High court has power to quash FIR even when the charge sheet is filed: Supreme Court

Srinagar, Sep 01: The India's apex court on Wednesday (Aug 28) emphasised that the high court, under Section 482 CrPC, is empowered to quash an FIR even when the charge sheet is filed.

This, the apex court said should be done when the court believes that continuing the proceedings would be an abuse of the process of law.

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the FIR and charge-sheet against the parents-in-law and husband of a complainant in a cruelty case under Section 498A of the IPC, Live Law reported.

The appeal filed by the complainant's parents-in-law and husband against the Gujarat High Court's refusal to quash the FIR were allowed by the apex court.

The complainant had registered the FIR in 2002 against her husband and in-laws. She and the appellant's husband obtained a divorce by mutual consent in 2004.

The Gujarat HC on September 14, 2011, dismissed quashing applications filed by the appellants as the investigating officer had filed a charge-sheet and a prima facie case had been made out against the appellants.

Thus, the appellants filed the present appeal before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court observed that despite being served a notice on May 30, 2023, the complainant did not appear in court to oppose the appeals, as noted in the office report dated December 2, 2023.

The Supreme Court noted that the complainant and her husband had severed their marital ties in 2004, and both were well settled in their respective lives.

The Court observed that the complainant had not shown any inclination to have her marital life disturbed, as she did not participate in the current proceedings.

The Court also opined that the allegations in the FIR were vague and general in nature. Therefore, the Court questioned whether the FIR and the charge-sheet should proceed to trial solely because of appearance of a prima facie case against the appellants.

To emphasize that the High Court retains the power to quash an FIR under Section 482 of the CrPC even after a charge-sheet is filed, the Supreme Court referred to several precedents, including Abhishek v. State of Madhya Pradesh.

Therefore, the Court found it appropriate to put a quietus to the long-standing dispute between the parties by invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to quash the FIR, the charge-sheet, and all other proceedings arising from it.