A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that despite over 160 years of the Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) existence, courts and police still often conflate the two offenses, resulting in erroneous prosecutions.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court expressed concern on Friday(23rd Aug) over the ongoing confusion and misapplication of laws regarding criminal breach of trust and cheating, stressing the need to educate lower courts and law enforcement agencies across India on these two distinct provisions.
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A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that despite over 160 years of the Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) existence, courts and police still often conflate the two offenses, resulting in erroneous prosecutions.
The court observed that it is routine for police officers to file FIRs for both criminal breach of trust and cheating based on mere claims of dishonesty or fraud. This mechanical practice, the court noted, has caused numerous injustices and complicated legal proceedings.
“It is disheartening that after all these years, courts still fail to grasp the subtle distinction between criminal breach of trust and cheating,”
the bench remarked.
The Supreme Court made these remarks while quashing the summons issued by an Uttar Pradesh court against officials of the Delhi Race Club over unpaid dues related to the sale of horse grains and oats.
In its ruling, the court stressed the urgent need for thorough training of police officers to ensure they accurately differentiate between criminal breach of trust and cheating. The court clearly stated that both offenses are distinct and cannot apply to the same set of facts. It emphasized that these offenses are “antithetical” to each other and must be treated as such by law enforcement and judicial officers.
“It is high time police officers across the country receive proper legal training to understand the fine distinction between the offense of cheating and that of criminal breach of trust,”
the bench asserted.
The court further directed that its judgment be circulated to the principal secretaries of the ministries of law & justice and home affairs, urging them to address this long-standing issue.
These remarks came as the Supreme Court quashed a summons issued by an Uttar Pradesh court to officials of the Delhi Race Club regarding unpaid dues for horse feed. The top court emphasized that police officers must receive proper legal training to correctly differentiate between the two offenses, which are “antithetical to each other” and should not be treated as interchangeable.
The court further directed that its judgment be sent to the principal secretaries of the law and home departments, urging action to address this issue. Detailed guidance was also provided on differentiating between criminal breach of trust (previously under section 406 IPC) and cheating (previously under section 420 IPC), now governed by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
While both involve dishonest intent, criminal breach of trust concerns the misappropriation of entrusted property, whereas cheating involves fraudulent inducement from the outset.
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The bench criticized trial courts for their “casual approach” and failure to rigorously analyze complaints, leading to misapplication of these laws. It stressed that police must ensure that allegations fall under the correct offense before proceeding with charges. In this case, the magistrate had wrongly taken cognizance of criminal breach of trust without properly analyzing the facts, leading the Supreme Court to quash the summons.
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