Ends of Justice means

The ends of justice

“S. 482 (Cr. P.C) Saving of inherent power of High Court.—Nothing in this Code shall be deemed to limit or affect the inherent powers of the High Court to make such orders as may be necessary to give effect to any order under this Code, or to prevent abuse of the process of any Court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice.”

In State of Karnataka v. L. Muniswamy and others[(1977) 2 SCC 699], a three-Judge Bench of Apex Court referred to Section 482 of the Code and in paragraph 7 (pg. 703) of the Report held as under :

“7. …….. In the exercise of this wholesome power, the High Court is entitled to quash a proceeding if it comes to the conclusion that allowing the proceeding to continue would be an abuse of the process of the Court or that the ends of justice require that the proceeding ought to be quashed. The saving of the High Court’s inherent powers, both in civil and criminal matters, is designed to achieve a salutary public purpose which is that a court proceeding ought not to be permitted to degenerate into a weapon of harassment or persecution. In a criminal case, the veiled object behind a lame prosecution, the very nature of the material on which the structure of the prosecution rests and the like would justify the High Court in quashing the proceeding in the interest of justice. The ends of justice are higher than the ends of mere law though justice has got to be administered according to laws made by the legislature. The compelling necessity for making these observations is that without a proper realisation of the object and purpose of the provision which seeks to save the inherent powers of the High Court to do justice between the State and its subjects, it would be impossible to appreciate the width and contours of that salient jurisdiction.”

(103) Let us now examine what is meant by securing “the ends of justice”. P. B. Mukharji, j. in Debendra Nath Dutt v. Satyabala Dasi and ors. , AIR 1950 cal. 217, has discussed the meaning of the expression ‘ends of justice’ in section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

The learned judge has said that the words ‘ends of justice’ in section 151 wide as they are, do not mean vague and indiscriminate notions of justice but justice according to the statutes and the laws of the land. They cannot mean that express provisions of the statute can be overridden at the dictates of what one might by private emotion or arbitrary preference call or conceive to be justice between the parties. The words ‘ends of justice’ do not, therefore, permit the court to take a step or procedure which defeats of statutory provision of the law of the land.

(104) The words ‘ends of justice’ used in section 482 Cr. P. C. Must be understood in the same sense as that which was indicated by P. B. Mukherji, j. The court will use its inherent powers to secure the ends of justice where there has been a violation of the statutes and laws of the land. The court will not use its inherent power to defeat any provision of law.

Source: Calcutta High Court in Indra Nath Guha Vs State of West Bengal-28/11/1978