Criminal colour cannot be given to civil dispute.

(Petition under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code praying for issuance of a direction to call for the records in Crime No.576/2005 on the file of the Inspector of Police, Team-IV, Central Crime Branch, Egmore, Chennai-600 008 and quash the same.)

The criminal original petition is filed seeking quashment of the criminal proceedings in Crime No.576 of 2005 on the file of the Inspector of Police, Team-IV, Central Crime Branch, Egmore, Chennai-600 008.

2. The petitioners have been booked for the offences under Sections 379, 468, 471, 420 and 506 (ii) of the Indian Penal Code, based on the reference made by the learned Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai-600 008, on the complaint presented by the second respondent herein under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

3. The averment in the complaint preferred by the second respondent is as follows:-

The first accused is M/s. Sri Krishna Tiles and Potteries (Madras) Pvt. Ltd., the second accused is A.R. Santhanakrishnan, Director of the first accused-company, the third accused is Mrs. Radhika Santhanakrishnan, yet another Director of the first accused-company and the fourth accused is Chandrasekaran, working as Commercial Manager of M/s. Sai Sri Krishna Properties and Facilitators (P) Ltd.

4. M/s. Sri Krishna Tiles and Potteries (Madras) Pvt. Ltd., is the owner of property to an extent of 34.04 acres in Thirumangalam Village, Anna Nagar (West), Chennai. The first accused-company entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the complainant on 2.7.2001, as per which the first accused-company entrusted the land for development with the complainant. The complainant started developing the properties through his partnership firm 'M/s.Sai Sri Krishna Properties'. 'M/s.Sai Sri Krishna Properties' was converted to a private limited company, in which the complainant was the Managing Director and the third accused was the Director. An agreement was entered into between the said 'M/s. Sai Sri Krishna Properties' and 'Sri Krishna Tiles and Potteries (Madras) Pvt. Ltd.', on 24.6.2002. The newly floated 'M/s. Sai Sri Krishna Properties' was appointed as a Facilitator by the accused Nos.1 to 3 for developing the properties after obtaining approval from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (C.M.D.A.). Since the accused Nos.1 to 3 were not in a position to obtain approval from C.M.D.A., the project could not be completed at the earliest.

5. Pursuant to the above agreements, the complainant entered into an agreement to sell and an agreement to construct with 146 purchasers and received a sum of Rs.2,54,67,091/- as sale advance. The complainant had invested a total sum of Rs.3 crores approximately including the said sum of Rs.2,54,67,091/- for the purpose of developing the project and maintaining the property. The complainant had returned a sum of Rs.21,71,360/- to 47 allottees out of the 146 allottees. A sum of Rs.2,29,71,775/- has to be refunded by the complainant to the remaining 99 allottees. The accused Nos.1 to 3 are also negotiating with the allottees for refunding the advance sale consideration received from them. The purchasers informed the complainant that the agreement between the accused Nos.1 to 3 and the complainant's private limited company had been terminated by mutual consent. The complainant was shocked to see that the records and the accounts relating to the said private limited company were found missing at its Office. The third accused had illegally taken away all the records and accounts relating to the said private limited company, including the originals of the aforesaid two agreements dated 24.6.2002. Refunds have also been made to few of the purchasers with a mala fide intention of cheating the complainant. The complainant never entered into any mutual agreement for termination of the aforesaid agreements. The accused Nos.1 to 3 have fabricated a termination agreement as if it had been signed by the complainant. On complainant's