The Supreme Court in Jagmohan Singh v/s Vimlesh Kumar & Ors. reiterated that “While exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., the High Court should not ordinarily embark upon an enquiry into whether there is reliable evidence or not. The jurisdiction has to be exercised sparingly, carefully and with caution only when such exercise is justified by the specific provisions of Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. itself.”
The Court observed that at this stage it is not inclined to look into the correctness of the allegations made in the FIR. However, the allegations in the FIR disclose an offence, and whether the persons named in the FIR have committed the offence or not has to be decided upon trial in the criminal proceedings.
Further, it stated that “The Court interferes in criminal proceedings, in the exercise of the power under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., in rare and exceptional cases, to give effect to the provisions of the Cr.P.C. or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.”
Adding that jurisdiction granted u/s 482 CrPC has to be used sparingly, the Bench emphasised, "The criminal proceedings can be said to be in abuse of the process of Court, to warrant intervention under Section 482 Cr.P.C., when the allegations in the FIR do not at all disclose any offence or there are materials on record from which the Court can reasonably arrive at a finding that the proceedings are in abuse of the process of the Court."
"While exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C., the High Court should not ordinarily embark upon an enquiry into whether there is reliable evidence or not. The jurisdiction has to be exercised sparingly, carefully and with caution only when such exercise is justified by the specific provisions of Section 482 of the Cr.P.C. itself. The criminal proceedings can be said to be in abuse of the process of Court, to warrant intervention under Section 482 Cr.P.C., when the allegations in the FIR do not at all disclose any offence or there are materials on record from which the Court can reasonably arrive at a finding that the proceedings are in abuse of the process of the Court."
Holding that the High Court has errored in quashing the complaint on this ground alone, the Court allowed the appeal and set aside the impugned order.