ARUN BHANDARI Vs STATE OF U.P..
Bench: K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN,DIPAK MISRA
Case number: Crl.A. No.-000078-000078 / 2013
Diary number: 6722 / 2011
Advocates: AMBHOJ KUMAR SINHA Vs
KAMAL MOHAN GUPTA
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Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 78 OF 2013 (Arising out of S.L.P. (Crl.) No. 2089 of 2011)
Arun Bhandari ... Appellant
Versus
State of U.P. and others ...Respondents
J U D G M E N T
Dipak Misra, J.
Leave granted.
2. Calling in question the legal pregnability of the order
dated 29.1.2011 passed by the High Court of
Judicature at Allahabad in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition
No. 69 of 2011 whereby the learned single Judge in
exercise of jurisdiction under Articles 226 and 227 of
the Constitution has quashed the order dated
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5.6.2010 passed by the learned Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, taking cognizance
under Sections 406 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code
(for short “the IPC”) against the respondent No. 2 in
exercise of power under Section 190(1)(b) of the
Code of Criminal Procedure (for short “the CrPC”) and
the order dated 4.12.2010 passed by the learned
Sessions Judge, Gautam Budh Nagar affirming the
said order, on the foundation that the allegations
made neither in the FIR nor in the protest petition
constitute offences under the aforesaid sections, the
present appeal by special leave has been preferred.
3. The factual score as depicted are that the appellant
is a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) living in Germany and
while looking for a property in Greater Noida, he
came in contact with respondent No. 2 and her
husband, Raghuvinder Singh, who claimed to be the
owner of the property in question and offered to sell
the same. On 24.3.2008, as alleged, both the
husband and wife agreed to sell the residential plot
bearing No. 131, Block – (Cassia-Fastula Estate),
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Sector CHI-4, Greater Noida, U.P. for a consideration
of Rs.2,43,97,880/- and an agreement to that effect
was executed by the respondent No. 3, both the
husband and wife jointly received a sum of
Rs.1,05,00,000/- from the appellant towards part
payment of the sale consideration. It was further
agreed that the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 would
obtain permission from Greater Noida Authority to
transfer the property in his favour and execute the
deed of transfer within 45 days from the grant of
such permission.
4. As the factual antecedents would further reveal, the
said agreement was executed on the basis of a
registered agreement executed in favour of the
respondent No. 3 by the original allottee, Smt.
Vandana Bhardwaj to sell the said plot. After expiry
of a month or so, the appellant enquired from the
respondent No. 3 about the progress of delivery of
possession from the original allottee, but he received
conflicting and contradictory replies which created
doubt in his mind and impelled him to rush to Noida
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and find out the real facts from the Greater Noida
Authority. On due enquiry, he came to know that
there was a registered agreement in favour of the 3rd
respondent by Smt. Vandana Bhardwaj; that a power
of attorney had been executed by the original
allottee in favour of the respondent No. 2, the wife of
respondent No. 3; that the original allottee, to avoid
any kind of litigation, had also executed a will in
favour of the respondent No. 3; and that the
respondent No. 2 by virtue of the power of attorney,
executed in her favour by the original allottee, had
transferred the said property in favour of one Monika
Goel who had got her name mutated in the record of
Greater Noida Authority. Coming to know about the
aforesaid factual score, he demanded refund of the
money from the respondents, but a total indifferent
attitude was exhibited, which compelled him to lodge
an FIR at the Police Station, Kasna, which gave rise to
the Criminal Case No. 563 of 2009.
5. The Investigating Officer, after completing the
investigation, submitted the final report stating that
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the case was of a civil nature and no criminal offence
had been made out. The appellant filed a protest
petition before the learned Magistrate stating, inter
alia, that the accused persons had colluded with the
Investigating Officer and the Station House Officer as
a result of which the Investigation Officer, on
22.10.2009, had concluded the investigation
observing that the dispute was of the civil nature and
intended to submit the final report before the court.
The appellant coming to know about the same
submitted an application before the concerned Area
Officer, who, taking note of the same, handed over
the investigation to another S.S.I. of Police on
24.11.2009. The said Investigating Officer recorded
statements of the concerned Sub-Registrar, the Chief
Executive Officer of Greater Noida Authority, from
whose statements it was evident that the accused
persons were never the owners of the property in
question and the original allottee had not appeared
in the Greater Noida Authority and not transferred
any documents. He also recorded the statement of
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original allottee who had stated that the property
was allotted in her name in 2005 and on a proposal
being made by Raghuvinder Singh, a friend of her
husband, to sell the property she executed an
agreement to sell in his favour and a General Power
of Attorney in the name of his wife, Savita Singh, at
his instance but possession was not handed over to
them. He also examined one Sharad Kumar Sharma,
who was a witness to the agreement to sell and the
Power of Attorney executed by the original allottee,
and said Sharma had stated that the General Power
of Attorney was executed to implement the
agreement to sell executed in favour of Raghuvinder
Singh. The Investigating Officer obtained an affidavit
from the complainant which was kept in the case
diary, and on 25.2.2010 it was recorded in the case
diary that a criminal offence had been made out
against the accused persons. The case diary also
evinced that there was an effort for settlement
between the informant and the accused persons and
the accused persons were ready to return the
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amount of Rs.1,05,00,000/- to the appellant. On
10.3.2010, he made an entry to file the charge-sheet
against the respondents under Sections 420, 406,
567, 468 and 479 of the IPC. At this stage, the
accused persons again colluded with the previous
Investigating Officer and the Station House Officer
and got the investigation transferred to the previous
Investigating Officer. Coming to know about the said
development, the appellant submitted a petition
before the Senior Superintendent of Police, Gautam
Budh Nagar on 6.5.2010, but before any steps could
be taken by the higher authority, the said
Investigating Officer submitted a final report stating
that no offence under the IPC had been made out. In
the protest petition it was urged that the whole case
diary should be perused and appropriate orders may
be passed.
6. On the basis of the aforesaid protest petition the
Chief Judicial Magistrate, on 5.6.2010, perused the
final report submitted by the Investigating Officer,
the entire case diary, the protest petition and the
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statements recorded under Section 161 of the CrPC
by the previous Investigating Officer and came to
hold that even if a suit could be filed, the fact
situation prima facie revealed criminal culpability
and, accordingly, took cognizance under Sections
420 and 406 of the IPC against the respondents and
issued summons requiring them to appear before the
court on 9.7.2010.
7. Being dissatisfied with the said order, the
respondents preferred Criminal Revision No. 108 of
2010 before the learned Sessions Judge contending,
inter alia, that the FIR had been lodged with an
ulterior motive to pressurize the respondents to
return the earnest money and the complainant had,
in fact, committed breach of the terms of the
agreement; that the allegations made in the FIR
could only be ascertained on the basis of evidence
and documents by a civil court of competent
jurisdiction regard being had to the nature of the
dispute; that the learned Magistrate had taken
cognizance without any material in the case diary;
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and that the exercise of power under Section 190(1)
(b) of the CrPC was totally unwarranted in the case at
hand. The revisional court scanned the material
brought on record, perused the case diary in entirety,
took note of the conduct of the Investigating Officer
who had submitted the final report stating that the
allegations did not constitute any criminal offence
despite the material brought on record during the
course of investigation by the Investigating Officer,
who was appointed at the instance of the Area
Officer, scrutinized the substance of material
collected to the effect that Raghuvinder Singh had no
right, title and interest in the property and a General
Power of Attorney was executed in favour of his wife
to sell, transfer and convey all rights, title and
interest in the plot in question on behalf of the
original allottee and that the husband and wife had
concealed the material factum of execution of Power
of Attorney from the complainant and opined that
both the accused persons had fraudulent and
dishonest intention since the beginning of the
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negotiation with the complainant and, therefore, the
allegations prima facie constituted a criminal offence
and it could not be said that it was a pure and simple
dispute of civil nature. Being of this view he gave the
stamp of approval to the order passed by the learned
Magistrate.
8. The unsuccess in revision compelled the respondents
to approach the High Court in a writ petition and the
Writ Court came to hold that on the basis of the
allegations made in the FIR and the evidence
collected during investigation it could not be said
that the instant case is simpliciter a breach of
contract not attracting any criminal liability as far as
the husband was concerned and there was a prima
facie case triable for offences under Section 406 and
420 of the IPC. However, while dealing with the
allegations made against the wife, the High Court
observed that there being no entrustment of any
property by the complainant to her and further there
being no privity of contract between them, she was
under no legal obligation to disclose to the
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complainant that she held a registered Power of
Attorney from the original allottee to sell and alienate
the property in question and such non-disclosure of
facts could not be said to have constituted offence
either under Section 406 or Section 420 of the IPC.
Being of this view the High Court partly allowed the
writ petition and quashed the order taking
cognizance and summoning of the wife, the
respondent No. 2 herein.
9. We have heard Mr. Amit Khemka, learned counsel for
the appellant, and Mr. Chetan Sharma, learned senior
counsel appearing for the respondent Nos. 2 and 3.
10. It is submitted by Mr. Khemka learned counsel for the
appellant that the High Court could not have
scrutinized the material brought on record as if it was
sitting in appeal against the judgment of conviction
and also committed error in ignoring certain material
facts which make the order sensitively susceptible. It
is his further submission that the learned Sessions
Judge had considered the entire gamut of facts and
appositely opined that the order taking cognizance
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could not be flawed but the High Court by taking note
of the fact that there was no privity of contract and
the non-disclosure was not material has completely
erred in its conclusion and, hence, the order deserves
to be lancinated.
11. Mr. Chetan Sharma, learned senior counsel, resisting
the aforesaid contentions, canvassed that mere
presence of the respondent No. 2 at the time of
signing of the agreement to sell does not amount to
an offence under Section 420 of the IPC as she did
not sign the document nor did she endorse the same
as a witness. It is urged by him that no criminal
liability can be fastened on her, for the sine qua non
for attracting criminality is to show dishonest
intention right from the very inception which is non-
existent in the case at hand. It is submitted by him
that if the criminal action is allowed to continue
against her that would put a premium on a
commercial strategy adopted by the appellant in
roping a lady only to have more bargaining power in
the matter to arrive at a settlement despite the
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breach of contract by him. The learned senior
counsel would further contend that the appellant has
taken contradictory stands inasmuch as in one way
he had demanded the forfeited amount and the other
way lodged an FIR to set the criminal law in motion
which is impermissible. To bolster the said
contentions reliance has been placed on the
judgments rendered in Hridya Rajan Pd. Verma &
others v. State of Bihar and another1, Murari
Lal Gupta v. Gopi Singh2 and B. Suresh Yadav v.
Sharifa Bee and another3.
12. At the very outset, it is necessary to state that on a
perusal of the FIR, the protest petition and the order
passed by the learned Magistrate, it is demonstrable
that at various stages of the investigation different
views were expressed by the Investigating Officers
and the learned Magistrate has scrutinized the same
and taking note of the allegations had exercised the
power to reject the final report and take cognizance.
The court taking cognizance and the revisional court 1 AIR 2000 SC 2341 2 (2006) 2 SCC (Cri) 430 3 (2007) 13 SCC 107
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have expressed the view that both the respondents
had nurtured dishonest intentions from the very
beginning of making the negotiation with the
complainant and treated non-disclosure of execution
of Power of Attorney in favour of the respondent No.
2 herein by the original owner as a material omission
as a consequence of which damage had been caused
to the complainant. The learned counsel for the
appellant would submit that the High Court has
misguided itself by observing that there was no
entrustment of any property to the wife and further
there was no privity of contract and non-disclosure
on her part do not constitute an offence. The learned
senior counsel for the respondent has highlighted the
factum of absence of privity of contract. Regard
being had to the allegations brought on record, the
question that emerges for consideration is whether
the High Court is justified in exercising its
extraordinary jurisdiction to quash the order taking
cognizance against the respondent No. 2 herein.
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13. At this juncture, we may note that Raghuvinder
Singh, respondent No. 3, had filed SLP (Crl) No. 3894
of 2011 which has been dismissed on 13.5.2011.
14. As advised at present we are inclined to discuss the
decisions which have been commended to us by the
learned senior counsel for the respondent. In Hridya
Rajan Pd. Verma (supra) a complaint was filed that
the accused persons therein had deliberately and
intentionally diverted and induced the respondent
society and the complainant by suppressing certain
facts and giving false and concocted information and
assurances to the complainant so as to make him
believe that the deal was a fair one and free from
troubles. The further allegation was that the accused
person did so with the intention to acquire wrongful
gain for themselves and to cause wrongful loss to the
Society and the complainant and they had induced
the complainant to enter into negotiation and get
advance consideration money to them. The two-
Judge Bench referred to the judgment in State of
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Haryana v. Bhajan Lal4 wherein this Court has
enumerated certain categories of cases by way of
illustration wherein the extraordinary power under
Article 226 or the inherent powers under Section 482
of the CrPC could be exercised either to prevent
abuse of the process of the court or otherwise to
secure the ends of justice. The Bench also referred
to the decisions in Rupen Deol Bajaj (Mrs.) v.
Kanwar Pal Singh Gill5, Rajesh Bajaj v. State
NCT of Delhi6 and State of Kerala v. O.C. Kuttan7
wherein the principle laid down in Bhajan Lal
(supra) was reiterated. The Court posed the question
whether the case of the appellants therein came
under any of the categories enumerated in Bhajan
Lal (supra) and whether the allegations made in the
FIR or the complaint if accepted in entirety did make
out a case against the accused-appellants therein.
For the aforesaid purpose advertence was made to
offences alleged against the appellants, the
ingredients of the offences and the averments made 4 1992 Supp (1) SCC 335 5 AIR 1996 SC 309 6 (1999) 3 SCC 259 7 AIR 1999 SC 1044
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in the complaint. The Court took the view that main
offence alleged to have been committed by the
appellants is cheating punishable under Section 420
of the IPC. Scanning the definition of ‘cheating’ the
Court opined that there are two separate classes of
acts which the persons deceived may be induced to
do. In the first place he may be induced fraudulently
or dishonestly to deliver any property to any person.
The second class of acts set-forth in the section is the
doing or omitting to do anything which the person
deceived would not do or omit to do if he were not so
deceived. In the first class of cases the inducing
must be fraudulent or dishonest. In the second class
of acts, the inducing must be intentional but not
fraudulent or dishonest. Thereafter, the Bench
proceeded to state as follows: -
“16. In determining the question it has to be kept in mind that the distinction between mere breach of contract and the offence of cheating is a fine one. It depends upon the intention of the accused at the time of inducement which may be judged by his subsequent conduct but for this subsequent conduct is not the sole test. Mere breach of contract cannot give rise to criminal prosecution for cheating
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unless fraudulent or dishonest intention is shown right at the beginning of the transaction, that is the time when the offence is said to have been committed. Therefore, it is the intention which is the gist of the offence. To hold a person guilty of cheating it is necessary to show that he had fraudulent or dishonest intention at the time of making the promise. From his mere failure to keep up promise subsequently such a culpable intention right at the beginning, that is, when he made the promise cannot be presumed.”
15. After laying down the principle the Bench referred to
the complaint and opined that reading the averments
in the complaint in entirety and accepting the
allegations to be true, the ingredients of intentional
deception on the part of the accused right at the
beginning of the negotiations for the transaction had
neither been expressly stated nor indirectly
suggested in the complaint. All that the respondent
No. 2 had alleged against the appellants was that
they did not disclose to him that one of their brothers
had filed a partition suit which was pending. The
requirement that the information was not disclosed
by the appellants intentionally in order to make the
respondent No. 2 part with property was not alleged
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expressly or even impliedly in the complaint.
Therefore, the core postulate of dishonest intention
in order to deceive the complainant-respondent No. 2
was not made out even accepting all the averments
in the complaint on their face value and, accordingly,
ruled that in such a situation continuing the criminal
proceeding against the accused would be an abuse of
process of the Court.
16. From the aforesaid decision it is quite clear that this
Court recorded a finding that there was no averment
in the complaint that intention to deceive on the part
of the accused was absent right from the beginning
of the negotiation of the transaction as the said
allegation had neither been expressly made nor
indirectly suggested in the complaint. This Court
took note of the fact that only non-disclosure was
that one of their brothers had filed a partition suit
which was pending and the allegation that such a
disclosure was not made intentionally to deceive the
complainant was absent. It is worthy to note that
this Court referred to certain averments in the
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complaint petition and scrutinized the allegations and
recorded the aforesaid finding. The present case, as
we perceive, stands on a different factual matrix
altogether. The learned Sessions Judge has returned
a finding that there was intention to deceive from the
very beginning, namely, at the time of negotiation
but the High Court has dislodged the same on the
foundation that the respondent No. 2 was merely
present and there was no privity of contract between
the complainant and her. We will advert to the said
factual analysis at a later stage after discussing the
other authorities which have been placed reliance
upon by the learned senior counsel for the
respondents.
17. In Murari Lal Gupta (supra) a two-Judge Bench
quashed the criminal complaint instituted under
Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC on the following
analysis: -
“The complaint does not make any averment so as to infer any fraudulent or dishonest inducement having been made by the petitioner pursuant to which the respondent parted with the money. It is
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not the case of the respondent that the petitioner does not have the property or that the petitioner was not competent to enter into an agreement to sell or could not have transferred title in the property to the respondent. Merely because an agreement to sell was entered into which agreement the petitioner failed to honour, it cannot be said that the petitioner has cheated the respondent. No case for prosecution under Section 420 or Section 406 IPC is made out even prima facie. The complaint filed by the respondent and that too at Madhepura against the petitioner, who is a resident of Delhi, seems to be an attempt to pressurize the petitioner for coming to terms with the respondent.”
In our considered opinion the factual position in the
aforesaid case is demonstrably different and, hence, we
have no hesitation in stating that the said decision is not
applicable to the case at hand.
18. In B. Suresh Yadav (supra) the complainant, who
was defendant in the suit, had filed a written
statement from which it was manifest that she at all
material times was aware of the purported
demolition of the rooms standing on the suit
property. It was contended in the written statement
that the suit properties were different from the
subject-matter of the deed of sale. After filing the
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written statement the respondent had filed the
complaint under Section 420 of the IPC. The Court
took note of the fact that there existed a dispute as
to whether the property whereupon the said two
rooms were allegedly situated was the same property
forming the subject-matter of the deed of sale or not
and a civil suit had already been filed pertaining to
the said dispute. The Court also took note of the fact
that at the time of execution of the sale deed the
accused had not made any false or misleading
representation and there was no omission on his part
to do anything which he could have done. Under
these circumstances, the Court opined that the
dispute between the parties was basically a civil
dispute. It is apt to note here that the Court also
opined that when a stand had been taken in a
complaint petition which is contrary to or inconsistent
with the stand taken by him in a civil suit, the same
assumes significance and had there been an
allegation that the accused got the said two rooms
demolished and concealed the said fact at the time
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of execution of the deed of sale, the matter would
have been different. Being of this view, this Court
quashed the criminal proceeding as that did amount
to abuse of the process of the court. On an x-ray of
the factual score, it can safely be stated that the said
pronouncement renders no assistance to the lis in
question.
19. Before we proceed to scan and analyse the material
brought on record in the case at hand, it is seemly to
refer to certain authorities wherein the ingredients of
cheating have been highlighted. In State of Kerala
v. A. Pareed Pillai and another8, a two-Judge
Bench ruled that to hold a person guilty of the
offence of cheating, it has to be shown that his
intention was dishonest at the time of making the
promise and such a dishonest intention cannot be
inferred from a mere fact that he could not
subsequently fulfil the promise.
20. In G.V. Rao v. L.H.V. Prasad and others9, this
Court has held thus: -
8 AIR 1973 SC 326 9 (2000) 3 SCC 693
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“7. As mentioned above, Section 415 has two parts. While in the first part, the person must “dishonestly” or “fraudulently” induce the complainant to deliver any property; in the second part, the person should intentionally induce the complainant to do or omit to do a thing. That is to say, in the first part, inducement must be dishonest or fraudulent. In the second part, the inducement should be intentional. As observed by this Court in Jaswantrai Manilal Akhaney v. State of Bombay10 a guilty intention is an essential ingredient of the offence of cheating. In order, therefore, to secure conviction of a person for the offence of cheating, “mens rea” on the part of that person, must be established. It was also observed in Mahadeo Prasad v. State of W.B.11 that in order to constitute the offence of cheating, the intention to deceive should be in existence at the time when the inducement was offered.”
21. In S.N. Palanitkar and others v. State of Bihar
and another12, it has been laid down that in order
to constitute an offence of cheating, the intention to
deceive should be in existence at the time when the
inducement was made. It is necessary to show that
a person had fraudulent or dishonest intention at the
time of making the promise, to say that he
committed an act of cheating. A mere failure to 10 AIR 1956 SC 575 11 AIR 1954 SC 724 12 AIR 2001 SC 2960
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keep up promise subsequently cannot be presumed
as an act leading to cheating.
22. In the said case while dealing with the ingredients of
criminal breach of trust and cheating, the Bench observed
thus: -
“9. The ingredients in order to constitute a criminal breach of trust are: (i) entrusting a person with property or with any dominion over property (ii) that person entrusted (a) dishonestly misappropriating or converting that property to his own use; or (b) dishonestly using or disposing of that property or wilfully suffering any other person so to do in violation (i) of any direction of law prescribing the mode in which such trust is to be discharged, (ii) of any legal contract made, touching the discharge of such trust.
10. The ingredients of an offence of cheating are: (i) there should be fraudulent or dishonest inducement of a person by deceiving him, (ii)(a) the person so deceived should be induced to deliver any property to any person, or to consent that any person shall retain any property; or (b) the person so deceived should be intentionally induced to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived; and (iii) in cases covered by (ii)(b), the act of omission should be one which causes or is likely to cause damage or harm to the person induced in body, mind, reputation or property.”
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23. Coming to the facts of the present case, it is
luminicent from the FIR that the allegations against the
respondent No. 2 do not only pertain to her presence
but also about her total silence and connivance with
her husband and transfer of property using Power of
Attorney in favour of Monika Goel. It is also graphically
clear that the complainant had made allegations that
Raghuvinder Singh and his wife, Savita Singh, had met
him at the site, showed the registered agreement and
the cash and cheque were given to them at that time.
It is also mentioned in the FIR that on 28.7.2008, Savita
Singh had received the possession of the said plot and
on the same day it was transferred in the name of
Monika Goel. It is also reflectible that on 28.2.2007,
Raghuvinder Singh and Savita Singh had got prepared
and registered two documents in the office of the Sub-
Registrar consisting one agreement to sell in favour of
Raghuvinder Singh and another General Power of
Attorney in favour of the wife. The allegation of
collusion by the husband and wife has clearly been
stated. During the investigation, as has been stated
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earlier, many a fact emerged but the same were
ignored and a final report was submitted. In the
protest petition the complainant had asseverated
everything in detail about what emerged during the
course of investigation. The learned Chief Judicial
Magistrate after perusal of the case diary and the FIR
has expressed the view that a case under Sections 406
and 420 of the IPC had been made out against both the
accused persons. The learned Sessions Judge, after
referring to the ingredients and the role ascribed,
concurred with the same. The High Court declined to
accept the said analysis on the ground that it was mere
presence and further there was no privity of contract
between the complainant and the respondent No. 2.
24. At this stage, we may usefully note that some times
a case may apparently look to be of civil nature or may
involve a commercial transaction but such civil
disputes or commercial disputes in certain
circumstances may also contain ingredients of criminal
offences and such disputes have to be entertained
notwithstanding they are also civil disputes. In this
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context, we may reproduce a passage from
Mohammed Ibrahim and others v. State of Bihar
and another13: -
“8. This Court has time and again drawn attention to the growing tendency of the complainants attempting to give the cloak of a criminal offence to matters which are essentially and purely civil in nature, obviously either to apply pressure on the accused, or out of enmity towards the accused, or to subject the accused to harassment. Criminal courts should ensure that proceedings before it are not used for settling scores or to pressurize parties to settle civil disputes. But at the same time, it should be noted that several disputes of a civil nature may also contain the ingredients of criminal offences and if so, will have to be tried as criminal offences, even if they also amount to civil disputes. (See G. Sagar Suri v. State of U.P.14 and Indian Oil Corpn. v. NEPC India Ltd.15)”
25. In this context we may usefully refer to a paragraph
from All Cargo Movers (I) Pvt. Ltd. V. Dhanesh
Badarmal Jain & Anr.16
“…..Where a civil suit is pending and the complaint petition has been filed one year after filing of the civil suit, we may for the purpose of finding out as to whether the
13 (2009) 8 SCC 751 14 (2000) 2 SCC 636 15 (2006) 6 SCC 736 16 AIR 2008 SC 247
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said allegations are prima facie cannot notice the correspondence exchanged by the parties and other admitted documents. It is one thing to say that the Court at this juncture would not consider the defence of the accused but it is another thing to say that for exercising the inherent jurisdiction of this Court, it is impermissible also to look to the admitted documents. Criminal proceedings should not be encouraged, when it is found to be mala fide or otherwise an abuse of the process of the court. Superior Courts while exercising this power should also strive to serve the ends of justice.”
26. In Rajesh Bajaj v. State NCT of Delhi and
others17, while dealing with a case where the High
Court had quashed an F.I.R., this Court opined that the
facts narrated in the complaint petition may reveal a
commercial transaction or a money transaction, but
that is hardly a reason for holding that the offence of
cheating would elude from such a transaction.
Proceeding further, the Bench observed thus: -
“11. The crux of the postulate is the intention of the person who induces the victim of his representation and not the nature of the transaction which would become decisive in discerning whether there was commission of offence or not. The complainant has stated in the body of the complaint that he was induced to
17 AIR 1999 SC 1216
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believe that the respondent would honour payment on receipt of invoices, and that the complainant realised later that the intentions of the respondent were not clear. He also mentioned that the respondent after receiving the goods had sold them to others and still he did not pay the money. Such averments would prima facie make out a case for investigation by the authorities.”
27. We have referred to the aforesaid decisions in the
field to highlight about the role of the Court while
dealing with such issues. In our considered opinion the
present case falls in the category which cannot be
stated at this stage to be purely civil in nature on the
basis of the admitted documents or the allegations
made in the FIR or what has come out in the
investigation or for that matter what has been stated in
the protest petition. We are disposed to think that
prima facie there is allegation that there was a guilty
intention to induce the complainant to part with
money. We may hasten to clarify that it is not a case
where a promise initially made could not lived up to
subsequently. It is not a case where it could be said
that even if the allegations in entirety are accepted, no
case is made out. Needless to emphasise, the High
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Court, while exercising power under Article 226 of the
Constitution or Section 482 of the CrPC, has to adopt a
very cautious approach. In Central Bureau of
Investigation v. Ravi Shankar Srivastava, IAS and
another18, the Court, after referring to Janata Dal v.
H.S. Chowdhary19 and Raghubir Saran (Dr.) v.
State of Bihar20, has observed that the powers
possessed by the High Court under Section 482 of the
IPC are very wide and the very plentitude of the power
requires great caution in its exercise. The court must
be careful to see that its decision in exercise of this
power is based on sound principles and such inherent
powers should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate
prosecution. This Court has further stated that it is not
proper for the High Court to analyse the case of the
complainant in the light of all probabilities in order to
determine whether a conviction would be sustainable
and on such premises arrive at a conclusion that the
proceedings are to be quashed. It has been further
pronounced that it would be erroneous to assess the
18 (2006) 7 SCC 188 19 (1992) 4 SCC 305 20 AIR 1964 SC 1
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material before it and conclude that the complaint
could not be proceeded with. The Bench has opined
that the meticulous analysis of the case is not
necessary and the complaint has to be read as a whole
and if it appears that on consideration of the
allegations in the light of the statement made on oath
of the complainant that the ingredients of the offence
or offences are disclosed and there is no material to
show that the complaint is mala fide, frivolous or
vexatious, in that event there would be no justification
for interference by the High Court.
28. In R. Kalyani v. Janak C. Mehta and others21,
after referring to the decisions in Hamida v. Rashid22
and State of Orissa v. Saroj Kumar Sahoo23, this
Court eventually culled out the following propositions: -
“15. Propositions of law which emerge from the said decisions are:
a. The High Court ordinarily would not exercise its inherent jurisdiction to quash a criminal proceeding and, in particular, a first information report unless the allegations contained therein, even if given face value and taken to be
21 (2009) 1 SCC 516 22 (2008) 1 SCC 474 23 (2005) 13 SCC 540
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correct in their entirety, disclosed no cognizable offence.
b. For the said purpose the Court, save and except in very exceptional circumstances, would not look to any document relied upon by the defence.
c. Such a power should be exercised very sparingly. If the allegations made in the FIR disclose commission of an offence, the Court shall not go beyond the same and pass an order in favour of the accused to hold absence of any mens rea or actus reus.
d. If the allegation discloses a civil dispute, the same by itself may not be a ground to hold that the criminal proceedings should not be allowed to continue.”
29. It is worth noting that it was observed therein that
one of the paramount duties of the superior court is to
see that person who is absolutely innocent is not
subjected to prosecution and humiliation on the basis
of a false and wholly untenable complaint.
30. Recently in Gian Singh v. State of Punjab and
another24 a three-Judge Bench has observed that: -
“55. In the very nature of its constitution, it is the judicial obligation of the High Court to undo a wrong in course of administration of justice or to prevent continuation of unnecessary judicial
24 (2012) 10 SCC 303
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process. This is founded on the legal maxim quando lex aliquid alicui concedit, conceditur et id sine qua res ipsa esse non potest. The full import of which is whenever anything is authorised, and especially if, as a matter of duty, required to be done by law, it is found impossible to do that thing unless something else not authorised in express terms be also done, may also be done, then that something else will be supplied by necessary intendment. Ex debito justitiae is inbuilt in such exercise; the whole idea is to do real, complete and substantial justice for which it exists. The power possessed by the High Court under Section 482 of the Code is of wide amplitude but requires exercise with great caution and circumspection.”
31. Applying the aforesaid parameters we have no
hesitation in coming to hold that neither the FIR nor the
protest petition was mala fide, frivolous or vexatious. It
is also not a case where there is no substance in the
complaint. The manner in which the investigation was
conducted by the officer who eventually filed the final
report and the transfer of the investigation earlier to
another officer who had almost completed the
investigation and the entire case diary which has been
adverted to in detail in the protest petition prima facie
makes out a case against the husband and the wife
regarding collusion and the intention to cheat from the
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very beginning, inducing him to hand over a huge sum
of money to both of them. Their conduct of not stating
so many aspects, namely, the Power of Attorney
executed by the original owner, the will and also the
sale effected by the wife in the name of Monika Singh
on 28.7.2008 cannot be brushed aside at this stage.
Therefore, we are disposed to think that the High
Court, while exercising the extraordinary jurisdiction,
had not proceeded on the sound principles of law for
quashment of order taking cognizance. The High Court
and has been guided by the non-existence of privity of
contract and without appreciating the factual scenario
has observed that the wife was merely present. Be it
noted, if the wife had nothing to do with any of the
transactions with the original owner and was not aware
of the things, possibly the view of the High Court could
have gained acceptation, but when the wife had the
Power of Attorney in her favour and was aware of
execution of the will, had accepted the money along
with her husband from the complainant, it is extremely
difficulty to say that an innocent person is dragged to
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face a vexatious litigation or humiliation. The entire
conduct of the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 would show
that a prima facie case is made out and allegations are
there on record in this regard that they had the
intention to cheat from the stage of negotiation. That
being the position, the decision in Hridya Rajan Pd.
Verma & others (supra) which is commended to us by
Mr. Sharma, learned senior counsel, to which we have
adverted to earlier, does not really assist the
respondents and we say so after making the factual
analysis in detail.
32. In view of our aforesaid analysis we allow the appeal,
set aside the order passed by the High Court and direct
the Magistrate to proceed in accordance with law.
However, we may clarify that we may not be
understood to have expressed any opinion on the
merits of the case one way or the other and our
observations must be construed as limited to the order
taking cognizance and nothing more than that. The
learned Magistrate shall decide the case on its own
merit without being influenced by any of our
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observations as the same have been made only for the
purpose of holding that the order of cognizance is
prima facie valid and did not warrant interference by
the High Court.
……………………………….J. [K. S. Radhakrishnan]
……………………………….J. [Dipak Misra]
New Delhi; January 10, 2013
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