1 spb/ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL APPELLATE SIDE JURISDICTION CRI.WRIT PETITION NO. 261 OF 2010 Sarfaraz Hanif Khan ... Petitioner/ Applicant. Versus The State of Maharashtra & Anr. ... Respondents. --- Mr. K.H. Holambe Patil for the Petitioner/Applicant. Mr. A.S. Pai, APP for the State. --- CORAM : B. R. GAVAI, J. DATED : 04th March, 2010. P.C. : 1. Heard. 2. The petitioner is seeking quashing of the complaint filed by the respondent no.2 against him. It is the contention of the petitioner that since offence is taken place in Bahrain, filing of the chargesheet is not permissible in view of section 188 of the Cr. P.C.. Section 188 of the Cr.P.C. reads thus : “188. Offence committed outside India :- When an offence is committed outside India -- (a) by a citizen of India, whether on the high seas or elsewhere; or (b) by a person, not being such citizen, on any ship or aircraft 2 registered in India, he may be dealt with in respect of such offence as if it had been committed at any place within India at which he may be found: Provided that, notwithstanding anything in any of the preceding sections of this Chapter, no such offence shall be inquired into or tried in India except with the previous sanction of the Central Government.” It is thus clear that no offence can be inquired into or tried in India except with the previous sanction of the Central Government when the offence is committed outside India. The words “inquiry” and “investigation” have been defined under section 2(g) and 2(h) of Cr.P.C. and they read thus : 2(g) “inquiry” means evey inquiry, other than a trial, conducted under this Code by a Magistrate or Court; “2(h) “investigation” includes all the proceedings under this Code for the collection of evidence conducted by a police officer or by any person (other than a Magistrate) who is authorised by a Magistrate in this behalf; Thus it can clearly be seen that the legislature has distinguished the ‘inquiry’ from ‘investigation’. Whereas the inquiry means any inquiry, other than a trail, 3 conducted by a Magistrate or Court, the term investigation includes all the proceedings conducted by the police officer or by any other person for collection of evidence. 3. The “inquiry” as contemplated under the code of Cr.P.C would mean an inquiry only before the Magistrate or the Court. In the present case what has happened sofar is only an investigation by police officers and filing of the chargesheet before the court. The learned court is yet to hold any enquiry even for the purposes of framing of the charges. 4. In that view of the matter, I am of the considered view that provisions of section 188 of the Cr.P.C. would not be attracted in the facts of the present case. The petition is, therefore, found to be without any merit and the same is dismissed accordingly. (B.R.GAVAI, J.) .....