"Strange dismissal": Supreme Court asks Madhya Pradesh High Court to rehear plea to quash FIR

The Supreme Court recently took critical note of the "strange" manner in which the Madhya Pradesh High Court declined to allow a plea to quash a criminal case without hearing the matter on merits. [Shiv Kumar Sharma vs State of Madhya Pradesh and ors].A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal found that the High Court's approach was not only strange but contrary to law. .Notably, the High Court had rejected the petition after recording that the accused could be given an opportunity to explain evidence collected against him before the police filed its final report or the chargesheet. .The Supreme Court stressed that the Investigation Officer cannot be issued such directions. ."Strangely, the High Court has observed that the Investigating Officer will give opportunity to the appellant to explain the material collected against him during the investigation before submission of the final report under Section 173 of CrPC. To say the least, such approach is very strange and contrary to law," the Supreme Court's order said. .The top court was dealing with an appeal filed by a man accused of misappropriating funds worth around ₹3.82 crores. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had earlier refused to quash the criminal complaint against him after noting that "serious allegations of financial indiscipline" had been leveled. The accused man then moved the Supreme Court for relief. The top court granted the accused interim protection in August.In its latest order passed on October 30, it directed the High Court to take a fresh decision on the matter since the plea was earlier dismissed without going into its merits. The interim protection granted by the top court in August was also extended till January 8, 2024. The Supreme Court clarified that all contentions are left open to be argued before the High Court when it hears the matter again..Advocates Abhinav Agnihotri, Salonee Paranjape, and BK Pal represented the accused, one Shiv Kumar Sharma. Advocates Yashraj Singh Bundela, Vishnu Kant, Pawan, and Jyoti Verma appeared for the Madhya Pradesh government. Advocates Devesh Pratap Singh, Rahul Kulhare, Tanishq Tyagi, Kaustubh Anshuraj, Sanjay Tyagi, and Yashish Chandra appeared for the District Cooperative Central Bank..[Read order]