Section 482 CrPC remains available after charge sheet, and a contractual dispute cannot be converted into criminal breach of trust.

Section 482 CrPC can be invoked to quash criminal proceedings even after filing of the charge sheet, because the inherent power remains available to prevent abuse of process and secure the ends of justice. The Court also held that allegations arising from retention of an interest-free deposit under a development agreement did not disclose criminal breach of trust under Sections 405 and 406 IPC, as entrustment and dishonest misappropriation were not prima facie shown. The dispute was essentially contractual and civil in nature, so criminal process could not be used to pressure a commercial party. The FIR and charge sheet were quashed as unsustainable.

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Issues: (i) Whether the inherent power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be exercised to quash criminal proceedings even after filing of the charge sheet. (ii) Whether the allegations relating to retention of the security deposit and transfer of property disclose the offence of criminal breach of trust under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code, or whether the matter is a civil dispute liable to be quashed.

Issue (i): Whether the inherent power under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure can be exercised to quash criminal proceedings even after filing of the charge sheet.

Analysis: The inherent power under Section 482 is not confined to the stage of the FIR. It is available to prevent abuse of process and secure the ends of justice even when the investigation has culminated in a charge sheet. The filing of a charge sheet does not bar judicial scrutiny of whether the prosecution is prima facie made out from the FIR, the charge sheet and the materials collected during investigation.

Conclusion: Yes. The Court held that a petition under Section 482 remains maintainable even after the charge sheet is filed.

Issue (ii): Whether the allegations relating to retention of the security deposit and transfer of property disclose the offence of criminal breach of trust under Section 406 of the Indian Penal Code, or whether the matter is a civil dispute liable to be quashed.

Analysis: Criminal breach of trust requires entrustment of property and dishonest misappropriation or conversion in violation of law or contract. The amount in question was an interest-free deposit paid under a development agreement and was payable only on the contractual contingency of handing over the constructed area. The property was not entrusted to the appellants by the complainant, and the dispute arising from non-performance of the development arrangement was essentially contractual. On the materials, the allegations did not satisfy the ingredients of Sections 405 and 406 of the Indian Penal Code and fell within the categories where criminal process should not be used to settle a civil dispute or exert pressure in a commercial disagreement.

Conclusion: No. The Court held that no offence under Section 406 was made out and that the FIR and charge sheet were liable to be quashed as an abuse of process.

Final Conclusion: The impugned criminal proceedings were unsustainable in law, and the appeal succeeded with quashing of the FIR and the charge sheet.

Ratio Decidendi: The inherent power to prevent abuse of process under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure may be exercised even after a charge sheet is filed, and a prosecution for criminal breach of trust cannot be sustained unless entrustment and dishonest misappropriation or conversion are prima facie shown; a purely civil contractual dispute cannot be converted into a criminal case.

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