In Brief
A citizen challenged before the High Court a Lokayukta recommendation to register a criminal case against him, seeking to quash the recommendation and the consequent FIR. The Single Judge quashed both. The State appealed via Letters Patent Appeal (intra-court appeal), which the Division Bench admitted. The Supreme Court held that such an appeal was not maintainable because it involved criminal jurisdiction, which is excluded from Letters Patent appeals. The Court clarified that the character of a proceeding (civil or criminal) depends on the nature of the right violated and relief sought, not the tribunal or article cited. Since the proceeding sought to avoid criminal prosecution and investigation, it constituted a criminal proceeding barred from intra-court appeal under the Letters Patent.
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