Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 9: High Court today quashed the FIR against SSP Ramesh Kumar Bhat registered by Police Station Bahu Fort under Sections 419, 342, 506 and 170 IPC.
After hearing Senior Advocate Sunil Sethi with Advocate Vaibhav Gupta for the petitioner, Justice Sanjay Dhar observed, “it is clear that it is not only the allegations made in the complaint but it is also the material that has been assembled by the investigating agency in support of those allegations which is required to be analysed by the court while deciding as to whether proceedings in a particular case deserve to be quashed”.
“It is true that High Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 CrPC would not embark upon an enquiry as to the veracity of the allegations made in the FIR or complaint but when full-fledged investigation has taken place and the material collected during investigation of the case do not support the allegations made in the complaint/FIR, the court would be well within its jurisdiction to quash the criminal proceedings”, Justice Dhar said.
Justice Sanjay Dhar further observed, “the present case is not the one where if proceedings are quashed, the same would amount to stifling the prosecution but it is a case where after full-fledged investigation of the impugned FIR, the investigating agency has come to a conclusion that allegations made in the said FIR are not substantiated by the material assembled during the investigation”.
“The continuance of criminal proceedings in such a case would amount to abuse of process of law. Thus, the proceedings in the impugned FIR deserve to be quashed”, the High Court said.
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