Criminal proceedings cannot be used as a shortcut for civil disputes, especially when no substantial evidence of a crime exists.

JUDGMENT

1. The petitioner is an accused in FIR No. 802/2022 registered with Sanganer Sadar Police Station, District Jaipur City (South) for offences under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468 and 471 IPC.

2. The petitioner has sought for quashment of the aforesaid FIR on the ground that bare perusal of the FIR would make it clear that the complainant respondent No.2 has no leg to stand in a civil proceeding, hence, he has lodged the impugned FIR just to give it a colour of criminal proceeding.

3. According to the petitioner, he had purchased the FIR referred plots through a registered sale deed dated 8.10.2020 from the rightful owner, a copy of the sale deed is at Annexure-2. Thereafter, to meet his financial crunches, the petitioner took loan of Rs. 9,00,000/- from HDFC Bank by deposit of title deed as surety and later on refunded the loan amount and got clearance certificate from the Bank vide certificate dated 21.2.2022 at Annexure-3 as well as sale deed aforesaid returned. Thereafter, to meet his financial needs due to illness etc., the petitioner sold the said property to one Vaidhnath Choudhary and Kishan Lal through a registered sale deed dated 3.3.2022, a copy at Annexure-4.

4. As per the impugned FIR, the respondent No.2 and the petitioner agreed to enter in the business of realtors. Respondent No.2 claims that he had paid Rs. 25,000/- on 5.10.2020, Rs. 9,00,000/- on 10.11.2020 and Rs. 2,75,000/- on 30.12.2020 in cash to the petitioner for purchase of the said property. Besides the aforesaid, respondent No.2 had paid Rs. 8,00,000/- by account transfer on 9.10.2020 and 2,00,000/- again by account transfer on 5.2.2022 to the petitioner but the petitioner cheated the complainant and purchased the property in his own name and later on, sold the property to different persons named in the FIR by registered sale deed dated 03.03.2022.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the claim of the respondent of making cash payment of huge amount is in violation of the mandate of Section 269-SS and 269-ST of The Income Tax Act and there is no evidence of such payment or from where such money was procured by respondent No.2. In civil proceedings, respondent No.2 cannot discharge his burden of benami purchase in the name of the petitioner. Moreover, prima facie material on record substantiated by documentary evidence is that the FIR referred Khasras belongs to the petitioner and in the FIR, bald statements have been made just to harass the petitioner. There is no evidence that the parties ever agreed for joint business etc.

6. Learned counsel for the complainant - respondent contended that the law is well settled that at the initial stage, FIR should not be quashed if it discloses ingredients of cognizable offence. The FIR contains such allegation which is to be investigated by the competent authority and investigation is already going on.

7. In G. Sagar Suri & Anr. Vs. State of U.P. & Ors., (2000) 2 SCC 636, the Hon'ble Supreme Court stated that it is to be seen that if a matter which is essentially of civil nature, has been given a cloak of criminal offence, it would not be allowed to go on. Criminal proceedings are not a short-cut over other remedies available in law.

8. There is no dispute that the FIR referred properties were purchased in the name of the petitioner through a registered sale deed dated 8.10.2020, consideration money to the vendor was paid by the petitioner and not by respondent No.2 as admitted by respondent No.2. There is no evidence of payment in cash of such a huge amount to the petitioner. The sale deed would reveal that total consideration money was 17,00,000/- and the entire amount was paid to the vendor through Account Payee Cheque detailed in the sale deed. The payments were made by the petitioner from his bank account.

9. On the basis of available material, dishonest and fraudulent intention of the petitioner cannot be gathered, hence, cannot be allowed to be attributed. Evidently, in the facts and circumstance