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2023 (8) TMI 1363
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....Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 982 of 2023 filed by the appellant herein by which the High Court rejected the Writ Petition and thereby declined to quash the FIR for the offences punishable under Sections 395, 386, 365, 342 and 506 resply of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 3. Respondent No. 3 herein is the original first informant. He lodged the FIR in question which reads as thus:- "The complainant is a contractor. In the year 2012, his firm by name V.S. Contractor received contracts for the construction work of a school building in Glocal University for Rs. 4.80 crore, a corporate office for Rs. 40 lakh and a girls' hostel for Rs. 14 lakh. The work order was issued by the owner of the Glocal University viz. Mohd. Haji Iqbal alias Bala S/o Abdul Wahid, R/o Mirzapur. All the agreements were signed by the then Manager Saifuddin working with the Glocal University. Copy of the agreements is attached with the complaint. The construction work was completed by the company by the end of the year 2015. I received some money. However, a sum of Rs. 1,20,00,000/- was left outstanding to be paid by the owner of the Glocal University, Mohd. Haji Iqbal alias Bala S/o Abdul Wahid. A lot....
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....not take any action against them fearing safety of our families. But now I have come to know through another contractor Karamjit Singh R/o Yamuna Nagar who is now doing construction related work in Global University that the owners of the Glocal University filed a case against me and my brother. Through the said new contractor, I also came to know that all the construction materials are kept in the steel yard of the University campus. Thereafter I came to the police station with the hope of getting justice through the administration. You are requested to kindly take legal action against all of them by registering the complaint against them. I want to inform that all the original agreements and documents relating to the goods are kept at Haji Iqbal's residence at Mirzapur and his residence/Glocal office, New Bhagat Singh Colony, Bajoriya Road because when Iqbal forcefully took the documents from me, he kept them in his house at New Bhagat Singh Colony, Bajoriya Road, Balraj Sethi S/o Banshi Lal R/o 58, Vishnu Nagar, Yamuna Nagar (Haryana)." 4. Thus, the allegations in the aforenoted FIR are that in the year 2012 the complainant Balraj Sethi's (Respondent No. 3 herein) Company namel....
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.... of Sri Vikas Mani Srivastava, learned counsel appearing for the informant and learned A.G.A for the State respondents. Vide order dated 20.1.2023 learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the matter may be referred to the Mediation Centre of this Court to which learned counsel appearing for the informant-respondent no. 3 sought time to seek instructions. Today, learned counsel appearing for the informant stated in categorical terms that there is no possibility of mediation. The relief sought in this petition is for quashing of the F.I.R. dated 10.1.2023 registered as Case Crime No. 7 of 2023 under Sections 395, 386, 365, 342, 506 IPC, Police Station Mirzapur, District Saharanpur. Further prayer has been made not to arrest the petitioner in the aforesaid case. Submission of learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case due to political reasons and the civil dispute is being given colour of criminal case. Per contra, learned A.G.A. as well as learned counsel appearing for the informant confirmed that the petitioner has criminal history of 36 cases and in addition to that learned counsel appearing for the i....
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....the School building in Glocal University (owned by the Petitioner). Although the construction work had commenced in the year 2012 and was completed in the year 2015 but no complaint during this period was ever lodged by the Complainant while allegedly there was a due amount of Rs. 1.20 crore along with construction articles lying in Glocal University. It is submitted that the nature of dispute is essentially civil and has been deliberately given a criminal colour. Moreover the alleged agreement for contractual work was entered into between the Complainant and Saifuddin (who was not made an accused in the FIR), the then Manager of Glocal University, for which payment was made by Glocal University thus there is no involvement of the Petitioner in fulfilling any demand of the Complainant. c) It is submitted that although the Respondents have alleged that the Petitioner is a mining mafia in western Uttar Pradesh but there is not even a single case registered against the Petitioner with respect to illegal mining. Further the Petitioner has not been declared as a mining mafia by any authority or court of law. d) The Respondents are maliciously attempting to project the Petitioner, wh....
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.... any offence or make out a case under Sections 395, 386, 365, 342 and 506 IPC against the Petitioner and thus, the FIR is liable to be quashed. It is pertinent to mention that even after the charge sheet has been filed, the petition for quashing of a FIR is well within the powers of a Court of law [Please see: ANAND KUMAR MOHATTA & ANOTHER VS. STATE (NCT OF DELHI), DEPARTMENT OF HOME & ANOTHER (2019) 11 SCC 706 at paragraph 14 & 16]. h) For the reasons mentioned above, the Special Leave Petition may be allowed and the order of the Hon'ble High Court refusing to quash the FIR No. 07 of 2023 dated 10.01.2023 be set aside." SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE STATE 8. Ms. Garima Prasad, the learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the State of U.P. in her written submissions has stated as under:- "a) That on the basis of written complaint of the Complainant i.e. Balraj Sethi S/o Bansi Lal, an FIR/Crime No. 7 of 2023 dated 10.01.2023 under section 395, 386, 365, 342, 506 IPC, registered at P.S. Mirzapur, District Saharanpur, wherein it was alleged that Petitioner i.e. Haji Iqbal @ Balais very much influential person. Further, it was alleged in the said FIR that the Complainant....
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....ear & threat given by the Petitioner, the complainant did not raise his voice against the Petitioner No. 1 and his family members. In view of the aforementioned factual & legal submissions, it is most respectfully submitted that the present special leave petition of the Petitioners is liable to be dismissed with exemplary cost and the impugned order dated 30.01.2023 passed by the Hon'ble High Court in Criminal Misc. Writ Petition No. 982 of 2023 is liable to be upheld." ANALYSIS 9. Having heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and having gone through the materials on record, the only question that falls for our consideration is whether the FIR bearing No. 0007 of 2023 registered for the offences enumerated above discloses commission of any offence? 10. We are of the view that even if the entire case of the prosecution is believed or accepted to be true, none of the ingredients to constitute the offence of dacoity punishable under Section 395 of the IPC is made out. What amounts to dacoity has been explained by us in detail in the judgment and order delivered by this very Bench in Criminal Appeal arising out of Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 10656 of 2022 t....
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....oceedings and/or where there is a specific provision in the Code or the concerned Act, providing efficacious redress for the grievance of the aggrieved party. (7) Where a criminal proceeding is manifestly attended with mala fide and/or where the proceeding is maliciously instituted with an ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance on the accused and with a view to spite him due to private and personal grudge." 14. We are of the view that the case of the present appellant falls within the parameters Nos. 1, 5 and 7 resply of Bhajan Lal (supra). 15. At this stage, we would like to observe something important. Whenever an accused comes before the Court invoking either the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to get the FIR or the criminal proceedings quashed essentially on the ground that such proceedings are manifestly frivolous or vexatious or instituted with the ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance, then in such circumstances the Court owes a duty to look into the FIR with care and a little more closely. We say so because once the complainant decides to proceed against the a....
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.... or quashing of these proceedings would otherwise serve the ends of justice. When no offence is disclosed by the complaint, the court may examine the question of fact. When a complaint is sought to be quashed, it is permissible to look into the materials to assess what the complainant has alleged and whether any offence is made out even if the allegations are accepted in toto. 6. In R.P. Kapur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1960 SC 866 : 1960 Cri LJ 1239, this Court summarised some categories of cases where inherent power can and should be exercised to quash the proceedings : (AIR p. 869, para 6) (i) where it manifestly appears that there is a legal bar against the institution or continuance e.g. want of sanction; (ii) where the allegations in the first information report or complaint taken at its face value and accepted in their entirety do not constitute the offence alleged; (iii) where the allegations constitute an offence, but there is no legal evidence adduced or the evidence adduced clearly or manifestly fails to prove the charge. 7. In dealing with the last category, it is important to bear in mind the distinction between a case where there is no legal evidence or where t....