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2005 Supreme(Pat) 777
PATNA HIGH COURT
M.L.Visa, J.
Sanjay Suchanti
Versus
State Of Bihar
Criminal Miscellaneous No. 29681 of 2003 ;
Decided On : AUGUST 30, 2005
The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement of fraudulent intention and mens rea to prove the offence of cheating under Section 420 of the IPC.
Headnote:
IPC - Quashing of Order - Section 420 - Summary of Acts and Sections: The court discussed the provisions of Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and emphasized the requirement of fraudulent intention to establish the offence of cheating. The court referred to legal principles established in various cases to determine the existence of mens rea and the essential elements of cheating.
Fact of the Case:
The complaint alleged that the petitioners, as directors of a company, cheated the complainant by falsely claiming distribution rights of a film and accepting advance payment. The petitioners argued that it was a civil dispute and no criminal case was maintainable.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the facts did not establish fraudulent intention at the time of accepting the advance payment, and the subsequent failure to fulfill the promise did not necessarily indicate cheating.
Issues: The main issue was whether the petitioners had the fraudulent intention to cheat the complainant at the time of accepting the advance payment.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the requirement of mens rea and fraudulent intention to establish the offence of cheating under Section 420 of the IPC. It cited legal principles from various cases to support its finding.
Final Decision: The court allowed the application and quashed the order taking cognizance against the petitioners under Section 420 of the IPC, along with the prosecution emanating from the complaint petition.
1. Petitioners have filed this application for quashing order dated 18.2.2002 (Annexure-4) passed by Shri A.N. Upadhyay, Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Patna in Complaint Case No. 1970C of 2001 taking cognizance under Section 420 of Indian Penal Code (In short "IPC").
2. Brief facts of the case are that opposite party No. 2 filed a complaint petition in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patna alleging therein that he is a proprietor of a firm carrying on business, known as M/s Elphinstone Palace, Patna, of exhibition of films and co-accused Sushil Jain is one of the Directors of a Company named M/s Anjana Movies (Private) Limited carrying on the business of distribution of motion pictures and this Company is duly incorporated Company under the Companies Act, 1956 and petitioners who are Directors of Anjana Movies (Private) Limited, co-accused Sushil Jain and M/s Anjana Movies (Private) Limited are members of Bihar Motion Pictures Association which is aiso a duly incorporated company and association of motion picture producer, distributors and exhibiters carrying their business in the film trade in the territory of Bihar and Nepal. Further case of opposite party No. 2 was that co-accused Sushil Jain claimed that he was assigned the distribution right of the picture named "Aashique" for the territory of Bihar and Nepal and he approached opposite party No, 2 and requested him to exhibit his picture which was to be released on 26.1.2001 in the cinema hall of opposite party No. 2 and demanded a sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- in advance on the ground that he was in need of money for sending it to producer before release of picture and opposite party No. 2 accepted the proposal of co-accused Sushil Jain and paid him a sum of Rs. 2,00,000/-. Thereafter, in the month of January, 2001, opposite party No. 2 got information that distribution, exhibition and exploitation right of picture "Aashique" were not with petitioners and he then contacted co-accused Sushil Jain to refund his advanced money of Rs. 2,00,000/- and in this regard, he also wrote a letter to co-accused Sushil Jain on 5.1.2001 but he did not receive any reply. After that, the aforesaid picture was released on 26.2.2001 and opposite party No. 2 was mentally shocked to know that the right of picture was not with the petitioners and he made several requests to petitioners to return the advanced amount given by him but neither the petitioners gave any reply nor they returned the amount. Opposite party No. 2 then filed complaint petition alleging therein that he was cheated by petitioners. The petition of opposite party No. 2 was registered as Complaint Case No. 1970 C of 2001 and after enquiry under Section 202 of Criminal Procedure Code (In short "CrPC"), cognizance against the present petitioners and some others was taken under Section 420 of IPC.
3. The case of petitioners is that the facts alleged in the complaint petition of opposite party No. 2 at best make out a Civil dispute in respect of money alleged to have been advanced by opposite party No. 2 to the company of petitioners and no criminal case is maintainable and petitioners have been falsely implicated in the complaint case on false, baseless and concocted evidence. According to them, M/s Shweta International, producer of film "Aashique" assigned the distribution right to M/s Anjana Movies (Private) Limited for a total consideration of Rs. 75,00,000/- and an agreement was arrived on 10.7.1999 between the parties which was provisional agreement subject to final agreement (Annexure-5). Pursuant to this agreement, the company of petitioners informed Bihar Motion Pictures Association on 14.9.2000 regarding acquisition of distribution of film "Aashique" (Annexure-6) and company of petitioners advanced a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- by demand draft payable at Mumbai (Annexures-7 and 8 respectively) but subsequently the producer realised more amount from a third party distributor M/s Mona Movies and gave the distribution r
