1. Invoking the inherent power of this Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (in short “the Code”), the petitioner has prayed for quashing of the entire criminal proceeding including the order dated 20.07.2007 passed by Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Chatra in Complaint Case no. 149 of 2006, whereby and where under cognizance of offence has been taken under Section 323/406 of the Indian Penal Code.

2. The facts of the case, which is relevant for the proper appreciation of the issue involved in this case, in short, is that at the instance of complainant Santosh Kumar, the aforesaid complaint case was instituted on the allegation that the present petitioner being the Headmaster of a School entered into an oral agreement with the complainant, who is a mason, for some construction work in the said school. The petitioner had assured the complainant to make payment after completion of work but even after completion of work worth Rs.1,00,000/-including payment of labour charges, the said amount has not been paid to him. On repeated demand, the petitioner paid only Rs. 54,200/- through cheque and cash. When the complainant approached the petitioner for payment of