Judicial proceedings involving allegations of cheating and forgery must undergo comprehensive investigation; prima facie evidence suffices for proceeding, dismissing claims of civil nature.

ORDER :

(M. NAGAPRASANNA, J. )

The petitioners are at the doors of this Court yet again for the third time seeking interference of this Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 .

2. Facts adumbrated are as follows:

(a) The petitioners were before this Court in Criminal Petition No.1372/2023. The entire facts are narrated while disposing the said petition in terms of the order dated 16.06.2023. I therefore, deem it appropriate to paraphrase the facts as narrated therein.

“The 2^nd respondent is the complainant and petitioners are accused Nos. 1, 3 to 8. A complaint comes to be registered against the petitioners and another by the 2^nd respondent on 02-01-2023 alleging that the petitioners have all connived, forged the signatures of the complainant and got several sale deeds registered. A brief history to the complaint as narrated is that on 04-12-2014 a Joint Development Agreement (‘JDA’ for short) comes to be executed between the 2^nd respondent/Ankamma Rao with M/s Mahidhara Projects Private Limited (‘the Company’ for short), a Company registered under the Companies Act. The Company later, on the strength of JDA develops a layout in the name and style of ‘Mahidhara Fortune City’ after obtaining all necessary permissions from Anekal Development Authority. The complainant further narrates that he along with other owners of properties subsequently entered into a partition to partition the remaining sites after the disposal, which fell to the individual shares under the deed of partition dated 2-03-2021.

3. Thirteen properties are identified to be the subject matter of the complaint, as in terms of the JDA and the sharing agreement as well as the partition deed, the properties ought to have been in the share of the owner/complainant. The owner in order to secure loan from SBICAP, by way of depositing of title deeds, has mortgaged those 13 sites in favour of SBICAP and has secured finance. After the said act, the complainant comes to know that sale deeds are executed of those 13 properties which are the subject matter of loan that was secured from SBICAP on depositing of title deeds. The properties were sold by the Special Power of Attorney Holder one Chikka Kondappa, an employee of the 1^st petitioner without consent, knowledge, authorization and by forging the signatures of the owner of the properties and without even mentioning the mode of payment. It is, therefore, alleged that the 1^st petitioner who is one of the Directors of Bhoomika Infrabuild Private Limited along with his children and other accused have all connived and conspired to cheat the complainant. Therefore, the complainant seeks to register the complaint on 02-01- 2023. The complaint becomes a crime in Crime No.3 of 2023 for the offences aforementioned. Soon after registration of crime, the petitioners knocked at the doors of this Court with the present petition and a co- ordinate Bench of this Court in terms of its order dated 17-02-2023 stayed further investigation into the matter. The interim order is subsisting even as on date.”

(Emphasis supplied)

(b) Based on the said facts, complaint had been registered against the petitioners for the offences punishable under Sections 417 , 418, 420, 464, 465, 34 of IPC 1860 in Crime No.3/2023 of Anekal Police Station, pending on the file of the Court of Principal Civil Judge (Jr.Dn.) and JMFC, Anekal, Bengaluru Rural District. This Court in terms of its order dated 16.06.2023 dismissed the petition holding that the investigation in the least on the score of the offences being prima facie met, the reasons so rendered while rejecting the petition are as follows:

"8. The afore-narrated facts are not in dispute. The matter is still