No Relief for Tamil Nadu Pharma Firm, Madras HC Refuses to Quash FIR
Chennai: The Madras High Court has refused to quash an FIR registered against Amman Pharma and its partners in connection with allegations relating to the manufacture and sale of drugs, holding that the allegations disclosed a prima facie cognisable offence warranting a detailed investigation.
The court observed that exercising its inherent powers to quash criminal proceedings at the preliminary stage was not justified when the investigation was still underway.
The case arose from an FIR registered over allegations that the accused were involved in offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Seeking to terminate the criminal proceedings, the petitioners approached the High Court contending that the FIR deserved to be quashed.
After examining the materials placed before it, the High Court held that the allegations contained in the FIR could not be dismissed at the threshold. The court noted that the complaint disclosed the commission of cognisable offences and that the investigation was at an initial stage. It observed that disputed questions of fact and the veracity of the allegations could only be determined after a proper investigation and not while deciding a petition seeking quashing of the FIR.
The court further observed that the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court to quash criminal proceedings should be exercised sparingly and only in exceptional circumstances. Since the materials available did not establish that the FIR was frivolous or an abuse of the legal process, the court declined to interfere with the investigation.
With these observations, the Madras High Court dismissed the petition filed by Amman Pharma and permitted the investigating agency to proceed with the probe in accordance with law. The court also clarified that its observations were confined to deciding the quashing petition and should not influence the investigation or any subsequent proceedings.
According to a recent media report in The New Indian Express, the High Court held that the FIR disclosed a prima facie cognisable offence under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, making it inappropriate to invoke its inherent powers to quash the criminal proceedings at the investigation stage.
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