raghunath V.Nair vs State on 14 October, 2003 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/raghunath-v-nair-vs-state-on-14-october-2003\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raghunath V.Nair vs State on 14 October, 2003 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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