The main legal point established in the judgment is the application of the criteria for quashing an F.I.R. under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard Mr. Sanjay Kumar, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners.

2. Heard Mr. Pankaj Kumar Choudhary, the learned A.P.P. appearing for the Opposite Party-State.

3. The petitioners have filed the present criminal miscellaneous petition for quashing of the First Information Report in Dumka Town P.S. Case No.118 of 2020 instituted under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code and the entire criminal prosecution in connection with the aforesaid F.I.R., presently pending in the court of C.J.M., Dumka, as the same is completely vague disclosing no criminal liability against the petitioners.

4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted that the petitioners have been falsely implicated in the present case and no case is made out against the petitioners and therefore, instant application has been filed for quashing of the F.I.R.

5. The learned A.P.P. appearing for the Opposite Party-State submitted that the petitioners have prayed for quashing of the F.I.R. and as per the counter affidavit filed in the present case, a number of witnesses have been examined in the present case during investigation and they have supported the prosecution case and the investigation is still going on. Learned A.P.P. referred to the F.I.R. and the allegations made against the petitioners and submitted that no case for quashing of F.I.R. is made out. There is allegation of defalcation of government money in the instant case and accordingly, at this stage of the case, no interference is called for.

6. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, this Court finds that the F.I.R. involved in the present case has been instituted on the basis of the enquiry report submitted by the Deputy Collector, District Legal Branch, Dumka as contained in letter dated 05.03.2020 in which the enquiry committee has found that the services of accused Manoj Kumar Sah as Clerk in Project Girls High School, Kathikund and Santosh Kumar Mandal, Clerk in Project Girls High School, Gopikandar was illegally recognized and the orders for payment of the salaries were also issued and further Rs.49,53,731/- was withdrawn from the Treasury, Dumka for payment as salary to the aforesaid two accused persons. The Petitioner No.1 namely, Shashi Bhushan Srivastava was the then Head Clerk and the Petitioner No. 2 namely, Md. Iftekhar was a Clerk in the office of the District Education Officer, Dumka who played active role in committing the alleged offences. On account of the nature of allegations as made in the F.I.R. which is based on an enquiry report, F.I.R. has been registered under Sections 409, 420,467,468,471 and 120(B) of the Indian Penal Code and thus conspiracy is also alleged in the present case and the case is still under investigation. Moreover, as per the counter affidavit, during investigation, the statements of various witnesses have been recorded who have supported the prosecution case and as per the submission of the learned counsel for the State, the investigation is still going on.

7. In the Judgment passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court reported in 1992 Suppl. (1) SCC 335 = 1992 Cr.L.J. 527 (State of Haryana Vs. Bhajan Lal and Ors.), it has been held in Para-102 as under:

“102. In the backdrop of the interpretation of the various relevant provisions of the Code under Chapter XIV and of the principles of law enunciated by this Court in a series of decisions relating to the exercise of the extraordinary power under Article 226 or the inherent powers under Section 482 of the Code which we have extracted and reproduced above, we give the following categories of cases by way of illustration wherein such power could be exercised either to prevent abuse of the process of any court or otherwise to secure the ends of justice, though it may not be possible to lay down any precise, clearly defined and sufficiently channelised and inflexible guidelines or rigid formulae and to give an exhaustive list of myriad kinds