Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – ss.482, 173 (2) – Penal Code, 1860 – ss.406, 420, 354, 504, 506 – Alleged breach of oral sale agreement – Eventually, FIR registered by respondent No.2 against the appellants after dismissal of the criminal complaint holding that the matter is of civil nature – Application for quashing of FIR and chargesheet filed by the appellants, dismissed by High Court – Challenge to:
Held: Impugned order set aside – Ingredients of the offences alleged not made out – A breach of contract does not give rise to criminal prosecution for cheating unless fraudulent or dishonest intention is shown right at the beginning of the transaction – Merely an allegation of failure to keep a promise will not be enough to initiate criminal proceedings – Thus, the dishonest intention on the part of the party who is alleged to have committed the offence of cheating should be established at the time of entering into the transaction with the complainant, otherwise the offence of cheating is not established or made out – Chargesheet is bereft of particulars and details required and mandated in terms of s.173(2) merely reproducing the contents of the FIR – FIR does not state the material and evidence available and collected during the course of the investigation to establish the offences u/ss.420, 406, 354, 504 and 506, IPC – FIR and chargesheet quashed. [Paras 7, 19, 25, 26] Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 – Issuance of process by Magistrate – Duty of Courts:
Held: It is the duty and obligation of the court to exercise a great deal of caution in issuing process, particularly when the matter is essentially of civil nature – Though the Magistrate is not required to record detailed reasons, there should be adequate evidence on record to set criminal proceedings into motion – Magistrate should carefully scrutinize the evidence on record and may even put questions to the complainant/investigating officer etc. to elicit answers to find out the truth about the allegations – Summoning order has to be passed when the complaint or chargesheet discloses an offence and when there is material that supports and constitutes essential ingredients of the offence – The summoning order should not be passed lightly or as a matter of course. [Paras 20, 21] Judicial Deprecation – Penal Code, 1860 – ss.406, 420 – Failure to distinguish between civil wrongs and criminal offences – Cases of civil wrongs turned into criminal proceedings by filing chargesheets, etc. – Practice deprecated: Held: During the last couple of months, a number of judgments/orders have been pronounced by this Court, especially in cases arising from the State of Uttar Pradesh, deprecating the stance of the Police as well as the courts in failing to distinguish between a civil wrong in the form of a breach of contract, non-payment of money or disregard to and violation of contractual terms; and a criminal offence u/ss.420 and 406, IPC, the ingredients of which are quite different and requires mens rea at the time when the contract is entered into itself to not abide by the terms thereof – Costs of ₹50,000/- imposed on the State of Uttar Pradesh – State may conduct internal enquiries and collect this amount from the delinquent and responsible officers. [Paras 15-19, 28, 29]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Divya Pandey. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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