TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2022 (9) TMI 1663
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.... of the Cr.P.C. (3) The grievance of non-applicant No. 2 was that the applicant, having projected himself as a reputed, trustworthy and creditworthy party, being proprietor of a proprietary concern M/s. S. B. Traders, had approached the non-applicant No. 2, proprietor of M/s. Mittal Energies of India, for purchase of coal. It was agreed between the parties that non-applicant No. 2 would supply coal to the applicant and raise invoices for which the credit period would be 15 days from the date of the invoice. According to the non-applicant No. 2, initially the applicant did make some payments, but thereafter, huge amounts remained to be paid. As a consequence, on 06/03/2019, the non- applicant No. 2, issued a notice to the applicant stating the details of the outstanding amounts and thereupon claimed payment of Rs. 76,82,883/- [Rupees Seventy Six Lakhs Eighty Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Three only] along with interest from the applicant within 15 days of the said notice. (4) In this backdrop, on 23/07/2020, an agreement was executed between the parties, whereby the applicant specifically agreed to a schedule of payment, so as to discharge the....
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....t No. 2, appropriate civil proceedings could be initiated and that therefore, the FIR deserved to be quashed. It was submitted that even if the allegations levelled by the non-applicant No. 2 were to be taken on face value, not even a prima facie case was made out for demonstrating ingredients of the offence of cheating and that therefore, the present application deserved to be allowed. (8) Reliance was placed on judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mitesh Kumar J. Shah vs. State of Karnataka and ors., 2021 SCC OnLine SC 976, Prof. R. K. Vijayasarathy and anr. vs. Sudha Seetharam and another, (2019) 16 SCC 739, Ajay Mitra vs. State of M. P. and others, (2003) 3 SCC 11 and judgment of this Court in the case of Avdhesh Harichand Jaiswal vs. State of Maharashtra and another (judgment and order dated 17/11/2021 passed in Criminal Application (APL) No. 196 of 2020). (9) On the other hand, Mr. Gadhia, learned counsel appearing for non-applicant No. 2 submitted that a given set of circumstances could give rise to both civil and criminal proceedings. It was submitted that merely because the grievances of the non-applicant No. 2, arise out of com....
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....wait for the aggrieved person to get appropriate relief. In the case of M/s.Indian Oil Corporation vs. NEPC India Ltd. and others 2006(6) SCC 736, in this context, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held as under :- "13. While on this issue, it is necessary to take notice of a growing tendency in business circles to convert purely civil disputes into criminal cases. This is obviously on account of a prevalent impression that civil law remedies are time consuming and do not adequately protect the interests of lenders/creditors. Such a tendency is seen in several family disputes also, leading to irretrievable break down of marriages/families. There is also an impression that if a person could somehow be entangled in a criminal prosecution, there is a likelihood of imminent settlement. Any effort to settle civil disputes and claims, which do not involve any criminal offence, by applying pressure though criminal prosecution should be deprecated and discouraged. In G. Sagar Suri vs. State of UP, (2000) 2 SCC 636, this Court observed : (SCC p.643, para 8) "It is to be seen if a matter, which is essentially of a civil nature, has been given a cloak of criminal offence. Criminal proceedings ar....
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....d on behalf of the accused and quashed the criminal proceedings i.e. FIR and the charge-sheet. Even in the case of Ajay Mitra vs. State of M. P. (supra), after analyzing the ingredients of the offence of cheating, defined under Section 415 of the IPC and punishable under Section 420 thereof, the Hon'ble Supreme Court quashed the FIR registered against the accused person. Similarly, a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Avdhesh Harichand Jaiswal vs. State of Maharashtra (supra) found that essential ingredients of the offence punishable under Section 420 of the IPC were not even prima facie made out and accordingly, the FIR and the charge-sheet registered against the accused were quashed. (16) There can be no doubt about the fact that criminal proceedings cannot be used as a shortcut by a person who claims return of monies from the opposite party. Merely because initiation of civil proceedings and pursuing the same has unfortunately become a time consuming process in our legal system, initiation of criminal proceedings on the same set of facts cannot be permitted as an arm twisting tactic or as a process to expeditiously bring the opposite party to the negotiation table. If ....
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....notice dated 06/03/2019, issued by the non- applicant No. 2, to the applicant indicates the extent of the outstanding amount and it is crucial that after receiving the said notice, the applicant specifically entered into an agreement with the non- applicant No. 2, on 23/07/2020, wherein the extent of outstanding amount being Rs. 79,82,883/- [Rupees Seventy Nine Lakhs Eighty Two Thousand Eight Hundred and Eighty Three only], was stated and thereafter, the parties agreed that the applicant would pay a total amount of Rs. 80,00,000/- [Rupees Eighty Lakhs only] between 01/08/2020 to 31/01/2021. The first installment was for Rs. 5,00,000/-[Rupees Five Lakhs only] and thereafter there were 05 equal installments of Rs. 15,00,000/- [Rupees Fifteen Lakhs only] each, recording that the total amount of Rs. 80,00,000/- [Rupees Eighty Lakhs only] would be paid in this manner to the non-applicant No. 2 by 31/01/2021. It is significant that this notarized document shows signatures of the applicant and non-applicant No. 2, as well as their thumb impressions and it is also clearly stated in the said document that by projecting himself as a reputed, trust....