The Supreme Court ruled that a civil land dispute cannot be twisted into a criminal case just to pressurize someone. It quashed the FIR, imposed Rs 10 lakh costs, and protected the Delhi-based accused.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India clearly stated that civil land disputes should not be turned into criminal cases just to harass the other party.
The bench, consisting of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, passed this decision while cancelling an FIR filed in Telangana.
The top court observed that the FIR was wrongly filed as a criminal case when it was actually a dispute about not completing a registered sale deed. The complainant changed the facts and used influence to wrongly get the FIR filed.
“This is a classic case of the complainant misusing the process of police investigation so as to entangle the accused-appellants in a totally false and frivolous prosecution,”
-the Supreme Court said.
The court also fined the complainant Rs 10 lakh for this misuse.
The case involved a 70-year-old woman and her daughter from Delhi, who were accused by Telangana Police in a cheating case related to a plot in Gachibowli. The case included serious charges under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.
Earlier, the Telangana High Court had refused to cancel the FIR. Because of that, the accused had to approach the Supreme Court. The apex court strongly criticised the misuse of the legal process.
According to the accused, the land deal could not be completed because the buyer did not pay the full amount on time. Still, they were falsely dragged into a criminal case.
The Supreme Court also mentioned that the elderly woman was unfairly arrested and kept in custody for eight days.
The complainant, who was a real estate agent, had already filed a civil suit asking for the court to force the completion of the deal. But later, he also got an FIR registered with serious accusations including threats and claims involving other properties and even a third-party neighbour.
“There is a drastic variance in the complainant’s allegations qua the oral agreement as narrated in the FIR vis-a-vis as set out in the plaint,”
-the Court noted.
These major differences showed that the FIR was not trustworthy.
The bench said the matter was only a private property dispute and did not contain any real criminal elements.
“On a bare reading of the FIR, it is clear that a plain and simple dispute involving non-execution of a registered sale deed in terms of so-called oral agreement to sell has been given the cloak of a criminal case by misusing the criminal machinery,”
-the Court firmly said.
The Supreme Court also pointed out that the High Court had not examined the matter properly.
“The approach of the High Court in throwing out the quashing petition in such a cursory manner cannot be appreciated,”
-it stated.
Considering all the facts, the top court cancelled the FIR and all legal proceedings that followed.
“The FIR and all proceedings sought to be taken in furtherance thereof are declared to be gross abuse of the process of law,”
-the Court said.
The accused said they were still ready to return Rs 4.05 crore received through bank transfers, but the complainant refused and instead asked for interest.
The Supreme Court rejected this demand completely.
“Rather than awarding interest to the complainant, it is a fit case wherein the complainant should be penalized with exemplary costs,”
-the Court clearly stated.
It ordered that Rs 10 lakh be paid to the appellants within 30 days.
The Court also ordered that police protection be given to the appellants when they visit Hyderabad to take care of their property.
- Senior Advocate Vanshaja Shukla, along with advocates Divya Jyoti Singh and Vineet Nagar, represented the petitioners in the Supreme Court.
- Advocates Devina Sehgal, Yatharth Kansal, Tadimalla Bhaskar Gowtham, Ekta Swarup, Abishek S, and Sandeep Singh appeared for the respondents.
CASE TITLE:
Mala Choudhary vs State of Telangana
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