Law must not be used as tool to harass accused: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The law must not be used as a tool to harass the accused and courts must always ensure that frivolous cases do not "pervert" its sacrosanct nature, the Supreme Court has said.

The apex court, which quashed the criminal proceedings pending at a Chennai court against two people, said law is meant to exist as a shield to protect the innocent rather than being used as a sword to threaten them.

A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and S R Bhat delivered its verdict on an appeal against the August last year judgement of the Madras High Court which had dismissed a plea seeking quashing of a criminal complaint regarding alleged contravention of the provision of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. The top court noted there was a gap of over four years between the initial investigation and filing of the complaint, and even after the lapse of substantial amount of time, no evidence was provided to sustain the claims in the complaint. It said while inordinate delay in itself may not be a ground for quashing a criminal complaint, "unexplained inordinate delay" of such length must be taken into consideration as a very crucial factor as grounds for quashing it.

"At the cost of repetition, we again state that the purpose of filing a complaint and initiating criminal proceedings must exist solely to meet the ends of justice, and the law must not be used as a tool to harass the accused," the bench said in its verdict.

The apex court said while it is true that quashing of a criminal complaint must be done only in the rarest of rare cases, it is still the duty of the High Court to look into each and every case in great detail to prevent miscarriage of justice.