The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice SVN Bhatti ruled that the High Court cannot rely upon extraneous documents while exercising their powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),and accordingly set aside the Gujarat High Court’s order that had refused to quash the FIR against the Appellant.

The Court observed that such investigation related documents are meant for the Magistrate’s consideration alone, and the High Court referring to the same risks prejudicing the Magistrate’s independent assessment and compromises the fairness of the trial process.

In the present case, the High Court refused to quash the FIR, relying on the supply documents and an affidavit filed by Respondent No. 2, which alleged that other individuals had also been defrauded by the Appellant. Based on this, the High Court concluded that the offences stated in the FIR were substantiated.

The Supreme Court reiterated the legal position laid down in State of Odisha v. Pratima Mohanty.,(2022) 16 SCC 703, which held that the power under Section 482 is extraordinary and should be exercised sparingly. It is not intended to conduct a mini-trial or pre-evaluate the evidence at the initial stage.

The bench found that the Gujarat High Court had overstepped its jurisdiction by referring to the investigation-related documents while adjudicating the petition under Section 482 CrPC. This, the Court noted, was impermissible and contrary to established legal principles.

Placing reliance on Pratibha v. Rameshwari Devi (2007) 12 SCC 369, the bench reiterated:“It is not open to the High Court to rely on the report of the investigating agency, nor can it direct the report to be submitted before it as the law is very clear that the report of the investigating agency may be accepted by the Magistrate, or the Magistrate may reject the same on consideration of the material on record. Such being the position, the report of the investigating agency cannot be relied on by the High Court while exercising powers under section 482 of the Code.”

Thus, after due consideration, the Court allowed the appeal, quashed the FIR, and set aside the High Court’s order.

Case Title: Ashok Kumar Jain v. The State Of Gujarat And Another.,S.L.P.(Criminal) No. 1850 OF 2022

Advocate for Petitioner(s): Mr. P.S. Patwalia, Sr. Adv. Ms. Natasha Dalmia, AOR

Advocate for Respondent(s): Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, AOR Ms. Neha Singh, Adv. Mr. Mohit D. Ram, AOR