The Supreme Court has said that in cases of corruption, separate/open investigation is permissible in the pre-registration phase. In this case, the High Court rejected the application challenging the notice issued to the appellant by the Police Inspector of Anti-Corruption Bureau, Nagpur. In connection with the investigation of allegations of accruing assets from known sources of income, the Police Inspector issued a notice directing the appellant to record a statement in respect of the assets acquired by him.
A division bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah had considered in the appeal the question whether such investigation would be valid in the pre-FIR stage and to what extent such inquiry would be permissible.
The Bench, while dismissing the appeal, clarified that the appellant’s statement on the points mentioned in the relevant notice would be only to satisfy whether the cognizable offense was disclosed or not and that the appellant would be able to acquire more assets from known sources of income. Will be able to give clarification on the allegations leveled against him in the case and it will not be used as a confession statement.
Case: Charan Singh vs Government of Maharashtra [Criminal Appeal 363/2021]
Quorum: Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah
