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P.C. Mishra v. State (C.B.I.) and Another

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1310 of 2010)Decided 27 Mar 2014
Criminal Appeal No. 1310 of 2010
Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan · Justice Vikramajit Sen

Background

The CBI investigated a sales-tax officer and his reader over an alleged bribe to settle a tax appeal. During investigation, the Special Judge referred the CBI's request to pardon the reader to a magistrate, who granted pardon so that he could provide evidence. After that witness had testified and been cross-examined, the officer argued that only the Special Judge could have granted the pardon.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that, at the investigation stage before the charge-sheet and committal, the Special Judge's power did not remove the magistrate's power under Section 306 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Both had concurrent authority to consider a pardon to facilitate investigation. Here the Special Judge had expressly referred the application, and the magistrate's order disclosed reasons for obtaining the accomplice's evidence. The Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the pardon. It distinguished the position after committal, when a magistrate's lack of authority would not be cured in the same way.

Lesson Learnt

The stage of a criminal case matters when deciding who may grant an accomplice a conditional pardon. In this pre-charge-sheet investigation, referral to a magistrate was valid; the ruling does not give magistrates the same power after a case has been committed for trial.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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