A Division Bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna said that this position been settled in M/s. Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. v. State of Maharashtra.
“What is emphasized by this Court in the case of M/s. Neeharika Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. is that grant of any stay of investigation and/or any interim relief while exercising powers under Section 482 CrPC would be only in the rarest of rare cases. This Court has also emphasized the right of the Investigating Officer to investigate the criminal proceedings,” the top court stated.
The Court was hearing an appeal assailing a February 14 decision of the Gujarat High Court which, while admitting the Section 482 plea, had granted interim relief and stayed the criminal proceedings against the respondents.
The respondent-accused had, in 2019, approached the High Court seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings. Before any further investigation could begin, the High Court had on October 10, 2019 granted interim relief and directed that there shall be no coercive steps against the respondents.
However, on December 9, 2019, the Supreme Court had stayed the October 10 order of the High Court and later on December 17, 2021 set aside the High Court’s interim order.
Subsequently, the High Court while again admitting the application of the respondent-accused, granted interim relief by staying the criminal proceedings.
Source: Barandbench
