Published on: 23 July 2023 at 11:35 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Surya Baksh Singh v. State of U.P. (2014)
Honourable Supreme Court of India held that High Court’s Inherent jurisdiction under the Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 has to be exercised sparingly, carefully and with caution and only when such exercise is justified by the tests specifically laid down in the section itself. It is to be exercised Ex Debito Justitiae to do real and substantial justice for the administration of which alone courts exists. It is held if any attempt is made to abuse that authority so as to produce injustice, the court has power to prevent such abuse. It would be an abuse of process of the court to allow any action which would result in injustice and prevent promotion of justice.
25. The enunciation of the inherent powers of the High Court in exercise of its criminal jurisdiction already articulated by this Court on several occasions motivates us to press Section 482 into operation. We reiterate that there is an alarming and sinister increase in instances where convicts have filed appeals apparently with a view to circumvent and escape undergoing the sentences awarded against them. The routine is to file an appeal, apply and get enlarged on bail or get exempted from surrender, and thereafter wilfully to become untraceable or unresponsive.
It is the bounden duty cast upon the Judge not merely to ensure that an innocent person is not punished but equally not to become a mute spectator to the spectacle of the convict circumventing his conviction. (See Stirland v. Director of Public Prosecutions, quoted with approval by Arijit Pasayat, J. in State of Punjab v. Karnail Singh.) If the court is derelict in doing its duty, the social fabric will be rent asunder and anarchy will rule everywhere. It is, therefore, imperative to put an end to such practice by the expeditious disposal of appeals. The inherent powers of the High Court, poignantly preserved in Section 482 CrPC, can also be pressed into service but with care, caution and circumspection.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
