- (1.) Leave granted. Heard the counsel appearing for the parties.
(2.) The appellant herein filed a complaint before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mau alleging commission of offences under Section 406, 409, 420 and 467, I. P. C. by the respondent Nos, 1 to 4 ('respondents' for short). The learned Magistrate took cognizance upon the complaint and then recorded the statement of the appellant under Section 200, Cr. P.C. On being satisfied from the complaint, the documents filed there with and the statement of the appellant that the above offences were made out against the respondents he issued process against them. Aggrieved thereby the respondents filed a petition under Section 482, Cr. P.C. for quashing the complaint and the proceeding arising therefrom which was allowed by the High Court with a finding that the complaint was false, frivolous and vexatious and a direction upon the appellant to pay Rs. 5,000/- to the respondents as costs. Hence this appeal.
(3.) Having perused the impugned judgment in the light of the complaint and its accompaniments we are constrained to say, that the High Court exceeded its jurisdiction under Section 482, Cr. P.C. in passing the impugned judgment and order. It is rather unfortunate that though the High Court referred to the decision in State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, (1992) 1 Suppl. SCC 335, wherein this Court has enumerated by way of illustration the categories of cases in which power to quash complaint or FIR can be exercised, it did not keep in mind-much less adhered to-the following note of caution given therein:- "We also give a note of caution to the effect that the power of quashing a criminal proceeding should be exercised very sparingly and with circumspection and that too in the rarest of rare cases; that the Court will not be justified in embarking upon an enquiry as to the reliability or genuineness or other wise of the allegations made in the FIR or the complaint and that the extraordinary or inherent powers do not confer an arbitrary jurisdiction on the Court to act according to its whim or caprice". ;