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GYAN SUDHA MISRA, J.

Leave granted.

2. The appellant herein has challenged the order dated 24.1.2011 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Jabalpur by which the Criminal Revision Petition No. 839/2004 was dismissed holding therein that the impugned order passed by the Special Judge (under the Prevention of Corruption Act,  1988) District Narsinghpur did not suffer from any apparent error of jurisdiction.

3. In the backdrop of the facts and circumstances of the case to be related hereinafter, the question inter alia which falls for determination by this Court is whether the Magistrate/Special Judge could straightway direct for submission of charge-sheet in case he refused to accept final report/closure report of the police/investigating agency and thereafter direct the police to submit charge-sheet in case he was of the opinion that the case was not fit to be closed and it required to be proceeded further. The question which also requires consideration is whether the Special Judge could refuse to accept closure report and direct reinvestigation of the case for the second time in order to proceed further although he was confronted with the legal impediment indicating lack of sanction for prosecution in the matter.

- Smt. Vasanti Dubey to the complainant prior to the date on which the complaint was filed, it was inferred that the complaint did not disclose commission of any offence and hence the Lokayukta directed that a closure report be filed in regard to the complaint lodged against Vasanti Dubey and appropriate action be initiated against the complainant for lodging a false complaint.

8. Accordingly, the closure report was submitted before the Special Judge, Narsinghpur but by order dated 5.8.2002, the Special Judge refused to accept the same. He thus rejected the closure report and thereafter directed the police to file charge-sheet in the case against the appellant against which the State Government filed a criminal revision bearing Criminal Revision No. 1206/2002 in the High Court challenging the order of the Special Judge who refused to accept the closure report and issued direction for submission of the charge-sheet against the appellant.

from the complainant in order to clear his bills which complaint was found to be untrustworthy and hence unacceptable since all payments had already been received by the complainant prior to the lodgement of complaint specially in view of the subsequent version of the complainant that he had lodged a malicious complaint at the instance of a rival of the appellant.

11. The Special Police Establishment, Lokayukta Office, therefore, once again filed an application/closure report before the Special Judge, Narsinghpur but the Special Judge, Narsinghpur this time again rejected the closure report by order dated 18.5.2004 observing therein that it had been clarified by order dated 5.8.2002 that there is sufficient basis to take cognizance against the appellant - Smt. Vasanti Dubey and there is no change in the circumstance on the basis of which closure report can be accepted clearly overlooking that the High Court had already quashed the order dated 5.8.2002 passed by the Special Judge as it had  held that the Special Judge had no jurisdiction to direct the police to submit charge sheet in case he refuses to accept closure report although he could take cognizance under Section 190(C) of the Cr.P.C. or direct further investigation of the case. In pursuance of this, further investigation was done by the Special Police Establishment, Lokayukta Office and closure report was submitted after completion of reinvestigation. On this occasion, when the Special Judge refused to accept closure report, it was his statutory and legal duty to either pass a fresh order taking cognizance if he refused to dismiss the complaint and proceed with the enquiry under Section 200 Cr.P.C. by examining the complainant after which he had to record reasons why he disagreed with the closure report. But the Special Judge did not discharge this legal obligation and simply in a mechanical manner directed the investigating agency to obtain sanction to prosecute the appellant despite the fact that the investigating agency had consistently reported that sufficient evidence was not there to justify prosecution of the appellant.

16. When the facts of the instant matter is further tested on the anvil of the aforesaid legal position, we find that the Special Judge instead of following the procedure enumerated in the Cr.P.C. appeared to insist on rejecting the closure report given by the Special Police Establishment, Lokayukta Office and in the process consistently committed error of law and jurisdiction not only once, but twice. On the first occasion when the order of the Special Judge was quashed and set aside by the High Court granting liberty to the Special Judge either to take cognizance under Section 190(c) or order for further investigation as he had committed an error of jurisdiction by directing the police to straightway submit the charge-sheet against the accused-petitioner, the Special Judge did not consider it appropriate to take cognizance but ordered for further investigation by Lokayukta Police and when the matter was reinvestigated by the Special Police Establishment of the Lokayukta Office, the Special  Judge in spite of the finding of the investigating agency holding that no further material to proceed in the matter was found, refused to accept the closure report and this time it further realized that it could not proceed in the matter as there was no sanction for prosecution, which the Special Judge obviously noticed since he was not in a position to take cognizance directly under Sections 7, 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act in absence of sanction which was a statutory requirement. In spite of this, he refused to accept closure report but recorded a direction to obtain sanction for prosecution of the appellant and thereafter ordered for reinvestigation of the complaint for the second time creating a peculiar and anomalous situation which is not in consonance with the provision of the Code of Criminal Procedure enumerated under the Chapter relating to conditions requisite for initiation of proceedings.