Civil dispute cannot be converted into a criminal case; FIR quashed after court found abuse of process.

A Bombay HC decision applied Section 482 CrPC to quash an FIR arising from flat sale and purchase transactions in a real-estate project, holding that the dispute was essentially civil in nature. The Court relied on the complaint material and prior police enquiry, which had treated the matter as civil, and noted that an attempted A Summary report had not led to any effective criminal investigation. It reiterated that criminal process cannot be used to convert a civil dispute into a criminal case, and that quashing is appropriate where continuation of proceedings would serve no useful purpose. On that basis, FIR No. 86/2017 was quashed as an abuse of process.

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Issues: Whether FIR No. 86/2017 deserved to be quashed and set aside on the ground that the dispute was essentially civil in nature and that continuation of the criminal proceeding would amount to abuse of process of law.

Analysis: The complaint and the materials on record showed that the controversy arose out of transactions relating to sale and purchase of flats in a real-estate project. A prior police enquiry had recorded that the matter was civil in nature, and even the attempt to proceed by way of an A Summary report had not resulted in any effective criminal investigation. The Court applied the settled principles governing the exercise of inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, particularly that criminal process should not be used to convert a civil dispute into a criminal case and that quashing is justified where continuation of proceedings serves no useful purpose.

Conclusion: FIR No. 86/2017 was quashed and set aside, as its continuance was held to be an abuse of the process of law.

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