The essential elements of criminal offenses must be satisfied for the allegations to constitute an offense under the Indian Penal Code.

M.R. Verma, J.—The petitioner has presented this petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure read with Article 227 of the Constitution of India for quashing FIR No. 25 dated 20.3.1999 (wrongly mentioned as FIR No. 29 dated 19.3.1999 in the petition) registered against him at police station, Parwanoo, District Solan under Sections 406,418 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code along with the subsequent proceedings.

2. The case of the petitioner as made out in the petition is that he is a resident of Bombay and is dealing in the business of supply of material on commission basis. M/s. Morepen Laboratories Limited (herein-after referred to as respondent No. 2) supplied certain goods to him for sale to prospective customers who did not make the payment to him. The Company then entered into an agreement dated 8.8.1998 with the petitioner and obtained post dated cheques as security for payment of money. It was agreed to between the parties that the said cheques would not be presented without prior instructions of the petitioner about the receipt of payment from the customers to whom the material was supplied. However, in violation of the terms of the agreement, Pramod Chandra, Senior Manager of the Company, lodged the aforesaid First Information Report against the petitioner concealing the fact that a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act had already been filed by respondent No. 2 against the petitioner in view of which the First Information Report could not have been lodged. The reading of the First Information Report does not disclose any offence as the agreement (Annexure P-l) witnesses only a transaction which is purely of civil nature and is an admission of an existing debt and no goods were transferred to the petitioner in lieu of the post dated cheques. Hence, no criminal liability can be attributed to the petitioner and continuation of the proceedings on the basis of the said First Information Report is mis-use of the process of the Court. Hence, the present petition.

3. Respondent No.1 in its reply raised a preliminary objection that the petitioner has not come to the Court with clean hands and that the number and date of the First Information Report as mentioned in the petition, are not correct and that the contents of the First Information Report and the evidence disclose the commission of offence under Sections 406, 418 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code by the petitioner. It is also claimed that the proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act being quasi criminal in nature, would not have any effect on the proceedings under Sections 406, 418 and 420 of the Indian Penal" Code which are separate and independent offences. It has, thus, been maintained that the commission of the above offences for which the First Information Report has been lodged, is made out against the petitioner and he does not deserve the relief as claimed.

4. Respondent No. 2 in its reply has also taken mostly the similar stand and has further claimed that efforts of the petitioner to secure anticipatory bail in the Court of Sessions Judge, Solan and in this Court had failed and he is a habitual offender and had been cheating respondent No.2 since April 1998. It is also averred that the petitioner is a big cheat and dishonest person and tells lies. His business is to take material from innocent industries on bill basis while issuing post dated cheques to them knowing it fully well that being based at Bombay, no legal action against him can be prosecuted to some logical end at Bombay by those who carry on their business at far off places from Bombay. To substantiate its averments, respondent No. 2 has annexed with the reply a copy of the minutes (Annexure-I), copy of undertaking/agreement (Annexure-II) and a copy of noting and protest note (Annexure-III) to show that the petitioner had evil design to defraud the Company from the very beginning. While denying the other averments in the petition, i