Court Can Peruse Case Diary And Materials Collected During Investigation While Considering Bail Applications : SC [Read Judgment]

In its judgment dismissing the plea of pre-arrest bail sought by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, the Supreme Court has made some important observations vis-a-vis application of Prevention of Money-Laundering Act and the scope of power under Section 438 CrPC to grant anticipatory bail.Importantly, the bench held that the court can receive the materials/documents collected during. In its judgment dismissing the plea of pre-arrest bail sought by former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, the Supreme Court has made some important observations vis-a-vis application of Prevention of Money-Laundering Act and the scope of power under Section 438 CrPC to grant anticipatory bail. In this regard, the bench, referring to earlier judgments on the subject, observed that the court can peruse the case diary/materials collected during investigation by the prosecution even before the commencement of the trial inter-alia in circumstances like:- to satisfy its conscience as to whether the investigation is proceeding in the right direction; to satisfy itself that the investigation has been conducted in the right lines and that there is no misuse or abuse of process in the investigation; whether regular or anticipatory bail is to be granted to the accused or not; whether any further custody of the accused is required for the prosecution; to satisfy itself as to the correctness of the decision of the High Court/trial court which is under challenge. Interrogation of the accused and the answers elicited from the accused and the opinion whether the answers given by the accused are "satisfactory" or "evasive", is purely within the domain of the investigating agency and the court cannot substitute its views by conducting mini trial at various stages of the investigation The investigation of a cognizable offence and the various stages thereon including the interrogation of the accused is exclusively reserved for the investigating agency whose powers are unfettered so long as the investigating officer exercises his investigating powers well within the provisions of the law and the legal bounds.