Srinagar: High Court of J&K and Ladakh Monday ruled that no appeal can be filed against an order passed by its single judge in exercise of inherent powers under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
A division bench of Justice Ali Muhammad Magrey and Justice Sanjay Dhar dismissed two Letters Patent Appeals (LPAs) challenging orders passed by two separate single judges of the Court under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.
One appeal pertained to an issue of domestic violence and other related to a cheque bounce case.
The crucial question before the division bench was whether the Letters Patent granted to High Court of J&K in 1928 by the then ruler under which an appeal is filed against the single judge order before the DB was different from the Letters Patent granted to other High Courts of the country.
The Court had also to decide on whether its inherent powers under section 482 CrPC was akin to exercise of power of superintended of the Court.
Advocate Shafqat Wazir while opposing the maintainability of appeals raised these issues. “Powers exercised by the High Court under Section 482 CrPC are supervisory in nature, and that in terms of Clause 12 of the Letters Patent rules, intra Court appeal against an order passed by a the Single Judge in exercise of power of superintendence of the Court is not available and, therefore, these appeals are not maintainable,” he argued.
The division bench of court also observed that sections 561-A ( now repealed) and the 482 of CrPC were “akin.”
“On comparison of the powers and their object under Section 561-A Cr. P. C., corresponding to Section 482 Cr. P. C. now applicable to the Union Territory, with what was provided in Clause 11 of the Order No. 01 of 1928 (dated 26-3-1928), under which the High Court was created, it is seen that the same are apparently akin to each other,” the court said.
“It is reiterated that in terms of Clause 11 of the 1928 Order, the High Court, in exercise of the powers of superintendence vested in it, could give directions to the subordinate courts with a view to securing the administration of justice,” the court said, adding in terms of Section 561-A CrPC the powers of the High Court (to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under the Code or to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice) appear to have been saved.