Shimla, Sep 22 (Reporter) The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ruled that a criminal complaint related to alleged distribution of liquor to woo voters before an election cannot be dismissed solely on the grounds that the complainant has a political rivalry with the accused, a lawyer said on Sunday. Justice Rakesh Kainthla said allegations of political bias are insufficient grounds to halt criminal proceedings if the charges are supported by evidence. The court said this while rejecting a plea to quash an First Information Report (FIR) accusing the petitioners of distributing liquor to influence voters during Panchayat elections. Court was passing order in the matter of Virender Singh and others vs State of Himachal Pradesh, involved charges under Section 39(1)(a) of the Himachal Pradesh Excise Act and Section 171E read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The petitioners sought to quash the FIR, asserting that the complaint was filed by a political opponent motivated by personal vendetta. They argued that the amount of liquor found in their vehicle was within permissible limits under the Excise Act. The High Court said the FIR do not inspire any confidence particularly in the absence of any specific date, time, etc. of the alleged offences, we are of the view that the appellants should prefer a discharge application before the trial court under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). “We say so because even according to the State, the investigation is over and the chargesheet is ready to be filed before the competent court. In such circumstances, the trial court should be allowed to look into the materials which the investigating officer might have collected forming part of the chargesheet. If any such discharge application is filed, the trial court shall look into the materials and take a call whether any discharge case is made out or not." In the 21-paged judgment, Justice Kainthla said that allegations in the FIR constitute the commission of cognizable offences and it is impermissible to quash the FIR in the exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the Court. Consequently, the present petition fails and the same is dismissed.. The observation made herein before shall remain confined to the disposal of the petition and will have no bearing, whatsoever, on the merits of the case...////...