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CHANDRA SHEKHAR JHA
Ajay Krishna Rastogi Son of Late Saryu Madhav Rastogi – Appellant
Versus
State of Bihar – Respondent
Based on the provided legal document, the main legal points are as follows:
The essential ingredients of Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, which defines the offence of cheating, must be satisfied to establish a case of cheating. Specifically, there must be deception, dishonest inducement, and mens rea at the time of the inducement (!) (!) .
Cheating involves deception played at the inception of a transaction, and subsequent failure to fulfill promises alone does not constitute cheating unless fraudulent or dishonest intent was present from the beginning (!) (!) .
The court emphasized that not every breach of contract amounts to cheating; there must be proof of fraudulent or dishonest intention at the outset of the transaction (!) (!) .
The court has the authority to quash criminal proceedings if they amount to an abuse of the court's process or if the allegations do not prima facie constitute an offence. This includes cases where the allegations are inherently improbable, absurd, or motivated by ulterior motives (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) (!) .
In this particular case, the court found that the allegations did not satisfy the essential ingredients of Section 420, and the proceedings were initiated based on personal vendetta and ulterior motives. The petitioner was only a witness to the sale deed, and the complaint was lodged on the same day as a civil suit regarding the same property, indicating abuse of process (!) (!) .
Consequently, the court held that continuing with the proceedings would serve no useful purpose and quashed the FIR and all related proceedings, recognizing that their continuation would amount to an abuse of the court's process (!) (!) .
The court also noted that the case fell under specific illustrations where proceedings could be quashed, such as when allegations are baseless, motivated by malice, or do not constitute a cognizable offence (!) .
These points collectively highlight the importance of establishing fraudulent intent at the inception of a transaction for a case under Section 420, and the court's power to prevent abuse of process by quashing proceedings that lack legal merit or are driven by ulterior motives.
ORDER :
1. Heard learned counsel appearing on behalf of parties.
2. Present is an application for quashing the First Information Report of Mohania P.S. Case No. 348 of 2018 registered on 13.06.2018 under Sections 420, 419, 467, 468, 471 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, which was lodged by opposite party No. 2, against the petitioner and other persons.
3. The prosecution case in brief, that one Manju Bala Rastogi filed a Complaint before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kaimur at Bhabua on 02.06.2018 stating thereof that she married with one Dinesh Chandra Rastogi and residing at Merath. Accused/petitioner is own brother and a jealous person, who want to cause a loss of her property, by way of impersonation, where accused/petitioner actively participated to execute a sale deed No. 664 dated 03.02.2018 for Plot No. 31 area 1.40 decimal in favour of one Kashmira Devi/accused No. 1, with the help of deed writer, where petitioner himself stand as a witness.
4. Learned counsel for petitioner submitted that aforesaid complaint case which has been registered as Complaint Case No. 686 of 2018, was forwarded to Mohania police station for registration and institution of F.I.R., consequent u
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